Tried to gas up at the local station at Dease Lake, BC, but found out that the station closed a few minutes before we got there. A guy on a motorcycle was around the pump talking to someone else who was trying to gas up, but no dice for any of us. We decide to push forward to the next town, since we had a lot of hours of light left for driving.
The only problem, was that it was WAY further than I expected. And the needle of the gas gauge slowly started creeping down towards the empty line. And past it! I semi-panic while feathering the pedal up hills and trying to come up with Plan-C in case when we run out of gas. Turns out, that would be the least of our worries.
We BARELY make it to Good Hope Lake (very foretelling), and coast into the empty (and closed) gas station. It looks like we're stranded until it opens again the next morning, so Kat and I choose a flat spot and sulk over the time lost while we wait for gas. Meanwhile, the same moto-adventure rider comes up from behind us, and we talk for a bit. He's out of gas too, and will pitch a tent closeby. Yay for neighbors!
We're amazed to find out that he spent several years in Manila, studying in an international school in Rizal. We would have never guessed, with his blue eyes and blond hair. He bought his motorcycle less than 6 months ago, and is taking it from Denver to Alaska. These are the kinds of people we love meeting, and I offer him a cold Tecate as he begins to offload his gear.
As we're getting our stuff ready, a local pickup truck comes by after they notice us hanging out by the gas station. Long story short, there is a bear lurking around town, and the school house directly across the street was ransacked just the previous day. And that they did NOT recommend the guy sleeping in a tent around this area, unless you wanted to meet your end as bear-food.
So they take off, and pick up the owner of the gas station who is their friend, to open the store and help us gas up. I gave them our last few cans of Tecate as a thank you gift ("What is this? Is it any good? I've never had Mexican beer before"). We thank the woman who owns the gas station profusely for opening the store just for us.
While we're settling our bill inside, we suddenly hear a loud BOOM of a shotgun. And it sounded close.
"Whoa, what was that?"
"Oh.. They must've gotten him!", the lady said.
:(
