Erin: Is this thing on?

I'm getting a weird vibe from this place. Those girls, Lauren and Tasha, keep exchanging weird looks and whispering something to each other but I can't figure out what they're going on about. They're nice, but also oddly guarded about what brought them to Maine, besides "Vacation."

They told me about this blog where people who stay at the Trading Post can share their experiences, but so far there haven't been many experiences worth sharing.

Of course, the blog itself is blocked from the Coffee Shop wifi I'm currently stealing for "pornography" so somebody must be having a good time here.

I'll start by telling my story: the short version. My name is Erin Henley. I'm 28, from deep in the heart of Indiana: a town so small it's hardly on the map. It's sort of a real-life Pawnee, for fans of Parks & Rec, except nobody as interesting as Leslie Knope lives there (I've met a few Ron Swansons over the years though.)

I swear I used to have ambitions to get out and be someone. (Or just be myself, somewhere other than Indiana.) Instead I ended up working for a food supply company in my hometown, in supply chain management, until recently, when my position was eliminated. I came out east to visit Rosie, my best friend since childhood, who has been going through some rough times lately. She has lived on the east coast for years, settling here after school, but she's always bounded around from job to job without really following her ambitions either, and neither of us are exactly winning in the romance department.

When she came to greet me in Portland, I hardly recognized her. She has put on, shall we say, a bit of weight since I last saw her five years ago (not that Facebook hadn't prepared me for this) and I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I suspect it's tied to some depression issues she hasn't told me about. I don't want to be too much of a Pollyanna about it, but I hope this vacation will cheer her up. She knows I'm here for her.

It's been fairly relaxing. Not too exciting, but the weather has been good and we've met some good (if odd) people. Still waiting on the potential for that romance thing, but I guess eligible bachelors don't really come to dainty B&B's in Maine. Not to meet women anyway...

Hopefully tonight she'll finally be up for that bar crawl I've been begging her to come on since we first talked about this trip. Then maybe she'll spill about what's been bugging her lately.

Ciao!