Thursday, September 16, 2010
Arndt's Aroostook River Campground, Presque Isle, ME July 19-22
What a lovely cg this is! Situated on a hillside with unobstructed views to the west, the sunsets are magnificent. The hillsides are a combination of cultivated & forested land, making for a lovely effect. The campsites are quite large with trees nearby but not in the sites. We took a long drive up through the northernmost parts of ME, along the Canadian border. We saw the end of US 1, in Fort Kent, right before the road crosses into Canada. We saw the blockhouse at Fort Kent, which was used during the border dispute, which went on for many years. The dispute was finally settled (without a shot ever being fired) by a treaty in 1842, which established the border along the St John River. This area has much Acadian history; in fact, French was the language commonly spoken in the Madawaska K-Mart. Local businesses commonly have names like Hebert, Thibodeau & Pelletier.
When the Acadians were forced out of Canada, some of them came up the St. John River, landing near Madawaska. We saw the cross which marks their landing spot. We also saw a restored Acadian Village in Van Buren.Also along our route was a fairly large area settled by Swedes. Towns with names like Stockholm & New Sweden were clues to this heritage. Our final stop was to see what had become of the former Loring AFB at Limestone. This was of particular interest because Doug's dad was to be transferred there, when he instead chose retirement & moved to Tucson. What a dump!! Doug kept thinking "I could have been here" as we drove around this depressed (& depressing) area. We think Tucson was a wise choice!
Throughout the county (Aroostook, the largest in ME) the potatoes are blooming, creating large rolling fields of color. These potatoes are almost as famous as Idaho potatoes. We were just in time for the local Potato Blossom Festival in nearby Fort Fairfield. We took in the parade and food & craft booths on Saturday, and plan to see the fireworks over the Aroostook River tonight.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:17 PM 
