The Real Portland Tour

Another great day out here at Fort Williams Park!

Before I start up tours for the season, I was able to plan one more epic journey down the Mother Road in honor of the 100th anniversary of Route 66 this year. Driving with the original trio of longtime best friends and Portland High grads that started the tradition back in 2005. It was our 8th trip on Route 66 and as always it was an adventure. From the Capital of Route 66 Tulsa, OK and a private tour of the Outsiders House Museum to ending in our favorite 66 town of Flagstaff, AZ, it was 4 states in 3 days, over 1100 miles logged. From the Center of the Universe in Tulsa, to the 100th Meridian Line in Erick, to the Midpoint of Route 66 in Adrian, to the Continental Divide, to starting a day standing on the corner of Route 66 and Route 66 in Albuquerque and finishing the day standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ, from a jump in the waters of the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa to a stop in the original Las Vegas in New Mexico and a night in Santa Fe, and from the 66 Junkyard Brewery in Grants to an off-road adventure finding an original unpaved section of Route 66 in the middle of the Painted Desert. We drive each trip in the memory of our dear friend Filip from Stockholm, Sweden. He was able to drive the entire route with us back in 2008. On that trip, we had the pleasure of meeting Fran Houser, the former owner of the Midpoint Cafe. Fran was the inspiration for the Flo car in the movie Cars. We were very sorry to hear that she passed away last summer. Back in 2008, she let me write the last line of a poem I had written about Route 66 across the front bumper of her truck. Fast forward 18 years later, and with the help of some amazing folks on the road, we were able to find the truck, and all these years later, the line I wrote was still there.
Back in March 2020 just before the world shut down, I surprised Jeff and Ben with a stone in Filip’s honor on the corner of Winslow, AZ with a shortened version of the same line from the poem. We said from that day forward, each trip we made we would stop at “Filip’s stone.” We love this route and the people on it, and all the friends and family that have joined us on these crazy trips over the years. Happy 100th Route 66!

After over 20 years giving tours, I was finally able to tour the inside of Portland Head Light tonight, and walk to the top. Got some great pictures at sunset. I started this year in January touring the Key West Lighthouse, then toured the Portland Bill Lighthouse in Portland, England on July 4th, and now finally getting a chance to tour the inside of Portland Head Light this evening brought it all full circle. Big thanks to Tony, one of the park rangers at Fort Williams Park, for taking the time to give me a tour of the inside of the lighthouse. Tony and my dad were teammates on the legendary fast pitch softball team Olympia Sports in the ‘80s in Portland. It was an honor to be able to tour the inside of the lighthouse with him. Here are some photos from tonight, and I also added a photo from Key West Lighthouse and Portland Bill Lighthouse at the end