Day 74 – We were up & out by 8:45 a.m., 62 degrees, very overcast. We drove to the Amish store near Eastport. Since we were out early, we encountered many horse-drawn carts taking the Amish people with their fruits & vegetables to their stands and to the farmer’s markets. The oat fields were currently being worked & harvested. A busy time at the farm! The Store was open, YAAA!, and we got a wonderful fresh loaf of Oat Bread. The young woman who packaged our bread told us that we’d get all different kinds of breads on Tuesday’s around 11 a.m. We will go back then for sure. Also, there is a room next to the store that sells Amish-made furniture, some of the nicest chairs & dining room tables I have ever seen. We took the oat bread back to the RV & made our sandwiches for lunch, packed a bag, and headed out for a drive to the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge near Limestone, ME.
We took a very scenic drive north, up & down the rolling-hill roads of Route 1A, passing by ponds & lakes, fields of vegetables & grains, nice farms, and alongside the beautiful Aroostook River. The Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center is located at 97 Refuge Road, Limestone, ME, (207) 328-4634.
Aroostook NWR, Caribou, ME
Aroostook NWR, Caribou, ME
We stopped & got literature, and we quote from some of that below: (MARK & DONNA, THIS IS FOR YOU IN PARTICULAR.)
“Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge is located on part of the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. It was established in 1998 when 4,700 acres were transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then the refuge has grown to 5,252 acres and includes more than 2,400 additional acres in conservation easements. Loring Air Force Base played a key role in assuring our country’s safety during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was stationed here from 1950 to 1994 flying long-range bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Caribou Air Force Station was a top-secret, self-contained base in the northeast corner of the site.”
On the way to Refuge Road, we drove through what was left of the abandoned Base. Does any of it look familiar to you, Mark?
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
The Wildlife Refuge was super-interesting, but not in the way we’d expected. Literature, and the volunteer at the Visitor’s Center, talked about the Moose, Deer, Bears, Lynx, Coyotes, Rabbits, Owls, Bald Eagles, Osprey, Hawks, Beavers, Mink, Otters, etc. I’m sure that’s true, but we saw none of that. What we did see, though, as we took the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour Route, was what was left of “the first operational nuclear weapons storage base during the Cold War”. (Anyone reading this, have you watched “The Americans” on TV or do you personally remember “the Cold War”? We do.)
#1 – “The Entrance Gate: This high-security gate was located on the Main road at the southern end of the Base. Four rows of chain-link fence once surrounded the entire weapons storage area.” (We do not have a picture of this because there was a big sign that said Detour so we didn’t realize its significance, but it was a gate with very tall fencing followed by another duplicate set of fencing.)
#2 – “The Bunkers: Bunkers were utilized for the storage of weapons and ammunization. The weapons storage area was the first operational nuclear weapons storage base during the Cold War in the country. The base had the largest storage capacity of all the bases in the Strategic Air Command.” (The volunteer at the Visitor’s Center said that we must go inside The Bunkers. She said that each one had its own pattern of echoeing, and that when school children take tours, they love this part. Me, being a bit paranoid, I am thinking: but what if they haven’t cleaned out all of the nuclear waste? Will these school children be exposed? LOL. I dared to follow Rob into the Bunkers and it was totally cool, the way that they echoed, each one different. You could’ve clapped your hands and created a fantastic soundtrack for a show or CD with the echoes from inside the Bunkers.)
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
#3 – “The Vamp House: This was built to look like a schoolhouse with fictional windows and doorways. It housed nuclear igniters.”……YIKES!……”The Vamp House also had Fighting Towers to the sides of it.” (Um, we don’t think this “schoolhouse” would’ve fooled anyone Russian who was checking it out, but who knows? The Fighting Towers were scary with their holes for firing weapons from within. Thank goodness this war was COLD. Can you imagine?)
The building in the background is supposed to be camouflaged as a school. Really? Russian agents couldn’t figure it out?
#4 – “The Bank: The above-ground-level structure is solid concrete! It is also similar to the Vamp House. The single doorway in the building led to a network of vaults that contained nuclear trigger mechanisms.”……another YIKES!…..”The building had fictional windows and doorways to elude enemies into thinking its purpose was a different purpose than that for which it was used.” (I wonder if that would’ve worked, eluding the enemy?)
Looks just like a bank to me… No nuclear fuses stored here!
#5 – “The Mine Shop: This building was used to assemble, repair and inspect nuclear weapons and missiles. It was built in 1954 and awnings were added to the north and south side of the building in 1960. It was built with blast walls on the east and west sides of the building to dampen the effect of an accidental explosion.” (Accidental explosion? Sends shivers up my spine! What a scary time that was.)
The Mine Shop, former Caribou Air Force Station, Caribou, ME
That was the end of the NWR Auto Tour Route. We found a shady area and had our lunch, wondering where the wildlife was. We took other smaller roads south, heading back to the campground through the farmlands & rolling hills to return to Presque Isle. We stopped at Trafton Lake, a campground which appeared to be full, and a nice boat launch. We continued towards and along the beautiful Aroostook River, with hills of broccoli, oats, and potatoes, ready for harvest soon.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
The high today was 84 degrees, overcast. When we got back to the campground, the quiet man camping alone next to us had been replaced by a Party of Five, no six, really. Two kids and a dog included. Across from us, the fairly quiet family with the well-behaved children had been replaced with ??? We thoroughly enjoyed our day and were glad to be home with the kitties.
Thanks for the pictures! Brings back a lot of memories:). I worked mostly in the nuclear weapons storage area so got to watch as they took nuclear bombs out of area to load them on b52s. I’m sure closing the base had a big impact on the area economy. Enjoy reading your posts!