Starting Location: Houlton, ME
Ending Location: Presque Isle, ME
Daily Miles Ridden: 144
Cumulative Miles Ridden: 2108
This Day's Route: Hwy 1 north to Caribou ME, Hwy 89 east to Loring ME
[2], Hwy 89 east to Limestone ME [4], Hwy Alt 1 north to Van Buren ME [5], Hwy
1 south and backroads to Stockholm ME [6], Hwy 161 south to Caribou ME, Hwy 1
south to Presque Isle ME.
My father served in the Air Force while I was growing up so we moved frequently. For almost two years he was stationed at Loring AFB, ME and we lived on base. I completed grades eight and nine during this time.
Naturally, I have many memories of the area and wanted to see how much things had changed. So I decided to kick back for a day and look around. It turns out this day was July 4, also.
Loring AFB was closed in 1994 as a
BRAC action and the
location, now known as simply Loring, is home to the
Loring Commerce Centre. The West Gate is
shown here.
Riding a motorcycle here would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
This is the exact location where our housing unit was located. The housing
buildings have all been razed but the streets are still in place. I felt
strange standing here - it was almost like viewing a ghost town.
This small lake was one of the recreational areas on base and it doesn't
appear to have changed much at all. I spent many hours here including a week
long camping outing with some buddies in freezing temperatures while there was
still snow on the ground. We rented cold weather camping gear from the base
recreation office so we were properly equipped. My long term love of camping
has some of its roots here.
After touring Loring I rode on to Limestone, the nearest town.
This building was formerly Limestone High School, where I completed my
freshman year in high school.
Here is downtown Limestone. I arrived just in time to view the July 4
parade.
I purchased lunch from one of the fundraising groups at the parade. Yum-yum!
After the parade was over I rode north to Van Buren, and then south to Stockholm and New Sweden.
Here is a northern Maine potato field. When we lived there school started
earlier in the year and then had a recess of several weeks in September so that
the older youth could help
the farmers pick the crop. "Spud-chucking" was exhausting work
but also a chance for high schoolers to make some pretty good money in a short
period of time. Whenever a juicy rotten potato was found it was usually
grenade-tossed at someone - all in good fun and retaliation was
expected/delivered.
As I was leaving New Sweden the rain finally arrived. I had orignally
planned to camp at the
Aroostook
State Park but opted for a room in Presque Isle instead.
