Maine - Points North: Bangor / Presque Isle - 2012

From Bar Harbor we drove to Bangor and spent a couple of days.  Then on to Presque Isle (PI) where I lived when I was 5 years old.

From Bar Harbor we drove to our campground near Bangor:  Pumpkin Patch RV Resort.  It is actually in the little town of Hermon, ME which is a couple of miles outside of Bangor.  What a great campground!

The staff was very professional, gave a very good orientation to the campground and surrounding area and then one of the guys escorted us to our 'roomy' campsite.

The whole campground was in tip top shape:  very well maintained, the sites were level and the grass and flowers were at their best. Looks like the campground could host a few rallies.  It has a couple of big tents and a nice sized room for other events.    I think some folks were staying here before heading northeast into New Brunswick, Canada.  I rated them pretty high (9) on RV Park Reviews (my #1 source of campground info).

Bangor was a nice little mountain ish type of town.  A highlight of the couple of days there was the Rascal Flats concert.  We saw about 8 of their big rig trucks at the truck stop the first night we were in town.

Then we saw the stage being set up and people starting to get ready for the show.  We opted out thought I'm sure it would have been fun.  I like their music.

During our windshield tour of the city, we stopped by Stephen King's house,

drove through the downtown area,

and went across the Penobscot River to see Freedom Park and monument dedicated to Joshua Chamberlain of Little Round Top and Civil War fame.

There was also some Underground Railroad action here during that part of our history.

From Bangor, we went directly north to Presque Isle where we lived when I was 5-8 years old.  My dad retired from the Air Force here back in 1961 before the Air Force Base was closed.  We camped at Arndt's Aroostook River Lodge and Campground.  The view across the valley was great.  I liked the campfire.

The main detractor of the campground was getting to the site on the bumpy dirt road up a steep and winding hill and the uneven / un level campsite.  But we managed and it turned out fine.  I didn't rate them so high (5).  But we knew what we were getting before we arrived because we checked out earlier comments on RV Park Reviews.

Presque Isle is a small town that is struggling with the economy.  We drove in on a Saturday and not much was going on.  We started some sight seeing and I tried to locate some places I remember:
Zippel Elementary School where I went to second grade.

Our first grade school (Gouldville Elementary) I never found.  It apparently is an administrative building of some sort.

Presque Isle High School - home of the Wildcats.  This is where my oldest brother Marty went.

Pine Street Elementary - where my brother Brad attended.

The fairgrounds.  Every August they had a carnival and I remember seeing harness racing.

And the town Little League fields next to the swimming pool.  It was here my twin brother and I learned how to pitch and catch and to switch hit.

I don't remember the homes we lived in on Judd and Turner Streets, but we drove by hoping to see something I recollected.  Nope.  Just another neighborhood.

Then out to the Air Force Base that was closed.  It is now a regional airport and some of the housing area in low income and rental.  It is always tough to go back to these places because they are in a rough state of repair than what I remembered.

Here is the house we lived in on 58 Sunset Loop.

And some of the neighborhood.  And the big back yard / common area.

We drove around the base some more and went by base operations area which is now the regional airport.

It was a fun couple of days and a bit nostalgic.  I was glad to go back and see it.  If it weren't for being a full-timer, I doubt we would ever get back here.  As with most of the rest of the country, the weather has been unseasonably warm.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...