These are slightly edited exerpts from the site Alice’s Drive. The author’s opinions are her own, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.

On June 9th, 1909 twenty-two year old Alice Ramsey set out on the journey of lifetime. Accompanied by three female companions, they drove from 1930 Broadway in New York City on an epic transcontinental journey. Fifty-nine days later Alice would become the first woman to drive across America.

The drive was much more than a publicity stunt for Alice (though to the Maxwell-Briscoe [Auto] Company that is exactly what it was). In the scope of American Women’s history, twenty-two year old Alice Ramsey was blazing a trail of her own; A trail that, unbeknownst to her, would merge with many other trails eventually developing into a unity among women fighting to be citizens in the United States of America.

In 2005, my father, Dr. Richard Anderson, a Pacific Northwest antique car aficionado, and I dedicated ourselves to recreating Alice’s Drive on the 100 year anniversary.  The Challenge: we found only one 1909 Maxwell DA left in existence and it wasn’t for sale.  After a wide search, my father began to find pieces from around the world and started to rebuild another 1909 Maxwell DA.

June 8, 2009:  It is the eve of our departure and I really should just cash in and go to sleep.  After finally arriving to NYC the who trip has taken on new meaning — reality has set in and it is hitting me that this is really going to happen!  Today we hoofed it on down to the Brooklyn Automotive High School.  Unbeknownst to the ladies from the school, they were asked to put ther coveralls on and get ready to work on a “special” car.  On cue — the garage door to the shop opened and Christie and I drove the Maxwell in.  The look on the girls’ faces was priceless.  What I wouldn’t do to capture that moment — they were totally thrilled!  The best part was after they shouted in awe about the car itself, someone yelled out, “And it is a girl driving!” to which everyone started cheering.

June 9:  Day one.  We are exhausted, wet, had a few troubles.  We got the car started and drove away from 1930 Broadway only 5 minutes late.  Too bad only moments before the rain had been coming down in sheets, buckets, and near lakes.  However, appropriately enough, it was raining the day Alice left 100 years ago today.  Everyone was releived to have made it out of New York City, as the departure was stressful, the city rought due to the potholes, the stop-and-go traffic and the seemingly endless traffic lights.  We rolled into Terrytown to visit the original Maxwell factory and spirits were high.

June 12:  The Maxwell is currently over at Steve Bono’s repair shop in Bouckville, NY.  We’ve identified the problem:  we’ve developed an oil delivery system problem, so that the front cylinder wasn’t getting enough oil.  Should be up and running by late today.

June 13:  We woke up this morning to quiet.  I knew this wasn’t a good sign concerning the car and being able to drive today.  When I looked in the mirror, I was dismayed to find a weird sunburn on my face.  Red along my hair line and a red nose.  I MUST make sure the alarm goes off in the morning so I attend to these finer, very important details.  I got a lot of work done and spent some good time with the baby.  It is important for she and I to have some time each day and for her to have a little consistency so she can make it to San Francisco!

June 13:  After arriving in Buffalo, we made our way to the Pierce Auto Museum.  We were saddened to have missed some of the festivities during the day.  Fortunately, we had made it in time to join the parade of vehicles onto the Coca-Cola field prior to the Buffalo Bison’s Baseball game.  We trailed the Maxwell up to the town of Niagara.  The whole team was able to drive along a sidewalk lead by the park service parallel to the top of the falls.  Although our time here has been fun, I am looking forward to hitting the road in the morning.  We’ll be heading into Ohio tomorrow and it feels a bit like we are about to close one chapter of the trip and open another

June 15:  We were delighted to find ourselves following the Chatauqua Wine Trail for a few hours this moring.  Miles and miles of vineyards!  Aside from the copious amounts of roadkill, this was, by far, the most beautiful day we’ve had.

Read more of the team’s adventures here.