Class finished very early today. We were basically done in less than 2 hours, so by 11 I was walking out the door. I didn't feel like driving around too much, so I headed for the Maine Mall and walked around for a while. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of shopping. But I was just tired of driving and the mall was on the way back to my motel. I found the "Maine" souvenir thimble mom was asking for. And I picked up a neat "Life is Good" baseball cap with a biker on it.

Then I caught a matinee of "The Bourne Supremacy" before heading back to the motel. For supper, I drove to a nearby deli and picked up a sandwich. These locally-owned delis and shops are so prevalent around here. Back home everything has been swallowed up by chains like Subway, McDonalds, and Wal-Mart.

I wish I had seen the Portland Head Lighthouse and the Portland Museum of Art, but I just didn't feel like driving in busy traffic while trying to read the map anymore. It's not that hard, but I've been spending so much time cruising around I needed a break.

So that's it. I'm going to pack up my stuff tonight and hop on the plane for home tomorrow. Ugh... More planes.

I'm getting to know my way around the Westbrook and Saco areas. I found my way to class today without problem. In class, we studied SSH, .rhosts, and a lot more fun stuff.

After I finished class, I went geocaching. First, I went to find one hidden next to a school near the Dana Warp Mill building. Unfortunately there were a bunch of kids running around the area practicing their various sports. I decided it would be best for a lone man such as myself to not be suspiciously lurking around the schoolyard.

Instead, I headed toward the beach and stopped to search for another cache along the way. The cache was hidden along the "Atlantic Way Trail" in the Rachel Carlson National Wildlife Refuge. On the path to the cache, I met a man who had just found the cache himself. That's the first time I have ever met a fellow geocacher out on the hunt. Our GPSs gave us away to each other - we knew we weren't just hikers. The cache, titled "Atlantic Woods" was an easy find.

After that, I cruised down the road to the Old Orchard Beach area. I expected to see piers, amusement parks, a lighthouse, and endless beaches. I was somewhat let down, though I did walk around on an almost endless beach. I saw the lighthouse from a distance and I passed an amusement park, which was closed. I missed the pier and wasn't sure where to look.

Somewhere near Ocean Park, I waded into the cold Atlantic waters. Some people on horseback enjoyed the beach, as did a few others. It's fall here, and everyone has retreated from the shore. The amusement parks are closing. People are putting on their sweaters and jackets, preparing for the cold winter to come.

On my way back to the Saco Industrial Park (where my motel is located) I cruised around downtown Saco and Biddeford. Downtown Saco is beautiful, in some areas. Obviously once home to a lot of industry. The large, brick warehouses and factories have been converted to clean offices and apartments.

Tomorrow I hope to visit the Portland Museum of Art and the Portland Head Light, and then on Saturday morning I hop on a plane for home.

Today I made it to class without incident. I was early, in fact. To kill time until class I wandered around the Bridge Street area of Westbrook. They have some nice riverfront sidewalks near the Dana Warp Mill, where my class is located. Very park-like, despite the urban setting.

My classmates from New Jersey kept going on about how I should cruise up to Freeport. There are tons of impressive shops to see, I was told. And the flagship store of L.L.Bean is up there. A big, impressive site I don't want to miss.

So I drove up there and wandered around the stores for a while. All I bought were a few postcards. I didn't see anything I needed. There were a few shirts that looked nice, but I still didn't buy.

The town is odd. The "village" area is just a bunch of old homes and buildings filled with retail outlet stores, anchored by the big L.L.Bean store. For example, there's a house with a big "Reebok" logo on the front. It looks like a house some grandmother could live in, but it's filled with shoes. And the McDonald's is really different. It, too, is in a big, old house.

I got bored with the stores, not being a big fan of shopping. My guide book mentioned some hiking trails in a wilderness sanctuary just outside of town, the Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary. The land was given the the Maine Audubon society in 1962 by a couple by the name of Smith. Volunteers maintain a nice system of trails through the Maine woods. Sounded better than shopping to me. I walked a mile or two of the trails and took a few snapshots of mushrooms, ferns, trees, and flowers that crowd the landscape.

After that, I hopped back onto the Maine Turnpike and drove back here to Saco for the night.

I did not sleep well last night. Maybe I had too much caffeine or something. I was ready to walk out the door just after 7, thinking I was way too early. Class starts at nine every day. I got up to Westbrook via the Parkway just fine. But once I got off the highway, I was lost. I had the address, a GPS, and a mediocre map. But not all of the streets have street signs. Not even large, four or five lane roads have street signs. I ended up stopping twice for directions, buying a better map, and eventually finding the office building where my class is held.

The training facility is housed in an old mill building, the Dana Warp Mill, on Bridge Street in Westbrook. It's nice - lots of character and open space.

After class I drove to the Eastern Promonade in downtown Portland. There, I took some snapshots of the ships coming and going in the bay. The park was filled with people exercising their dogs, running, biking, and sightseeing. I got the impression a lot of us walking around were tourists. Half the people I saw had brochures and cameras in hand.

Next I drove down to the Old Port area. Shops, restaurants, and bars line Commercial Street. Three Dollar Dewey's, an Irish pub and restaurant I encountered along the way, boasted live music. I ducked inside for some supper. The music was good, as was the food. I lounged for a bit before heading back to the parking garage and back to Saco.

Class was interesting, though uneventful. Everyone seems quite friendly and I am comfortable here. More comfortable than I was in Boston, but the city is also less exciting and lacks the personality of big Beantown.

I have arrived in New England - a business traveller once again. This time, I'm all the way over here to learn about unix security. I've been looking forward to this class. But getting here was not easy.

My plane was supposed to leave yesterday, Sunday morning. Unfortunately, a runway at Portland's Jetport - the one my plane had to use - was under construction. As a result, my flight was cancelled and I was forced to take a flight this morning. Because of this, I have already missed a day of my five-day class. One would think they could plan around “construction.”

It took three flights to get here. One from Bismarck to Minneapolis, another from Minneapolis to Detroit, and the last leg from Detroit to Portland, Maine. Detroit has a very modern airport, by the way. There were several interesting, and rather psychedelic, art displays. The tunnel from the main concourses to concourses B and C was filled with strange music. The translucent walls danced with color, lit from behind. It was quite unusual. I'm sick of airplanes.

I was worried about driving in Maine. The proliferation of tollbooths on my map had me picturing an insane, high-speed, violent commute to class every morning. But getting from the Jetport to my motel (via the Maine Parkway) in Saco was not bad at all. The drivers are quite numerous, but they behave well. Not like back home in Bismarck. At home there aren't many drivers, but they behave so badly that it's almost more stressful.