Trip Highlights - Week #3

This week was an overnight in White Plains (yes, I know it's close to home but I had to be there until 9PM and back the next morning at 7AM - just easier to stay over) and Portland, ME.

All my meals were in hotels so no good food stories there. The Crowne Plaza in White Plains is a lousy hotel so all I could do is complain - which I won't.

I do love Portland, however. It is a very manageable town - I love that the airport is about a 10 minute drive from the heart of the city. The best part of my trip there was that I flew up in a prop. I haven't been in a prop in a long time, but this was a new version. Seating for 74 people and relatively quiet (for a prop). One of the things I like about props is that you really feel like your flying. Yes, we got bounced around a lot due to high winds, but there is something about it that just feels more exciting. Regional jets usually fly at higher altitudes so the combination of this being a prop and the short flight (50-60 minutes of air time) meant that we flew at 15,000 feet. Aside from the winds, the weather was brilliant and the flight provided a grand view of the New England countryside. The fall colors were much brighter a few weeks ago, but there was still plenty of orange left, mixed with a light blanket of snow at higher altitudes. It really was quite relaxing - almost a zen moment.

Still battling the remnants of a cold that started when I began my travels, so not feeling 100% but getting there. Sunday I leave for Denmark which I expect will be the most exciting of my six weeks of travel. Even the weather looks like it will cooperate with daytime highs reaching 50 rather than the usual high 30's at this time of year.