I slept wonderful last night and soon after starting today I turned off the dirt road and onto gravel. I had not been very diligent lately with keeping proper check on the air in my tires lately. I found a sharp rock and it dented my front rim and punctured my tire, only 7 miles into the day. I didn't panic, I was just a bit peeved at myself, should top off my tires every morning but usually I have been reactive. I pulled the tire off, got out my pliers and pulled the bead back out a bit, and installed the tire with a tube. I was pleased to note I still had plenty of sealant in the tire. But it was all wasted now. At least I know the rear has plenty since I filled them both at the same time. After a bit of elbow grease I got the tire on the bead all the way around and it still spins true. It survived all day without issue, although I will definitely have to keep it topped off with air now that I have a tube inside. I pushed on and enjoyed a nice gravel road with a tailwind the remaining miles to Paradise Valley. The road was washboarded but i was glad for the gravel. Paradise Valley is a really small town but they had a very nice park with a faucet and unlocked bathrooms. I actually was able to wash my hands and face. I stopped at the bar which also sold snacks and got a few things. I was leaving town and ran into some people out looking at the old original town buildings by the creek, now abandoned. They were interested in my trip so I told them all the details. They were from Winston Salem visiting the area for a horseshoe championship. When I told them where I'm from one guy said his grandson also lives in Peachtree City. Small world. I bid them adieu and rode out of town straight up a 3k foot climb. I was in good spirits and well hydrated, in addition the clouds came rolling in to protect me from the sun. So the miles went by pretty quick. On the way up I noted some few aspens near the bottom at only 5400 feet, the lowest ones I've seen so far. I ate a little lunch at the pass and descended down on a steep, extremely washboarded and rocky road. The climb back up again to the final pass wasn't too bad and by then I had decided to push on to the border of Oregon today. I reckoned that since the next town is only one store, it might not be open on Sunday or later on Saturday so I had better make sure to get there in the middle of the day if possible. McDermitt itself is super tiny but it did have a grocery store and it will be a long while till I see another so I stocked up. I bought a gallon of bottled water because I didn't have time to mess around trying to find free water on a Friday night near sundown in a tiny town. It turned out it was bottled in Atlanta. I rode out of town a few miles to the gravel, turned into Oregon a bit and am camping with the sagebrush again.