"This trip is about SOME Day," declares Alyce.  "People say 'Some day I'm gonna write a book, some day I'm gonna go to Vienna, some day I'm gonna lose weight.'  Your SOME day might be yesterday."

    Alyce is her own inspiration:  she has authored books, she has been to Vienna and she has lost 100 pounds.

    Most travelers her age might settle for a cruise or a nice tour of the Europe.  "Done it," says Alyce whose international speaking engagements have taken her to all 50 states and 30 foreign countries.  A researcher and expert on the baffling behavioral phenomenon called Self Sabotage (shooting one's goals and one's self in the foot), Alyce has addressed conferences and conventions from Honolulu to London, speaking to such diverse groups as Boeing, Microsoft, the New York Times and the FBI.  She is the author of What's Your Sabotage? and Why Winners Win.
 

Have Alyce speak at your next conference?  503-232-0433 or Email: justalyce@usa.net

    "You never see a roadster parked outside of a psychiatrist's office," says Alyce, "There's a reason for that."
 

     Although most people would question the "why" of such an undertaking, many say, "She's living my dream."  Alyce may be the one person in the country who could ignite the American fascination with travel.

     "Oregonians typically go against the grain," says former director of the Oregon Historical Society, Chet Orloff.  "Early Oregonians took the road less traveled just getting here."

    The car is as basic as a car can get.  With a 4 cylinder, 1600 single port engine, the little car can cruise at 65 with a good tail wind.  A strong head wind, however, can slow the 57 horsepower roadster considerably because of the very flat, very counter-aerodynamic front.  "It's like pushing a turkey platter through water," says Alyce who has bucked some of the country's strongest winds in the country on a test drive up the Columbia River Gorge, revered internationally by windsurfers.

    Like most old cars, the roadster's past is a mystery.  Records aren't kept of car ownership.  Alyce bought the car in 1997 from Matthew's Memory Lane Motors in her home town of Portland, Oregon.  They bought it from a man who said he was Tanya Tucker's uncle who was headed back to Oklahoma.  The roadster, built probably 35 years ago in someone's garage, is a fair replica of a 1927 Bugatti.  If you see the car you'll know it; the new purple paint is intense and the wheels are fire engine red.  Alyce spent 18 months preparing the car and herself for the 8,548 mile trek coast to coast across America.  She took advanced driving courses in SkidCars, replaced parts and updated the car, does daily strengthening yoga exercises and interviewed women who ride motorcycles across the country.

    "This trip also commemorates the first time America was officially connected--the first year you could drive coast to coast was 1927," explains Alyce.

     From Pacific City on the Oregon coast to Atlantic City on the East coast, Alyce saw plenty of what she calls "The Kitschiest Country on the Planet--America!"  Alyce visited 30 states and went through more truck stop coffee than most of us will consume in a lifetime. 

    Oregon is great but the call of the seductress known as the Open Road calls to many Americans ...and Alyce couldn't ignore it any longer. 

    But why would a woman with a comfortable historic home and a great career launch herself across the country in a topless car? 

    Unlike Steinbeck, Kuralt and Kerouac, Alyce is not out in search of America.  "Note to guys," quips Alyce, "it's called a map.  I know right where America is.  And I'm not looking for myself either.  I know who I am--I'm a person who wants to drive--a lot!" 
 

   A sign in Alyce's office reads:  Rand McNally School of Problem-solving ("Hit the Road!"). 

   Devouring "road trip" books as part of her preparation, Alyce agrees that there wasn't a precedent for her adventure.

    "My book about this trip could be titled, 'Don't Go' because that's what everybody has told me.  Advice has been consistent and emphatic.  But I was fascinated with the idea.   Could I make it?  Would I get too worn out?  Too scared?  Would the car make it that far?"

    Actual working title for her journey is appropriate:  "HIT THE ROAD, Across America in a Topless Car." 

    She made it, she learned 23 Roadster Lessons, and discovered the unwritten code by people who help strangers (they want no pay, they expect something else.)

    Read all about it by clicking this link here.