So far on this trip I’ve booked the Chi Cheemaun Ferry for the wrong day, told BN our trip was ending on the wrong day, confused the towns of Sundridge & Katrine when planning sightseeing, and spent the last three days convinced we were spending tonight at a full-amenities campsite. Wait, not so fast on that last one, Lainey.
We have Environment Canada warning us of an impending heat wave, but not to worry, our Parry Sound KOA has electricity, and we have AC. Again I say, Wait.
It suddenly popped into my head – we’re not at a KOA. We’re staying in the parking lot of a brewery right in the middle of Parry Sound. Crap. Will there be complaints about our generator? What about our AC? Will we melt in the 26+ degree nighttime heat?
I can’t. I just can’t do it. And BN feels the same way. But, I may well be getting a reputation as the Harvest Host member who keeps cancelling (I refer you to last year’s broken toe and broken generator, both of which caused me to cancel several HH stays). At each one I cancelled at least 48 hours in advance, but a point comes where that many cancellations could count against you. But it’s hot. Really hot. So we formed a cunning plan – a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel (IYKYK).
Step One: I quickly booked us in last minute at the local KOA. Step Two: we headed over to the HH brewery/pub we are expected to stay at. We identified ourselves to the host, who confirmed our parking spot. Barb asked when the pub closes (10pm) and re-opens (11am) and then most disingenuously said, “Oh, I hope it’s okay that we come back later than 10pm tonight; we’re visiting friends and will be quite late.” The host assured us that would be no problem and nodded when I said we’d probably be gone by the time they came to work the following morning.
Now the main reason companies agree to be hosts is so that people will buy their products. Hence Step Three: we picked up a selection of their craft beers and made sure the cashier knew we were Harvest Hosting.
Step Four: we toddled off (purportedly to visit our ‘friends’) to the full-amenities KOA, set up camp, turned on the AC, and popped a bottle of sparkling wine.
And finally, Step Five: to fully reinforce our deception, I have just left a glowing review of the brewery on HH’s website, confirming that we appreciated that we were allowed to return late at night to the parking spot and take off first thing in the morning. (Technically these are not outright lies; everything I said was true. And the main thing is: the brewery got our business and a 5-star review, I kept my HH guest status intact, and we slept comfortably through the night. So sue me.)