Canada Day Six - Parc Omega

What a day! This post will be short on words I think but long on pictures. We had the BEST time at Parc Omega! It is a drive through nature park right outside of Ottawa and we stopped there on our way to Quebec. Our first stop was of course the gift shop where the boys were thrilled to see some Arctic Foxes. We bought two bags of carrots there thinking it would be enough to feed the animals. But we were sorely mistaken! 

The entrance to Parc Omega

At the gift shop

Arctic foxes at the gift shop

We left the shop and headed into the park. Immediately we were met by half a dozen elk, just waiting to be fed. They came right up to the car, walking all around us, and stuck their heads into the windows! We were all delighted and had great fun feeding them carrots. We drove further in and found more and more elk near the road, some resting and some waiting to waylay cars. 

 Lots and lots of screaming

Guarding the entrance to the park

Elk invasion

Camille feeds the animals

They are coming in!

We had been warned not to feed the males because it was mating season and they were more aggressive. None of them came up to the car looking for food but a number of them stood in the road or walked right by us. They are impressive! One did lower his horns at us as we drove past. And they have a screeching call that quite surprised us at first. 

The really do look majestic

A small herd near the side of the road

And elk bellowing right next to our car

This guy in the middle didn't like it when we passed by

In addition to the elk, there were a number of deer, boar, and Canadian geese all right near the entrance. Some of the baby boar were adorable! Today was incredibly foggy and it was amazing to see these animals slowly appearing out of the fog as we drove on. None of the pictures do it justice. 
 

The babies were so cute!

Lots of Canadian Geese

So many boar!

Christian loved getting so close to all the animals

Deer in the foggy woods

About halfway through the park we stopped at a little lunch area which apparently had a great playground too. But we didn't get to see that because as soon as were had stepped out of the car it began pouring, with some hail too! We tried to wait it out but were too impatient and all got completely soaked as we ran back to the car. Five minutes later the skies cleared and some of the fog had cleared up too. Now we could see the beautiful fall colors which are on display here. This was the first time we'd really gotten the colors since, even in Ottawa, the leaves have only just started to change. 

You shall not pass!

Two deer resting on the leaves

A hungry deer comes to say hi

  More feeding of the animals and more screaming

We saw so many animals in the park. Deer, elk, caribou, wolves, foxes, a bear, mountain goats, and bison. The bison are huge! A couple of them were just hanging out in the road and walking up to the cars. We had been warned not to feed them though, so we just admired them. 

This huge guy was just hanging out in the middle of the road

He's so big!

Baby bison

Jon's picture of a buffalo horn

Arctic Fox

Caribou

The park was incredible. Even a short trip on a rainy and foggy day was amazing. At one point Jon called out in glee that this was better than Universal. Next time we come up we'll have to plan to spend a whole day here. And we'll definitely have to buy more carrots! 

Arctic wolves

The wolves are beautiful

Wolf pack through the mist

But we did still have a four hour drive to Quebec City so we couldn't stay too long. Still it was almost 3 when we got on the road again and that, combined with a late lunch meant that we didn't get to our apartment until after 8. It wasn't a particularly long drive by itself, but since this is the third day of driving we've had I am definitely starting to get rather restless in the car. But our apartment is great! We are right downtown, just a street over from the old town, and we have a balcony overlooking the city. I am really excited to be here!

Jon is so excited about our balcony

The boys room

James in the kitchen of our rental apartment

The boys relaxing in the livingroom

Will and Jon on the balcony

We were all hungry and Christian had some energy to burn so we left Will and Jon in the apartment and the rest of us went to grab some food. There is a supermarket and a whole bunch of restaurants just down the street so we couldn't have been easier. Christian and I raced each other up and down the street and I actually wore him out! Ha! Victory is finally mine. :-)

Running on the streets of Quebec

I wore him out!

I've no idea what we are going to do tomorrow but I can't wait to explore the city!