I slept like a log in my tent last night despite the 30-40mph winds that blew till midnight or so. I heard a little drizzle but it wasn't enough to get anything wet for more than a minute. I woke at my usual time with the sun, and took my time putting my stuff up because I had 3 hours to kill till the store and cafe opened. It was quiet all around the little town(if you could call it that) except another camper behind the building was up already. We chatted a bit about our trips and shared a few stories. He was on a motorcycle and not doing the TAT but was very interesting to chat with. He went ahead and hit the road as he didn't want to wait for the store to open. I needed food and I was feeling lazy anyway so I stayed. And I am glad I did! They served breakfast which was very easy to order something without meat, the regular menu is all meat things. And they're known for having great milkshakes so in addition to my huge plates of french toast and hash browns and cheese omelette I got a cherry milkshake. It was very thick, almost like soft serve ice cream and was delicious. I was stuffed when I finally finished and went on my way. Climb right away, and with the sun already pretty high it was a bit hot but tolerable. The climb and descent were on pavement so they went by quickly. Then I turned onto a nice gravel road that was actually improved and properly graded, so I made good time. For a bit. I felt my front tire go soft. I figured it was a puncture but when I pulled out the tube I found an old patch that seemed to be leaking (yes I was using an already patched tube, it's a tubalito, they roll fast and are usually pretty puncture resistant). I put another patch over the side that leaked, put it back inside and it held air decent. I kept having to pump it throughout the day and I limped it into camp and changed it there, will sort out the bad patch some other time. The heat of the day subsided around 3pm when some storms fired up. I heard thunder and it poured on me for about 30 seconds, which was a nice natural coolant. Actually it was cold enough at first to take my breath away. The rest of the day I stayed dry but the rain was all around me and the sun was blocked. Another wonderful, moderate day in Oregon and Nevada. And I had another east wind today. Pushed me along and is keeping the smoke at bay. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth everything was the majority of today. There was one really rocky section in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge at the state line that was really loose big rock, which thank goodness wasn't that steep, but even flat it was very hard to ride. It was volcanic rock from baseball to baby head sized which was beautiful but it made for some pretty frustrating miles. Soon though after a few miles I hit a gravel road. Off down in the distance I spied a lake with proper water inside it. I had already been fooled once today. I saw what I thought was a water filled lake below me that turned out to be just an illusion of the light colored sand of the lake bed. This area did get some rain so there were a couple puddles. But it wasn't really fed by a creek, just an endorheic basin with no exit. But this lake was for sure full of water. I was trying to do at least 70 miles and was almost there, and getting tired. I was reluctant to stop for the past couple of miles thanks to some drizzle that caught me. But I rolled down the hill and confirmed the actual, real lake, and even spotted a poop station nearby some equipment and some pickup trucks. I decided to camp there but was wary about being next to other campers, but thankfully there was another road that let me camp a bit further down, still on the lake(pond really). I met one of the other campers and had a nice chat. He gave me some water, and told me a bit about their business there which was hunting antelope. I thanked him for the water and he offered more if I needed it. I cooked a meal since I definitely had plenty of water now. I started with about 8.5 liters and still had about 5 left despite the several hours of hot and sunny riding. So now I don't have to worry as much. I changed my tube out to another spare and ended up having to patch that one right away. Probably from rolling around in my seat bag so long. The sunset was a bit blocked by the hill but this is a lovely spot. Actually lots of birds here. According to the hunter this pond is usually year round. So the wildlife really depend on it. It's around 6k feet elevation so it is cooling down fast after the sun went down.