Day 56 – Glovertown, Newfoundland (Thursday, July 2, 2015)
Today was only a 155 km day. Well, compared to yesterday it was short. What I hadn’t been prepared for were the hills (I had been spoiled by the flat terrain from Deer Lake to Grand Falls) and the head wind of 26 km.
I arrived in Gander, my lunch time destination, at 2 pm; two hours late and had a quick lunch at a roadside Subway. Even though I was running late for the day I spent about 2 1/2 hours in Gander exploring the airport museum and visiting the airport frozen in time. This was a place that I heard about with interest and was determined not to miss.
I arrived in Glovertown after 8pm, much later than normal. I haven’t visited all the small sea side town’s in Newfoundland but I sense that Glovertown may be typical; somewhat isolated, welcoming, and just starting to cater to outside visitors. I bought some real food at the grocers and ordered a sub at a local pizza shop since all the restaurants were closed. I may have turned out to be the talk of the town for the evening. One interesting kid found that I had traveled on a “pedal bike” all the way from Vancouver. He repeated it to anyone he knew passing by.
I stayed the night at Lilac Inn B+B. This is the most fitting name for a place to stay at the end of my cross country tour. Another name for my tour could be the lilac tour. Although lilacs only flower for a week or two I have seen a flowering lilac almost every day for more that 50 days from the middle of British Columbia to Newfoundland.
Keith the owner, is a proper English host. I was served tea and cookies before crashing. Although some of the B+B frills I find silly, that was a nice touch.
