Newlyweds Austin and IIIIi Sayres had hoped to enjoying their honeymoon in Australia this week, but the grounding of all flights into and out of the USA after Tuesday bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon put a curve in their plans.
The Brownsville couple, married September 8, said they will just have to go some other time.
“We were supposed to leave Wednesday,” said Austin, a 1996 SHHS graduate. “We have been rescheduling flights. We may just make the three week tour but in reverse.”
Sayres said the travel company that booked his honeymoon tour had office in a building adjacent to the World Trade Center.
“We have insurance on the flight and everyone has been terrific to deal with as far as trying to reschedule,” Sayres said.
Sharon Pryor was already in the air over Idaho when the plane on which she was a passenger was called back to Eugene Tuesday morning.
Pryor was headed to Nebraska, just about 90 miles from Omaha, to visit family.
“We were just 10 minutes from Boise when the pilot announced over the intercom that the nation was in crisis,” Pryor said. “He said a plane had hit the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers and he had been commanded to land at the nearest airport. He came back on the intercom a few minutes later and said we were being re directed to our point of Origin, which was Eugene.”
Although the flight had left Oregon without any fanfare, that atmosphere had changed when it returned.
“We parked about 100 yards from the terminal and there were police and TV crews all around,” Pryor said. “I guess I was surprised at how quickly the police had arrived at the Eugene airport.”
Pryor said she and two other passengers had prayed together after the pilot said the plane was going to land in Boise. After that point, the plane was directed back to Eugene.
Several Sweet Home persons were away from town or were trying to leave town and were caught by the airline shutdown.
Sweet Home businessman Jack Legg and his wife Lisa were in Reno at a buying convention. He said the couple were scheduled to return to Portland by plane Thursday evening but realized early Tuesday morning their chances might be slim.
They booked a rental car immediately after learning about the airline cancellations.
“The air show was on in Reno and the rental car place told us they planned to rent about 500 cars a day but they rented them all out Tuesday morning,” Legg said.
Legg said he heard of one group that was at the buying convention that rented a Taurus to drive back to North Carolina.
Legg said the nine-hour drive home wasn’t bad but said the couple still had to drive to Portland to recover the car they had left at the airport.
“I don’t mind the $8 a day parking fee but I really didn’t like the $3 a day energy surcharge they added to our hotel room,” Legg said.
Kristin and Mike Adams were on vacation in Las Vegas and had arrived there Monday evening.
“Everything shut down except the casinos,” Kristin said. “It was strange. People were somber.”
The Adams had flown to Las Vegas but rented a car and drove home.
“I’m not sure I want to be in an airplane for a while,” she said.
Several Sweet Home residents know persons who work around the World Trade Center.
Hawthorne Elementary Principal Gloria Mittleman’s sister-in-law is an attorney who spends two or three days a week in the World Trade Centers. Fortunately, Tuesday, she was working away from the Towers when the tragedy occurred.
SHHS graduate David Allen Turnbull’s office was in the World Trade Center. Turnbull is involved in the internet site for Broadmark Capital, a venture capital firm.
Turnbull was fortunately on vacation in Wyoming when the WTC towers exploded.
His mother, Marcie, said she has spoken to her son since the bombing. She said that until two weeks ago, her son and his wife had lived across the street from the WTC.