Portland, Maine: What a wonderful town.

I write this sitting on the #7 bus from downtown Portland to 295 north. My first destination will be Bath, where I will pick up Route 1 for the rest of my journey.

Candi dropped the fourt of us off before rushing to work, a small of joy forming at the corner of her eye as we hugged goodbye. I took a quick picture, and we headed off. My memory of the area was a bit fuzzy, revealed to us when we were greeted not two minutes into our hike by a homebum and his dog on a bike. We explained that we had just dropped in to town, and he gave us a good bit of info on locations, a thrift store, offered his yard for camping, and gave us the atmosphere of the town. He also suggested an alternative route to downtown, as apparently walking the way I had suggested could have proven hazardous. We proceeded down Warren Ave, talking and joking with spirits high and full of optimism about the town. A quick stop at a thrift store netted Andy a new pair of Old Man Shoes, which while not a permanent solution, would certainly help to replace his badly worn and hole-y sneakers.
Walking past a gas station on Forest Ave, we were approached by a woman mentioning 'I think you might be part of my tribe.' She was quite friendly, and though not headed towards downtown, she gave us a lift for the remaining four miles directly to monument square. W didn't have quite enough space, so Andy ended up on my lap. Along the way, we were informed of the [only] local punk house, a few good places to get veggie/vegan food, some local thrift stores, and again given a feel of how portland folks may treat a few travelers. Eva (our lift) even told us about an anarcho-punk circus, which while appealing, won't happen until thursday night. She also invited us to camp at her house in progress, asking half-heartedly if we might be interested in helping she and her partner do some work, as they are building it themselves. I may keep in touch, as I will be returning to the area and it sounds interesting.
The four of us got dropped off at monument square in downtown Portland. I used Andy's phone to call Steph, my and Andy's couchsurfing host. I hoped to also ask if our other two travel partners could crash. A small energrtic Steph approached, gave us her keys, consented to the extra company, and hurried back to work. We spent a few hours cleaning up, unpacking, and exploring the old port for the afternoon. We ended up at Sebago brewhouse for some snacks and beer, leaving just in time to grab Steph (having just finished work) and head to a bar for a couchsurfing meetup.
The CS meetup started with the five of us meeting one other CS dude and ordering beers and some grub, ending with sixteen people and bluegrass music live from ten feet away. Steph and I returned to her place while Andy, accompanied by Adam and Jess, walked down to the old port to meet a friend. We went to sleep before they got home, but had some pretty awesome chats before that. Did I mention that Stephanie is an ECE (electrical/computer engineer)? She's a whole lot of fun.