Once last visit to Watson Lake

Just as seems to be our luck, good weather faded away the day we were going to spend driving, so no harm done. Lightning flashed and rain poured as we retraced our steps (the only point of the trip that we were going to do so). When we stopped for gas, we were informed that the storm had knocked down the lines needed to process credit cards. We had no food, no cash, and it was getting late. We pressed our luck at a road house and luck prevailed. They would take our cards and though the grill was off, they would rustle up something for us to eat. Three steaming plates of spaghetti later and we were satisfied. It was far later than we realized and our initial goal (somewhere deep into Canada) seemed infeasible now. Watson Lake no longer seemed out of the way, so we decided to pay a surprise visit to our friend Mandeep.

We pulled into the familiar gas station and assumed we would find our host grilling steak in the back kitchen where we first met him (in our minds he did this every night). Alas, no sign of Mandeep. It was about midnight now and we searched around the grounds, awkwardly peering at the shadowy figures next to their RVs, thinking perhaps Mandeep was being the sociable host that he was. Still no sign of him. We pulled around to the convenience store on which sat his strangely laid out apartment. We looked for lights on or other clues as to where he might be. Maybe he was sleeping, maybe he wasn't home. We decided to knock on the door anyway, disappointment welling. We had had this whole surprise scenario in our minds and now that they were crushed, we wanted to at least be able to see him. We pounded on the doors and no response. There was a dull light coming from the room we knew to be his kitchen so we threw pebbles at the window. Afraid we might break it, we soon gave up. We circled the lot again and were about to give up when an unfamiliar truck pulled up, yet a familiar voice called out, "Sophia, Isabelle, Rachel!" Mandeep had appeared and we spent the rest of the night talking, laughing and debuting our song. Mandeep was kind enough to let us use one of the 8 extra beds he has (ok this might be an exaggeration, but only slightly). In the morning, as had been promised, we awoke to omelets, french toast, fresh fruit and bacon. If you know us at all, you know that this is the way to our hearts. Thanks again Mandeep. Watson Lake again proved to be a worthwhile stop.