PO couple drives their Model T across country

Published 11:48 am Thursday, July 9, 2009

Port Orchard residents Gary and Kathleen Ebbert are driving coast to coast in a Model T Ford in celebration of the 100th-year anniversary of a race that was held in 1909.

Called the Ocean to Ocean Endurance contest, it was sponsored by the millionaire Robert Guggenheim as part of a publicity campaign for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle that year.

The course then was 4,106 miles long, and drivers suffered through 22 days of rain, mud, and even snow when reaching Snoqualmie Pass.

This year’s race — which began June 14 — follows the original route with the exception of some western states where participants will be driving interstate highways since many of the old roads no longer exist. Fifty-four cars, representing all 50 states and territories, are participating.

The Ebberts are chronicling their trip — which ends in Seattle Sunday — with a blog. Their first day driving began in West Point, NY., and the couple have been averaging 220 miles a day (with a rest day every five days) with stops in Streetsboro, Ohio, and Dearborn, Mich., the home of The Henry Ford Museum.

Port Orchard resident and friend of the Ebberts, Mike Morrissey, said the couple is such a fan of the cars and Ford that they named their Sheltie, the dog who is traveling with them, Henry.

After stopping Southbend, Ind., and Bloomington Ill., the couple (traveling at a top speed of 35 miles per hour, drove on sections of the Historic Route 66 that they described as “one-lane roads through corn fields … which was a challenge, because the signs were very confusing.”

Due to bridges being washed out over the Illinois River, the Ebberts had to detour onto the freeway, where the minimum speed was 45 mph, “but we still kept our speed at 35 mph with no problems,” the couple wrote.

In Kansas, the couple and their car was soaked, including the GPS unit Gary installed in the car.

Morrissey said that Gary insists on using the original parts and equipment as much as possible, with the exception of the GPS.

“So he joked that the authentic parts of the car were still working fine — it’s the GPS that no longer works now,” Morrissey said.

One of the biggest problems the couple has been having is with flat tires.

After reaching the halfway point in Abilene, Kan., the couple crept up to 38 mph, then unfortunately their “brand-new tire blew out, but ‘we’ quickly mounted one of the spares and were on our way lickety split. It was fortunate that there was a wide shoulder so we could get clear off the road.”

In Wyoming, they saw antelope, and noticed just before leaving a hotel parking lot that “the passenger side rear tire was starting to come away from the rim.” In Idaho on Day 20, the couple discovered another flat tire after arriving in Pocatella.

On July 6, the couple arrived in Oregon, and spent Tuesday night in Pendleton.

The cars will end their trip in Seattle this Sunday.

Visit the Ebberts’ blog at http://oceantoocean.ning.com/