August 5, 2024 – West Coast of Newfoundland

 



Monday it was rainy and foggy, so we decided to drive to Stephenville and take a short hike along Blanche Brook.  All along this section of the brook you can see fossilized tree trunks embedded in the sandstone.






The fossil beds here provide a rare glimpse of the remains of 305-million-year-old tropical Cordiatalean Trees. 






The giant 160 ft trees grew on a mountain range when the island of Newfoundland was part of the great continent Pangaea.








                Nancy on the trail in the forest beside the brook.








More logs in the water.







We found logs of various sizes on this short section of the brook.

 

This was a great hike despite the foggy weather, and we enjoyed finding the fossilized logs.




We next drove around parts of Ernest Harmon Air Force Base – an abandoned US Air Force Base.  The beginning of World War II changed everything for the small community of Stephenville. When the "Destroyers for Base Agreement" was signed between the United Kingdom and the United States in 1940, the town became host to the largest American Air Force Base outside the continental US.  In exchange for 50 destroyer warships, the United State would get 99-year leases for the construction of military bases on the island of Newfoundland (which of course was owned by The United Kingdom at the time).  We stopped at a small park where this F-102 Delta Dagger was displayed.  The US Air Force presented this fighter to the town of Stephenville.

As the tensions of the Cold War began to ease, the need for a large base at Stephenville declined.  On December 16, 1966, the base was shut down for good.  We thought these flowers in the park were beautiful.

This was a nice history lesson for us as we had no idea that the US had an Air Force Base in Newfoundland.

We spent the afternoon doing laundry and getting some chores done around the motorhome.  This was a great way to spend a rainy and foggy day.


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