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[Monday, October 1, 2007: Collingwood.]
We had a plan today to go out to Collingwood to check out the Scenic Caves. I found out a couple of days earlier that the Cycle World clearance sale was going on, and Saturday would be the last day. So, the plan was altered so that we would go to the sale in the morning before heading north to look at the caves in time for lunch.
Did I ever mention that our plans never turn out the way we plan them? Well, we got up late for one, and had a late breakfast. On top of that, I had forgotten to print out a map and directions to the Scenic Caves, but we were able to get around that by surfing on my phone and calling up the place for directions. We also found out that the site closed at six, but only admitted visitors until four and it was already two something by the time we had finished looking around at the sale. (We did pick up a helmet for MJNL, although I found out afterward that it was a snowmobile helmet.)
With nothing else planned, we decided to go for it and see if we could make it to the caves on time. The estimated travel time was two hours, which meant that we were already too late, and I promised that I would not speed (too much), so I had no confidence at arriving on time. The route was actually quite fast, and I felt that we had a chance, at first. But once we got off the expressway, traffic basically ground to a halt, and all hope vanished.
![[MJNL and I at Blue Mountain.]](http://lh4.google.com/jyseto/RyLWMy9Ga3I/AAAAAAAABJs/NJ1kC0oVcHM/s288/2007-09-15an.jpg)
We pressed on though, through the cold and cloudy day. As we approached the hill, we started looking for signs to the caves but found none and realized that we were lost. Well, perhaps not lost, but not sure where to go as we knew where we were. We knew we had overshot so I turned the car around and saw a tourist information booth right in front of us. Lucky!
We went inside and got some maps, pamphlets, and some directions to go to the caves and our hopes were buoyed as the tour guide told us that the last admittance time for the caves was at five. We still had a little time to spare, so we quickly back tracked and found our way to the caves. However, upon entering the hut, we realized that we were mislead as there was a sign indicating that people would not be allowed to enter after four. Ah well, it was a good try.
![[Me and my car.]](http://lh6.google.com/jyseto/RyLWQS9Ga4I/AAAAAAAABJ0/HmuylZc5yTs/s288/2007-09-15at.jpg)
Since we had nothing else to do, we hung around the area and drove up the escarpment as the lady behind the counter told us that there were two scenic points on the road we were traveling on. We passed by one pretty quickly, but did not find the second one. When we realized that we had gone way too far, we backtracked and that is when we saw the parking lot for the second point. When we stopped to take a look around, I realized that these scenic points were actually at the top of the Blue Mountain ski resort.
The view was really nice, and the rain let up and the skies cleared a bit when we stopped. The sun came out and we were able to see a rainbow over the landscape so we took a number of photographs. We walked around the top of the hill for a bit before heading back to the car to check out the second scenic point, which happened to be just an extension of the first.
![[Me at the top of Blue Mountain.]](http://lh4.google.com/jyseto/RyLWQy9Ga5I/AAAAAAAABJ8/rzHN8jdMEAo/s288/2007-09-15ba.jpg)
After that, we decided to head back, and when the rain started to come down again, we decided to go straight home.
