The Melbourne Festival – Tanderrum My first day in Australia was the first day of the Melbourne Festival with both Portland and family connections for me. The former Artistic Director for the Melbourne Festival was Kristy Edmunds who created the Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts and then moved from Portland to do the same thing …
Author Archives: colindotpdx
Magical Oregon Moments “In A Landscape” is a series of piano recitals performed by Hunter Noack in some of Oregon’s most scenic places. He hauls a 1912 full size Steinway to iconic places in the open air and the audience listens through wireless headsets. You can sit by the piano or wander for miles and …
Turning 66 on Route 66 With a friend that I have known since we were four years old. Pretty Special.
Grapes of Wrath – 2018 Edition Riding Route 66 seemed like a great time to read The Grapes of Wrath. The changing geography fitted nicely into understanding both the fictional lives of the Joad family and the experience of the migrants in the 1930s. All the places mentioned in the book are still there, obviously, …
Magnus Walker – Porsche Collector Sitting having lunch at Zinc Cafe in downtown LA, this guy was at the next table. Some people in LA are looking for film stars; others are looking out for Porsche icons. We chatted for a little bit, he comes from Sheffield which is a few miles up the road …
Route 66 versus Interstate 40 “Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.” Charles Kuralt. In the battle between Interstate 40 and Route 66 – the Interstate won. From Oklahoma City to the Pacific, Route 66 became the major road to the west …
Will Rogers Memorial, Claremore, Oklahoma If we want to play the “People I’d love to go back in history to meet” game, then Will Rogers would be very high on my list. A Cherokee cowboy turned vaudevillian with his rope tricks; his wit on stage made him a successful humorist; his popularity led to a …
Picher, Oklahoma: A Uniquely American Disaster. Think of a ghost town. You’ve maybe been to Bodie in the Sierra Nevada or Silver City in Idaho. They look old, Victorian, wooden, antique. Abandoned a long time ago; the Dust Bowl, the Depression. But that is not the case for Picher, Oklahoma right on Route66 which was …
Gateway Arch – The Eiffel Tower of St. Louis The Gateway Arch is truly breathtaking – we rolled into town on Route66 from the east in torrential rain and it framed the view of the city and the storm across the river – from downtown it dominates your attention and anchors everything. When you enter …
Harley Davidson Museum Every Harley Davidson ride from Chicago, apparently, has to include a trip the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee for an education, a benediction, and a tee-shirt. So Mick Sumpter and I made the pilgrimage before setting off on the Route 66 ride to Santa Monica. In 1903 William Harley and Arthur Davidson …
Colin's Travel Journal 