PORT ANGELES — Before Willie Nelson drives off into retirement, the All Points Charters & Tours operator will spend one more holiday season showing families the best Christmas lights that Port Angeles has to offer.
Nelson, 72, will begin his nightly tours of holiday lights displays Wednesday.
The 12-seat mini-coach will leave daily at 6:45 p.m. from the north end of the Port Angeles Safeway parking lot, 110 E. Third St.
On Christmas Eve, the bus will leave from Safeway at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. for separate tours, the last of the season.
The cost of the two-hour, 20-mile tour is $10 for adults and $5 for children from 6 to 12. Children 5 and younger are free.
“It’s one of those things that’s become a family tradition,” Nelson said in a recent interview.
“There are a number of families that have been doing this since I started.”
Nelson has been providing tours of Port Angeles Christmas light displays since 2005.
All Points Charters & Tours has been offering trips to Hurricane Ridge since 2012.
Nelson, a wildlife biologist, said he decided to retire this year because he wants to spend more time with his adult children.
Nelson has a son working in Fort Worth, Texas, and a daughter who is traveling with her family in a motor home.
“I want to spend time with them while I still can,” Nelson said.
“Basically, it’s time for Willie to start taking care of himself.”
The popular Christmas light tours go as far west as O Street and as far east as Ennis Street. The nightly tours include a stop for cocoa, coffee and cookies at Park View Villas.
“It started out being a service to the community and it’s just expanded,” Nelson said.
Nelson said the best light displays are in the same locations every year. Others tend to come and go.
“It always seems like we lose a few and we gain a few,” Nelson said.
For information on All Points Charters & Tours, visit www.goallpoints.com, email tours@goallpoints or call Nelson at 360-460-7131.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
