DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Beverly In Old Ellicott City

Q: The Mobile Den? Do you go camping a lot?

A: Try to! I've been to Yellowstone and The Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was my favorite one. We drove straight through and saw a lot of interesting things, like four-thousand-year-old petroglyphs. Those were really cool.

Q: Is the Mobile Den nice and roomy?

A: As a matter of fact, there's a whole lot of space. My boyfriend is six feet. I'm five foot nine inches. We can comfortably put the seats down and sleep in the car if it rains.

Q: How did you get the Mobile Den?

A: I got my car at the end of 2008. I happened to get a pension. My other car was a Jeep. I miss that car, but it was starting to cost a lot of money. It was getting fixed every month. I used the pension money and got the xD. I picked something that had a better gas mileage and that was safer. I have a daughter who's 14, so safety was a big thing. I also knew she'd be learning to drive soon, so I kept that in consideration.

Q: Have you taken her out in it at all?

A: No, not driving. She's 14, but I have had her move the car on the driveway.

Q: Is she looking forward to 16?

A: She's excited that she'll be able to drive sooner than later. Some of her friends won't be driving until they're 18. She's made it clear she wants to start driving when she's 16. I'm fine with that. She's very responsible, so I'm okay with her learning to drive it when she can. We've talked about her practicing with this car and even the possibility of it ending up being hers. But she'll have to pay for some part of it, I won't just give it up.

Q: Do you ever get angry?

A: Of course! There's some oblivious people on the road, but that's everywhere. I'm not a horn blower. I do mumble things about people. A pet peeve of mine is people driving really, really slow in the fast lane. And not necessarily because I want to drive fast, but because the people who do want to drive fast get stuck, which makes them angry. To me, that's a dangerous situation. They get impatient, and that temper puts whoever is around them at risk.

Q: What's your favorite regular trip?

A: Main Street and the backgrounds along Ellicott City are really nice. I love that there are a lot of hills and backroads and trees around here.

Q: Do you prefer drives like that to ones on the interstate?

A: Absolutely. I enjoy the ride as long as it's not the highway or freeway. I think those are just a way to get from point A to point B. Whenever possible, I will take a backroad. I don't care if it takes longer.