Mom and I drove up from NJ to Maine to visit John Bisignano, a long-time friend of our family. John lives on the coast of Maine in Owl’s Head, a small town just south of Rockland. We spent a few days up there enjoying the slow pace of rural life. Thanks to John for being such a fantastic host!
Spent some time on the coast of Maine visiting folks and exploring the old stomping ground of my Mom’s father, Jim Randall.
My last day in Maine I made it to Loring Air Force Base, located near Limestone.
A few quotes from the linked Wikipedia page regarding the base
Loring AFB was carved out of the woods of Maine beginning in the late forties and officially dedicated in 1953.
The host wing for Loring AFB throughout its existence was the 42nd Bomb Wing. The wing originally flew the B-36 Peacemaker, converting later to the B-52 Stratofortress…
The Nuclear Weapons Storage Area at Loring once operated as a separate, top secret facility. Originally called the North River Depot, the remote area to the northeast of Loring’s property was the first U.S. Operational site specifically constructed for the storage, assembly, and testing of atomic weapons…
Since 1981, nearly $300 million in military construction and operations and maintenance funds were spent to upgrade the facilities…
The official base closure date was 30 September 1994.
It is a strange feeling to ride a bicycle around an area where a third of a billion dollars was spent since I was born and is now largely devoid of human presence.
A warm summer Sunday in Acadia National Park. Mount Desert Island, Maine.
Up the Abol Trail and down the Helon Taylor. 10 miles that took 10 hours. We started at 5 am after sleeping in the car outside the park the night before. Seemed to be the Maine way.
The easternmost point of the contiguous United States and the closest point to Europe from within the fifty States.
Aroostook County, Maine. Sight of the first successful transatlantic balloon launch. The Maine School of Science and Mathematics is my home until July 26th.
