Today's history lesson: As I said yesterday, we spent the night in Gander. Gander is a place that holds an interesting place in US history.
On September 11, 2001, North American airspace was closed to all commercial flights due to the terrorist incident in the US. As a result, 225 passenger aircraft were diverted to 17 Canadian airports; of these, 34 were directed to land at the small international airport in the town of Gander, nearly doubling the population of the town. In addition, four military flights were also diverted, for a total of 38 aircraft putting the total of passengers and crew around 6,600. Passengers and crew came from 95 countries with differing cultures, dietary and religious needs, and customs.
Many of the passengers spent their first 24 hours on the tarmac until they could receive clearance to get off the planes. All checked baggage had to be left on-board the aircraft; passengers were only allowed to take their carry-on baggage. So in addition to needing food and shelter, many passengers also required clothing, medications, and baby needs. The towns of Gander, Gambo, Gloverton, Glenwood, Appleton, Norris Arm, Benton, and Lewisporte stepped up to help and fulfilled all these needs. The bus drivers, who were on strike at the time, put their strike on hold, to help transport the plane passengers to where they needed to go.
Passengers were provided shelter in hotels, churches, halls, and private homes. Over the course of 5 days, local groups and residents tended to the needs of about 6,600 anxious people, often working around the clock to do so. In addition, entertainment and daily excursions for those who wanted to get out and explore the area were provided, including boat rides, hikes, parties, BBQ s, and Screech-Ins. Kosher and vegetarian meals were prepared, and a place was arranged for Muslim and Jewish passengers to pray. Even 17 dogs and cats and two Bonobo chimpanzees were given care by the SPCA. Locals did their best to ensure the "Plane People" had everything they needed.
They made those five days feel more like a vacation than a stranding. Follow the above link if you want to learn more. The Broadway play, Come From Away, is about that time in Gander. I am looking so forward to seeing it after visiting this place.
Ok, the history lesson is over. 😌
Our day started out with heavy rains. Everyone was debating what to do. Realistically, it is difficult for 12 people to want to do the same thing, discussions took place and we came to the realization that it will be so much easier for each RV to decide for itself what to do each day. As long as we know where we are going to meet up each night, we should be fine. If everyone wants to do the same thing, great, but if two groups want one thing and one wants something else, that's ok too. If people want to hop in a different RV for the day and go do what that group is doing, that is fine too. The idea of the trip is for everyone to be able to see what they want .
That being said, two of the trailers decided to stop at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander. Our RV decided to move along out of town, but not before I asked them to find the Heritage Memorial Park so I could try to find the statue of Sgt. Gander and his handler whom I had read about in the Newfoundland Tourism Guide. Sgt. Gander was a Newfoundland dog who went off to war and saved the lives of many soldiers. The link above will tell the story better than I could, but be warned, it will make you cry.
Lucky for me, the rain stopped as I got out to take pictures at the park. This park was a lot smaller than I expected, just one small city corner block, but it had so many statues and memorials packed into it.
(Click on a photo to see it in a larger view or before downloading photo)
This is the statue of Sgt. Gander wearing his medal.
This is his handler.
Next we stopped in the town of Bishop Falls to see the Trestle Bridge I read about in the Newfoundland Tourism Guide and to have lunch. This former railway trestle is now a boardwalk spanning 927 feet across the Exploits River. It is the longest trestle in Newfoundland. To put it in terms that are easier to picture, it is longer than the Titanic! It was built in 1901 and is illuminated each night.
Julie-Ann and I have been working on our Kindness Rocks while riding in the RV. Not bad penmanship for being in a moving vehicle. I remembered to leave my first Kindness Rock on a bench in Bishop Falls.
Julie-Ann and I walked half way across the trestle. We watched a few ATVs ride across from one side to the other.
The rain stopped when we arrived, so we could get out and walk around, but once we were back on the road, it started pouring again. We have been pretty lucky when it comes to that.
We met up with everyone again in Dorset at a highway rest area. We compared notes about everyone's adventures and discussed where to stay for the night.
I love the food choices!
John asked me to take these photos of these rocks for his sister, Laurie. She enjoys geology.
We stopped for the night in Deer Lake at the Gateway to the North RV Park. Most of the girls went to one RV to play games, the guys came to ours to shoot the breeze. I stayed in ours to read a book I was hooked on. Yes, I still love to read. The hot water tank in our RV wasn't working properly. Grant worked on it, with all the guys supervising and giving their 2 cents, of course. Needless to say, in spite of their help, Grant got it working again.
After everyone returned to their own RV's, Julie-Ann asked to see some of my photos. I went to get my camera out of the shower where I had been storing my camera gear and other things, as we were not using the shower for showering. Upon retrieving it, I discovered that the shower was flooded with gray water. My big lens was destroyed as well as my small camera. Luckily, my good camera was still above the waterline and I would still have the ability to take pictures on the trip with something other than my phone. We have no idea how water backed up into the shower, as it is above the holding tank and there is no way we used enough water to fill the gray water tank in 3 days, but it happened and there is nothing we can do about it. We will buy some rice to put the camera and lens in to try to dry them out until I can get them home. Maybe Canon can refurbish them for me, or I will have to save up another few years to replace the lens, but at least the good camera is safe.
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