DECEMBER 1ST, 2019
By JOHN LILIES & LANA CARBON
[John] Day 11 brought us to May 28th and we only had a couple of days left on our amazing trip. On this morning, we did not stick around for long after waking up and getting ourselves ready for the day. Leaving the motel, we grabbed coffees and waited until it was time for us to go to the Polar Bear Habitat and Heritage Village, which opened at 9:00. On our way there, Lana made sure to get pictures of the Chimo Polar Bear statue in the centre of town.
[Lana] I have been in the habit this year, of taking pictures of town signs and I must say that this is one of the better town signs I’ve encountered, as far as originality goes. I always like it when it's not just a bunch of block letters spelling out the town name. Come on people, put a little pizzazz into it and be more like Cochrane and Chimo!
[John] Arriving in the Polar Bear Habitat parking lot, we realized it would be a quiet start for us. We were the first guests to arrive and though we entered the building after 9:00, not even the desk clerk had appeared yet. Another employee greeted us and told us to go ahead and wander around the grounds - we could pay on our way back out.
[John] As we wandered around for the next two and a half hours, not one other guest appeared until we were walking back to the visitor's centre to make our way out.
At the time of our visit, the Habitat had three polar bears in its custody. Two are from other zoos and a third grew up in captivity - the cub of a mama bear that was killed in Northern Ontario a number of years ago.
Each bear has a large paddock and there is a good sized lake on site. The bears are not forced to be in any specific area at any time; they can choose where they want to be and when. If they don't want to be outside and/or be watched by visitors, the can be inside or in a more private outdoor area. We were fortunate to see two of the three bears during our visit.
It was such an incredible experience to see these creatures wander around and play. Oh my gosh, are they ever huge! Hearing their paws hit the ground as they walk - "WHOMP, WHOMP" - I would certainly not want to be caught in a scuffle with one of these guys.
[Lana] At the same time, they look so damn cuddly! Especially after playing in the water. A little shake-off, just like your puppy dog, and then a roll in the grass; you'd think it could be your pet... but I wouldn't suggest it.
[John] So... I should scratch that option off my list of future housemates?
[Lana] I would say YES.
[John] Yes, we can have one?
[Lana] Sure! If you look after it, and keep it in a place away from me. And, pay for its food out of your share of the income.
[John] Okay then... you take the guest room and cover the rest of our life fees.
[Lana] No bear.
[John] Yeah. I figured as much.
There was one bear we thought may have a behavioural disorder or mental health disorder. He was quite repetitive in his actions and I know polar bears are quite susceptible to mental health and behavioural issues in captivity, so I'm assuming that was the issue. It was sad to see but I suppose there is no real alternative for them now.
[Lana] I, at least, hope it wasn't us and our presence that was upsetting it because I was concerned about that.
[John] I really don't think it was. I had a brief moment of the same concern but if it was upset because of us then I don't think it was actually us - Lana and John - that it was reacting to but perhaps people, generally, that it was struggling with. Again - captivity and having an audience - it doesn't bode well for animals like this.
[John] While we were there, we also went through the heritage village. It isn't a large set-up but they have a few cool displays. My favourite was the train depot / waiting lounge. There were a lot of historical artifacts and the display gave me all kinds of feels, thinking about where all those people came from and where they went. Sometimes these places give me visual flashes of people and emotions and different feelings from those times. I can't explain it but it happens a fair bit and this was a strong one. It actually made me emotional.
[Lana] I agree that the train station was definitely the coolest part of the attraction. And, I'm always up for a good old-style blacksmith shop. I just found it an odd combination to have the heritage village with the polar bear conservation area. Not that I'm complaining at all; it was a unique added bonus.
[John] Yes, it felt a bit disconnected. I think they could do a lot more with this part of the area; build up the history of Northern Ontario and also do up historical displays for the parts of Canada and the world where polar bears are naturally found. There could be geographical education displays along with cultural lessons of the people living in those areas. It's a great section the way they currently have it but it did feel like a lost opportunity. It appears as though it's a common field trip centre for schools and tour groups in the area - they really could increase the amount of meaningful learning with more funding and focus.
[John] As we made our way back to the visitor’s centre to pick up some gifts and pay our entry fee, I felt so grateful for the experience we'd been given. It was awkward seeing the bears in captivity and I'm always uncomfortable with that but, knowing they couldn't be in the wild and seeing how well cared for they are in the Habitat, it was a little bit easier. I suppose if they have to be in captivity, this is a fairly good place for them.
[John] After leaving the Habitat, we made our way out of Cochrane and headed towards North Bay - about five and a half hours south without stopping. We knew it would take us a lot longer than that, because we had a few stops we wanted to make along the way.
Our first stop was in Iroquois Falls to find the Welcome Centre so we could see the Guy-Paul Treefall statue. After thinking we had missed our turn-off, we turned around and corrected our path and wandered through town not finding what we wanted. As we left town and headed back south on the main road, we encountered major road construction and the Welcome Centre was blocked off as a result - we could only see Guy-Paul Treefall from the road as we drove by.
[Lana] Obviously, they didn't get your email. Or, did you forget to send it again? You know I told you to let everybody know we were coming, to prevent all of this construction and allow us to see all of the roadside attractions. Gee willikers, you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!
[John] Yeah... stop relying on me to execute your silly ideas. You're such a smarty pants... or smart arse... whichever you prefer.
[Lana] I'll take smart arse, thanks.
[John] It's yours. Congratulations.
[Lana] Yippeee!
[John] Oy.
Oh my, Lana was truly so saddened by this miss - it honestly broke my heart to see him so upset. He wanted me to turn around and just drive in to the parking lot anyway but there was no way we could do that. I felt awful but we had to call that one a loss and move forward. We will have to go back up there one day. Maybe that will be an overnight trip next year if we can manage it.
[Lana] The lumberjack curse strikes again.
[John] Maybe we need to plan a lumberjack-themed roadtrip one year. Or, maybe I'll just build you a lumberjack statue of your own. But, who am I kidding really... I'm happy to draw you a lumberjack stick figure.
This is an absolutely priceless objet d’art by the one and only John Lilies.
[Lana] That is just perfect. I feel so much better.
[John] Happy to help. Enjoy.
From Iroquois Falls we moved on to Val Gagné to find the skidoo tree. We found the spot where it was supposed to be, by a country market. Not finding the skidoo tree itself, we went into the market to look around. As we purchased our sandwich and coffees, we asked the incredibly kind market employee about the skidoo tree and he informed us that it was theirs and they had recently tossed it into their scrap metal yard. He told us we could go behind the market and look at the pile of metal but we decided it just wouldn't be the same experience we had hoped for, so we expressed our gratitude and moved on.
[Lana] It was very nice of him to offer, it really was. He even suggested it to the point of taking pictures of the heap of metal trash. Again, very kind of him, but not exactly the attraction we were looking for. But, it makes me wonder... skidoo tree... is this a continuation of the lumberjack curse?
[John] That's stretching it a bit, don't you think? I mean, it isn't like we were on a hunt for skidoo trees - it was only one on the entire trip. Let's not be too dramatic here, Mr. Hollywood.
[Lana] I was talking about a lumberjack cutting the tree down, not a skidoo tree curse. *Mr. Hollywood... shaking my head...*
[John] Sorry... Mr. Hollywood North. I didn't mean to mislabel you.
[Lana] That's more like it.
[John] Happy to clear that up.
From the treeless market, we drove towards Earlton for our next planned stop but decided to pull over at a rest stop to eat our sandwich. We looked out over a little lake and enjoyed the quiet calm of the scene. For some reason, I found myself quite curious about what lake we were at and when I checked the map, I discovered we were at Swan Lake Park. Sure enough, when I zoomed out on the map, the lake did indeed look like a swan with its head bent down. It made me smile.
[Lana] Swan Lake? I didn't even hear any music!
[John] Oh boy.
So... After our pause at the lake, we continued on to Earlton for the Manitou statue - "Earl the Bison". We found it next to an RV dealer's lot on highway 11, just before Earlton proper. This is a large statue, covered in little white Christmas lights. It was worth our stop and made me happy for Lana that we had success on this one.
[Lana] Who couldn't love an 19-foot tall bison? Earl is one impressive beast at 27 feet long and nine tons of steel!
[John] After saying our goodbyes to Earl, we passed through Watabeag and Matheson and Englehart Lake as we made our way to New Liskeard-Dymond to find the Ms. Claybelt statue (she's a cute cow). Thankfully, we had success again here and happily drove on to Haileybury / Temiskaming Shores to find a tugboat attraction. Fail. No tugboat that we could find anywhere.
[Lana] That's okay, it balances out the tugboat we found earlier that wasn't on our list.
[John] Yes, I suppose that is true.
From Haileybury we went to Cobalt where we discovered the North Cobalt Flea Market. I'd say it's less of a flea market than it is a cool general store.
[Lana] Or, a dollar store on steroids.
[John] Ha!
It had art supplies, car maintenance supplies, hunting gear, housewares, fishing needs, lawn decor, and everything in between. We left empty-handed but we did enjoy the experience.
[John] On to Temagami to find a moose statue. This was the coolest moose statue ever and we found it out front of Theodore's Chip Stand.
[Lana] If I were to ever create a moose statue, this is the kind of moose statue I would want to make. I love it when things look like cartoons-come-to-life. Well, not come-to-life but you know what I mean.
[John] We continued on to Marten River to find the Rock Pine Motel for the statue of Welcome Walleye. It's actually outside of the Trapper Trading Post. We were going to go inside to have a look around but it looked closed and we also thought maybe it was just a convenience store. So, on to North Bay we went.
[Lana] Fish are weird things to makes statues of; we've seen quite a few of them now and every time I see one I wonder, "Shouldn't this be closer to the water?"
[John] Wasn't there a lake close to this place?
[Lana] Not close enough.
[John] What is your required proximity for appropriateness?
[Lana] Hundred-metre dash (hundred-yard dash, for those in the States, would be acceptable).
[John] So... according to the map, this location was too far?
[Lana] Indubitably.
[John] So picky, you are.
[Lana] Yes. Yes, I am.
[John] Once we arrived in North Bay, we went straight to our hotel and settled in for the night. We were both exhausted and needed a good night of rest to prepare for our next day of travels.
[John] Let us know if you're familiar with any of these roadside attractions. Are there others that you've visited and thought were cool? Comment here or tag us on Twitter or Facebook, or send us an email and let us know.
Thanks for joining us for another leg of our trip! Stay tuned for our ride from North Bay to Huntsville, with a special stop along the way.
Until next time, happy travels!
