29 Jun 2024 - Lobster Lunch with the Noskowiaks, Ouellette Trading Post

 

George, Ed and Greg - Loring Air Force Base,  mid-70's

Today we drove through Van Buren to Hamlin Maine to have lunch with Greg and Dianne Noskowiak and our Air Force buddy from New York, George Lechner.  When in Maine what could be better than a lobster feed, and Dianne planned a dandy. George was there when we arrived and we quickly started a journey down memory lane involving our time at Loring.  

As mentioned previously, George's barracks room was right next to mine, and Greg was just down the hall.  When I went home in March 1974, married Doreen and "dragged" her back up to Maine, we moved into an apartment but I worked with Greg every day and were in touch socially with George and his then girlfriend Ann-Marie usually every week.  So there was a lot of reminiscing today and a ton of laughing!  Except for a couple days ago, the three of us had not been together in about 50 years!

Dianne made us all Bloody Mary's and in true Wisconsin style, served then with a beer chaser.  You can see this in the picture above with a couple Moose Head's and a Molson!  Dianne had some wine and Doreen sipped on a margarita.  

We all laughed and carried on while Dianne was busy at work preparing the lobsters and that is plural with all caps!  

Dianne helped us out by splitting the tails and claws!

A little extra height helps with leverage!

I think I counted eight lobsters here!!

Soon we gathered at the table and the feast was on!  Dianne covered all the details including bibs for us all!  Doreen is not a lobster eater so she had a burger.

The boyz ready to enjoy a feast!

So awesome!!!

A bowl in the middle of the table for the shells!

We had an absolutely awesome time and a meal that was second to none!  We cannot begin to thank Greg and Dianne enough for their hospitality!  But there are more surprises in store!  Monday they have invited us over to enjoy lunch including a Maine favorite - Fiddleheads!  Dianne is also preparing some Ployes for us too!  This is the mix they use to make the Ployes!

We said our goodbyes to George and he needed to be on the road southbound.  We will see him again in a few weeks in New York!  

Buddies!

Goodbyes!

After lunch Greg and I retired to their beautiful sunroom and continued our conversations.  I cannot begin to describe how great it is to reconnect with our great friends and hear them describe their lives, their kids, their grandkids, their projects, etc. 

 

It was time for us to head north to the campground so we said our goodbyes to Greg and Dianne and thanked them again  for the outstanding lunch!  Dianne provided us a goody bag full of lobster meat so that we could have a lobster roll or two back at the camper!

As we drove through Van Buren Doreen took note of the fuel prices as we will have to fuel up on Monday as we plan for our departure Tuesday morning.  Definitely not the highest prices we have paid on this trip, nor the lowest!

We made a stop on the way home at the Ouellette Trading Post in Van Buren. This place is amazing!  It is like stepping back in time.  They have literally everything in there! 

 

Rows and rows of everything you can think of!

They also have a quite a menu at their cafe.

Doreen scored a ceramic liquor bottle shaped like the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse which was built in 1875.  It's nickname is "Bug Light".  The good news is it is filled with Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy which is a staple up here, and very tasty I might add!

Tomorrow we first plan to visit Presque Isle where we had base housing; Caribou where we lived in two different apartments; lunch at the Rendezvous Restaurant which used to be right outside the east gate at Loring and is now in Caribou; the location of the Transmitter Site that I used to work at; Dodo's Market where we bought more beer. Moxie, etc than we care to discuss; Loring Air Force Base which brought us to this area; and Limestone Maine, the small town home of Loring!  Needless to say Liberty will be accompanying us as this is going to take a few hours!
 

28 Jun 2024 - New Tires, Visit from Air Force Buddy George Lechner

 

This morning I drove about an hour south to Presque Isle Maine to get two new front tires installed on the big ol' brown truck.  The folks at Hogan's Tires treated me right - answered all my pre-sales questions, got the tires ordered and they arrived on time; and got me right in and replaced them; torques the lug nuts without having to request it and instructed me to have them retorqued in Houlton on our way out.  I have my own torque wrench and it is normal procedure for me but it was refreshing to hear it from the technician here.  I could not have been more pleased with their service!  It was in and out of there in less than an hour.

Left front tire replaced with a new one

Spare removed from the right front and replaced with a new one on the aluminum rim

Spare tire stowed under the truck

While I was at the tire shop I got a call from another Air Force buddy, George Lechner who lives in New Paltz New York.  He will be here today and plans to stop up to the campground.  

I got back to the campground and Doreen and Liberty were outside soaking the the rays!  While we waited for George to get here I took the opportunity to clean the inside of the truck, vacuum, straighten things out and retorque the lug nuts on both front rims.  After lunch George arrived and we really enjoyed seeing him.  The last time we saw George was when we were camping at West Point Army Military Academy north of New York City in 2016.  For any of you that remember us telling the story about attending a Temptations and Beach Boys music concert at the site of the Woodstock Rock Festival in 2016, George was who took us there and provided the tickets.

George's ride.  Mustang with a 5 litre engine and six speed manual transmission

We had a great time catching up with George.  He runs a propane business in the New Paltz New York area.  When we were stationed at Loring Air Force Base he was also in the 2192d Communications Squadron as a RAPCON technician - he maintained the electronics equipment in the air traffic control tower used by the controllers.  

George at one of our site parties.  

In the summer we had a barbecue about every Friday after work at our site!!

When I first got to Loring AFB on 4 Jan 1974, I was still single and lived in the barracks.  My room was right next to George's.  His roommate, Ken Smith, was my sponsor.  As a sponsor he wrote me an introductory letter in advance of my arrival at Loring, so that I would have a point of contact when I got there.  He helped me in-process and took me to Supply right away to get my issue of winter weather gear, and we got a lot of it:  multiple pairs of thermal underwear, socks, facemask, gloves, hats, mukluk boots, a long parka, and on and on!  It was all authorized for wear with the uniform as well as with civilian clothes. Much of it I still have.

George Lechner and Doreen

Again, we are so thankful for our military friends as they are friends for life.  We are seeing George here, and then we will see him again in Ney York on this trip at stop# 27.  While George was here visiting with us in the camper today, Dianne called and invited him to lunch with us tomorrow so hopefully we will see him there too!

So back to this campground.  I cannot give enough accolades to this place.  Everyone is so friendly and helpful.  The owner, George Dionne,  is over the top!  We do have a lot in common.  George joined the military (Army) in 1972.  I joined in 1973.  George served on active duty and then joined the Army National Guard.  I served on active duty and then joined the Air National Guard.  George joined the local fire department and so did I.  We are both history buffs.  So needless to say, we've had a lot of conversations here.  George is always suggesting things we should see while here.  

As I mentioned yesterday, George's wife made us some Whoopie Pies and he brought them over. They are made up of two mound-shaped cake-like cookies, usually chocolate,  with a creamy filling sandwiched in between. Described as a “New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition,” whoopie pie historians have decided that it has its origins in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country (think Lancaster County).

A pair of homemade Whoopie Pies!

Today George asked if we had ever had a "ploye".  Nope, never heard of it, so his wife made some today and he brought them over!  Ployes are a French-Acadian flatbread that originated in Nova Scotia and are popular in Maine and New Brunswick. They are made from buckwheat flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and water, and are similar to pancakes or crepes but have a lighter consistency. George said they are served rather than dinner rolls in local restaurants.  He likes them with just butter and then rolled and eaten with one hand.  Some like to use syrup or molasses on them. 

 

Ployes with butter and syrup

My first take - delicious!  Like a pancake but lighter.  And as I've mentioned before this is an example of what makes traveling around with our RV so awesome!  Everyplace we go is different - different cultures, different scenery, different foods, different beers!  So awesome.  

So if that wasn't cool enough, George Dionne invited us over to their campground social tent for Karaoke night which they have every Friday.  They have one of their campers who volunteers her time and her equipment to host this.  They winter in Florida and she does the same thing down there.  

Folks started showing up about 1930 hrs

The sun went down as did the temperature so George lit the fireplace.

I think Doreen counted over 30 there!  Again, everyone is so friendly.  They all introduced themselves and made us feel welcome.  Margo, a lady sitting aside of us performed "A Never Ending Song of Love" by Delaney & Bonnie - in French!

So we had another great day and tomorrow will surely be awesome also, with lunch at Greg and Dianne Noskowiak's house!

27 Jun 2024 - Lunch with Air Force Buddy Greg and Dianne Noskowiak

 

File photo of Dianne, Doreen and Greg

Today we drove about 16 miles south to Hamlin Maine and the new home of our dear friends Greg and Dianne Noskowiak for lunch.  Greg and I both served in the Air Force in the mid-70's at a transmitter site assigned to Loring Air Force Base near Limestone Maine.  Greg met and married Dianne who was from Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Canada and they returned to Greg's home town of Antigo Wisconsin to raise their family.  

Greg and I in the transmitter room at the Loring Airways site

Greg found us a Sheep Dog puppy that we named "Fonzi"

Since then we have maintained close contact with them, in fact they drove to central Iowa to attend our daughter Michelle's wedding.  Michelle was born at the Loring Air Force Base hospital, so they knew Michelle from the very start!  In recent history and since Doreen and I have been traveling with our RV, we planned a visit to Antigo almost each year where Greg and I enjoyed our daily fishing trips and Dianne and Doreen enjoyed their shopping trips!  A couple years ago Greg and Dianne move back up here where Dianne has family.  

It was great seeing them today and Dianne prepared a wonderful Maine "welcome basket" with all kinds of Maine goodies!  

Each of these items has a Maine connection

We got a tour of their new house and enjoyed a Bloody Mary while we were catching up with them.  Dianne prepared a delicious lunch and we had a great time.  We were so involved with our conversations that I failed to take any pictures, but we were returning there for lunch on Saturday and I will do a better job!  We are so thankful for these great friends and look forward to seeing them again Saturday!

On the way back to to our campground we passed through the towns of both Van Buren and Grand Isle.  This area has some beautiful architecture with Arcadian influence. 

Tomorrow I have an 0800 hrs appointment about 60 miles south to get our front tires replaced.  Going to sign off tonight.

26 Jun 2024 - Arrived in Aroostook County Maine, Grand Isle Campground

 

Slow start out of the chute this morning.  Normally on our travel days we get up and get on the road.  But after the tire issue last night I had to be at the tire shop in Medway ME this morning at 0830 hrs with just the truck and the flat tire in the back.  Before that, commencing at 0730 hrs I started making a bunch of phone calls to other tire shops in Bangor, Houlton, Presque Isle and Madawaska.  As I suspected, the tire shop in Medway did not have any of the same size and type tire that was on my truck - LT235/80R17 Load Range E 10 ply.  The good news is they were able to patch the tire that was pierced by the rock so that I could at least use it as an emergency spare until I could get it replaced.  As heavy as the truck is on it's own plus the loading of the trailer it is not a good idea to use that patched tire with that sort of wound as a primary tire.  As I waited for the repair to be done, my buddy Kirk Small stopped by since he was in town for a PT appointment, and we said our goodbyes again.  Great to see him.  So kudo's to Stanley Auto Center in Medway Maine.  They got me right in on short notice and patched up my tire for a reasonable fee.  

So I was back to the campground before 0930 hrs.  Doreen had the trailer cleaned and ready for me to finish up closing it down, running in the slides and loading it up on the truck.  We made our way to the campground dump station, downloaded the "nasty" and headed back through town to the interstate.

A beautiful drive through the Maine countryside

Potatoes are in bloom!

We traveled I-95 to Houlton Maine and then turned north on Route 1 to our destination.  While driving along we made some hands-free calls to tire shops including a call to my trusted tire dude back in Ankeny for advise.  Bottom line is we made connection with a tire shop in Presque Isle where we used to live, and they can order the appropriate tires to arrive by Thursday, and installed them first thing Friday, so we gave them the go-ahead.  It is an hour south of where we are camping, but we did not have much choice.  Tires are critically important on both the truck and the trailer.  It's worth it to me to rise and shine and get on the road to Presque Isle so we can get this mess resolved.

South of Presque Isle we passed Mars Hill, a town just south and a huge hill now populated with wind generators and antenna towers.  

Mars Hill from a distance

It was a fun drive, cruising through our old stomping grounds today.  As mentioned before, we lived in Presque Isle in the old base housing from when Presque Isle used to be an Air Force Base.  When they closed it as a base it became the Presque Isle airport where we would fly in and out of, and the base house became part of the Loring Air Force Base housing.  Since I worked at an off-base site, it was convenient for many of us to live there rather than on-base.

Before we lived in Presque Isle, we lived in two different apartments in Caribou.  Our first apartment was where we moved in as newlywed's and just 18 years old!  We were poor kids and barely made it from payday to payday as a one-striper in the Air Force!  I'm sure our RV has more square footage than our first apartment LOL!

We passed many of these.  Doreen is still hoping to see a live one - from a distance that is!

At 1400 hrs and 170 miles of travel we rolled into Grand Isle Campground in Grand Isle Maine.  This is the third of five stops (Stop #23) in the State of Maine for us.  

We were greeted by the owner and he quickly pointed us into our pull-through site.  It's cozy, protected, but the privacy is not a bad thing!  Length is just right.  The power seems solid and we have full hook-up!  It is a small campground and most of the campers appear to be seasonal.  That's ok.  

So this is kind of unique.  They use old lawn mower chassis and mount portable campfire tubs to them.  So we can move our camp fire as we choose!  Plus there is an ample supply of fire wood a very short distance from our site!

Right behind the fire wood is a train track.  I asked about the frequency and loudness, but apparently it only makes one northbound run per day and the return run each night.  We will see if we notice!

We are a very short distance from Canada here, just a little over 1200 ft from our camper!.  

So we set-up, had some late lunch, and then drove up to Madawaska Maine which is the closest fuel stop and grocery store.  We did not need much for groceries, but I did need to fill with diesel since we will be driving down to Van Buren to see our Air Force friends Greg Noskowiak and his bride Dianne.  They were with us up here at Loring back in the 70's before moving back to Antigo Wisconsin. We tried to visit them each summer and do a little fishing there.  They have since relocated back up here where Dianne was originally from (Canada),  We also received word today that another Air Force buddy that was stationed with us up here, George Lechner, is coming up this weekend.  His wife Ann-Marie is also from up here originally.  We have military friends in Presque Isle and also in Houlton.  We will do a drive-by of the places we lived up here and of course visit what remains of the old Loring Air Force Base.  So many memories - great memories! Thanks for tagging along!