Thanksgiving 2019 - Days 5, 6 and 7

Day 5 - Ottawa Ontario - Montebello Quebec

We only had a short drive today and a late check out so we had a sleep in.  We walked back into downtown and found a Tim Hortons for breakfast.  A nutelly filled Croissant and Candy Cane Hot chocolate.  Then we packed up and headed out -  across the river this morning and into Quebec.  Back in the land of French first, English second.

We drove alongside the Ottawa river to the little town of Montebello.  By the time we got there it was lunch time so again we stopped into the local Fromaggerie (Cheese shop) and bought some cheese, salami and bread.  Unfortunately it was much colder today and our picnic wasn't quite so pleasant.

A quick shoveling in of food and back into the car.  Back in Perth the lady in the cheese shop had told us about a park her in Montebello that we should really check out.  Parc Omega.  The valet this morning had also mentioned it so we drove up there after lunch to see what it was all about.  We almost balked at the $100 price tag, but we're so glad we didn't.  It was probably the best part of our entire trip.

Parc Omega is a wildlife sanctuary full of Canadian Wildlife.



 Deer, elk, bison, fox, coyote, boar, bear.  You name it and it lives here and the best part is that a lot of them are just roaming free and you can buy bags of carrots and feed them.  Well we learnt pretty quickly that the deer and boar especially know whats going on, they will mob your car to get to your carrots.

 Some of them were too shy to come and get carrots

 But others would follow you from stop to stop.

 You cannot put your window down all the way or you will end up with an entire deer head in your car.  This guy really wanted his carrot.

 Some of these guys were really big.

Whilst the Elk and deer were roaming free other animals were more enclosed, but that was OK it just meant we actually got to see them since we weren't allowed to feed these guys.

arctic fox

caribou

Bison

 About halfway through the park we had run out of carrots - thankfully the parc had predicted this and had another place to buy carrots....I've never seen two kids more excited about a bag of carrots.

This guy gave up his hay to take some of our carrots - did no one ever tell him its not polite to bring half your first meal to your second.

This guy was one large deer - his back was taller than the top of the car.

And just so you understand what it's like to be mobbed by a bunch of deer.....

The car definitely needs a wash now - there is deer drool over all the windows.

We had so much fun driving around this park.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the area.

Once we had done a full circuit - Plus perused the souvenir store we headed back to Montebello to our next nights accommodation.  Another of the Canadian Railroad Hotels - Chateau Montebello.  This place is designated as the largest log cabin and it is an extremely cool place.

But also very hard to Photograph. Its 6 wings like this off a central foyer.

We got a room in the Champlain wing - basic but nice.

It's the foyer however that is the star of this hotel.  A huge 6 sided fireplace makes up the centerpiece.

 And with all the Christmas Decorations it looked so magical.

Of course we had to check out the pool

Best part was the fact that they had no age limit on the Sauna so the kids got to experience their first sauna.

We drove into Montebello for dinner - the local pub again.

Then we repaired to the foyer for some after dinner drinks.

Day 6 - Montebello Quebec to Burlington Vermont

We started our day with a walk around the hotel.  Its a beautiful place.  I wish we had some more time to spend exploring it.

 

Then it was back in the car.

We crossed back across the Ottawa river into Ontario at Hawksbury, then down through Alexandria to Cornwall where we crossed back into the US.  We then drove right across the top of New york state to Champlain then across Lake Champlain to Burlington.

Overnight at the Fairfield Inn Williston Burlington and Dinner at the Vermont Tap house.

Day 7 - Burlington VT - Home

A simple drive down the freeways through White River Junction and Brattleboro - Lunch at Holyoak then home along the Pike.