DAY 16
Week 3
PROVO (Utah, USA) to BOISE (Idaho, USA)
via JACKPOT (Nevada, USA)
Friday January 20th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 462 miles or 744 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 4219 miles or 6790 kilometres
As I was traversing the southern base of the Great Salt Lake (Utah), my mobile phone rang. It was the Arches National Park Ranger calling to let me know that the Utah Highway Patrol had arrested my hitch hiker near Green River (Utah). They had subsequently arrested the guy on three felony charges consisting of armed robbery, assault and arson in Salt Lake City.
He thanked me for taking the time to act on my hunch and asked "if the experience would deter me offering rides to people again". I answered that it wouldn't, as I'd met a lot of great people on the road, but it did re-enforce my belief in acting on gut feelings.
After a quick spot of lunch in Jackpot (Nevada), I had four hours and I'd be home.