Good morning everyone! I had a lovely night's sleep in Hearst, and today I'm off to the Wild Goose Campgrounds near Geraldton. I started out my morning with my Nespresso coffee and grabbed a bagel for breakfast.
Canadian Tire Poor Customer Service
Sadly, before I could get started I needed to take care of an important errand. The handheld CB Radio that I had purchased at the Canadian Tire in North Bay was defective and wasn't working. So I started my day at the Hearst branch of Canadian Tire hoping to get a quick replacement and start my day.
Here is where the day took a turn for the worst. I was shocked and disappointed by the total lack of customer care.
I walked up to the customer care desk and explained the situation to the lady. I had my receipt and the device, but not the original packaging. The radio came in a vacuum-packed bag, which I had thrown away as soon as I'd opened it. The cashier told me that since my CB handheld was not in its "original packaging" she could not help me. No matter that I had purchased the device less than 48 hours ago in North Bay and had the receipt for my purchase.
Not only would they not refund me, but they also refused to issue a store credit or anything! She told me it was my issue, and there was nothing to be done. So there I was stuck with a defective device. So I asked to speak to the manager, hoping something could be done.
I was optimistic that the store manager would be able to help. All I wanted was a new CB radio that actually worked. Sadly, they were out of stock of my device. And despite it being store policy to replace defective items, they didn't want to provide store credit in lieu of a new device. Unfortunately, Alexander Leblanc, the manager, refused to be helpful and was quite dismissive. Once again telling me it was my problem. Shame on you!
So now I have a beef with this branch of Canadian Tire in Hearst. I feel that at the very least, a defective device should not be "the customer's problem". You'd expect at least a refund or store credit if the store didn't have the device in stock. Sounds like their problem to me... I was really shocked by Alexander Leblanc's treatment of his customers, being often times rude and unfriendly.
Those of you reading this blog, and those who know me personally, know I rarely have negative words to say about anyone. I am a naturally positive and optimistic person. This is in fact the first negative experience of the whole trip, and let's hope it's the last! Everything else and all the other people I have encountered along the way have all been positive and memorable experiences.
I was so disappointed that I sent Susan O'Brian, the Chief Brand and Customer Officer at Canadian Tire a small message on LinkedIn. I'm hoping she will help resolve the issue. Stay tuned.... 😉
At this point, I was in a pretty rotten mood as I began the day's driving. Luckily fate decided to cheer me up!!!
Bear Alert!
As I was turning off onto Highway 663 in search of a hidden trail on the way to visit a First Nation village, I saw quite the site off the side of the road. What did I see? Well, I bet you can guess....
There, right off the side of the highway, was a large black bear! He was just strolling along in the trees, not a care in the world. So much for the reassurance various people have given me about how there are no bears around the camping grounds! "Oh, no no no, no bears at all!" But here are bears right on the highway!!! I can only imagine where else they might wander off to. I think I might stick to motels, hotels and cabins with strong brick walls keeping me safe from curious bears, thank you very much! Though it was wonderous seeing this big guy from the safety of my car.
Constance Lake - First Nations
My first stop of the day was at Constance Lake First Nation Village. The village has a collection of homes built on the shore of the most beautiful lake. They even have their own boat ramp to lower boats into the lake. This little town felt very different from others I had visited so far.
The lake is really beautiful, and the water is clear but it was a bit dirtier than what I had seen in other areas. It was a shame to see that this place isn't kept as pristine as it has huge potential.
Beyond this, it was a dramatically different experience for other reasons. It felt like driving in a foreign country. I didn't even feel like I was in Canada anymore. Everything looked a bit different, from the way the homes were built to the words on the stop sign. I felt like an intruder, that at any moment someone would tell me I didn't belong here. Which of course did not happen. There was in fact, basically no one outside!
And it's no wonder too! There were soooo many mosquitos! You couldn't go outside for a second or you'd be eaten alive in an instant. I got out of the car to take some pictures of the pretty lake, and they attacked me! I had to run for dear life back to the car. Just opening the car door I managed to bring 56 mosquitos inside with me, even though the door was only opened for a couple of seconds. I had to battle my way through the car to get rid of them all before continuing my drive.
Once back in the safety of the car I could see so many little black dots wooshing back and forth trying to get to me. How is it possible to have so so many mosquitos in one place?? They were absolutely everywhere in the village, and the air was completely full of them. I've never seen anything like it...
Let's hope the campsite tonight doesn't have the same problem!
Klotz Lake
As I continued along, I found a nice little hidden trail, with instant gratification!
It was a short hidden trail! Just off the highway and immediately I was at the rest area that had views of Klotz Lake. I had learned my lesson yesterday on the Forbidden Trail and stopped my car at a fair distance where the road was still nice and even. I didn't drive down the steep slope to the water's edge and walked the remaining distance instead to get some nice pictures of the rapids.
There was a second rest area along Klotz Lake with some amazing facilities. It looked like the ideal place to go camping. Soft grass along the shore to set your tent up on. A nice unobstructed view of a crystal clear lake. Nearby restrooms that were relatively clean. Unfortunately, there was a sign that said "No Camping Anytime", so it wasn't an option. BUT if I find something like this on my travels then it'll be time for some camping.
Log-o-Land
As I was driving along, I suddenly saw a huge pile of logs along the road. I made a U-turn to investigate further (I'm not sure it's legal to U-turn on the highway here, but I keep doing this to have a look at interesting things along the way...hope I don't get into trouble! 😅) Along Clavet Road, right off Highway 11, there were logs on logs on logs. Log-o-Land, if you will...
It's incredible how many logs they had piled up all in 1 area. I drove for about 2 miles and kept seeing them. I pulled off to ask some nearby truckers hauling logs about what was going on. Joe, a friendly truck driver, explained to me that these are stockpiles built up over the winter months so that in the summer they have readily available wood for producing things like toilet paper. During winter the swamp lands which are inaccessible during the warm months freeze over, and they can drive across it with the equipment needed to do the logging. Super interesting!
During the summer and spring months, the logs chopped down over the winter are transported to mills to be processed. So at this time of year, there are many many trucks picking up the logs from the side of the road to transport them across the country.
Wild Goose Campgrounds
At this point, I've arrived at the Wild Goose Campground. I'll be honest, I was secretly hoping it wouldn't be very nice so I'd have an excuse to not camp tonight either... However, the campgrounds were too darn beautiful!
The grounds were well-equipped and maintained. They had a power and water supply, a picnic table to sit and eat my meals, all right on the lake with a beautiful view. Standing there I could hear the soft sounds of the small waves lapping up on the shore, there was even a nice small set of stairs down to the water. The ground was very flat, perfect for setting up a tent, and no mosquitos in sight! I even met a cute furry friend while I was exploring nearby.
After doing a thorough investigation I decided tonight I would camp! But the day was still young and there were many hidden trails just waiting to be discovered. So I told Bridgette, the campgrounds manager, that I am off to find Kinghorn Falls and I will return alter on.
Kinghorn Falls
Apparently, Kinghorn Falls wins the award for the most hidden of all hidden trails! As I tried to find the hidden falls, everyone I asked for directions from along the way had never heard of this place. At all...
I drove about 20 kilometres and took the turn onto Kinghorn Road, but my directions weren't clear from there. I stopped again to speak to Joe the truck driver from earlier, and asked him if he knew how to get there. Finally, someone who had some advice! He told me to just keep driving and up the road, about 6 kilometres, there were a few loggers that might know.
He also warned me about the trucks going up and down this trail, picking up the stockpile of logs and driving them off. Since its a very dusty trail, the visibility when these trucks go by is abysmal! And man was he not kidding! As I drove, a fully loaded truck came racing past me, and made a cloud of dust so big that I couldn't see out my windows for a whole minute!
I pulled up to 4 truckers in smaller F350 sized-trucks and asked them if they knew where the falls were. One of them told me to continue straight ahead, and if I hit the bridge I have gone too far. So I continued driving, and....I saw the bridge. So I turned back around and ended up where I started. I kept going back and forth, unable to find it. My map was completely useless!
As I pondered what to do next, I saw a young worker named Landon that I had previously spoken to about the falls come looking for me (very nice of him!) He said he had on his phone a Canadian forestry mapping guide and he had found the falls location and could take me there.
I followed Landon in my car and we pulled up to a small walking trail. At this point, he said to me, you know what! I will join you, I also want to see these falls...!
I grabbed the bear spray out of the car (was not about to take any chances), and off we walked about a half mile down the trail. We heard the water gushing by before we saw it. Then suddenly there it was! The temperature by the waterfall must have been about 15 degrees cooler than everywhere else. It was so refreshing, almost cold amidst this warm summer day! The waterfall itself wasn't very tall, only about 3 or 4 feet high, but the current was really strong.
We returned to our vehicles and on the way Landon gave me some more sight recommendations to check out on my journey.
Helen Lake
I made another stop at Helen lake and it was another beautiful view. Its unbelievable that I can stop anyqhere and take breathtaking photos like this. The serene sound of the water, and beautiful evergreens dotting the shore. I wish Dallas looked like this!
To Camp or Not to Camp
I head "home" toward the campsite, but started rethinking my life decisions once more. I pulled over to ponder what I was getting myself into...Me? Camping? It's 92 degrees out...My tent has no AC, no lights, no fridge, no microwave. I'll have to HIKE to the showers and restrooms. I will need to unpack the ENTIRE car since all my camping items are in the far back of the trunk (self-sabotage? maybe...).
How am I going to sleep in this heat? I have so much driving to do tomorrow. I NEED a good night's sleep. So after a long debate (ok maybe more like a short 15-second decision) I decided to go GLAMPING....in a motel. 😉
I pull a classic Shlomo U-turn in the middle of the highway 😆 , and call up Bridgette from the Wild Goose Campgrounds to let her know I'm not coming back. I didn't want her to send out search and rescue when I didn't show up later on. I booked myself a room at the small clean and friendly Birchville Motel.
The owner, Jordan, was very friendly and got me nice and situated. I got all settled in and with the help of the handy dandy internet, got a chance to work on today's blog!
The Loonie Toonie Mystery
Once I had unpacked and settled in, I decided to go in search of a car wash. After all these exciting hidden trails, my car had gotten extremely dusty, both inside and out! I found a nearby coin-operated car wash and drove on in. But I was quite bamboozled when the coin slot said that it takes loonies and toonies??
What the heck is a loonie and toonie? I have no clue. So I tried putting in some quarters thinking that would do the trick, but unfortunately did not. So I left in defeat, stopping by a local restaurant on the way. I asked them about the mysterious loony and toonie and they laughed! 🫣
For all you non-Canadians let me save you some embarrassment! A loonie is $1! A toonie is two! Go figure... After their fits of laughter, the people at the restaurant were kind enough to send me on my way with some coins for the car wash. After that much-needed shower, my car is good as new again!
I'm off to bed...in my real bed. 😌 I'm not giving up on camping just yet though! I'll get there eventually... or will I? 😏
Will Shlomo go camping?
Not a chance! He likes AC too much...
Maybe...
Neither agree nor disagree
Of course! He's an adventurer at heart!
See you all tomorrow!
-Shlomo
For more incredible pictures of today's adventures, check out the photo gallery!
It all sounds amazing! looking forward reading about what tomorrow brings.
I like reading your posts every time! Keep it going😄🎉