DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Jeanette On Top Of Twin Peaks

Q: Which neighborhood do you live in?

A: I live in Mt. Davidson, the mountain right over from Twin Peaks.

Q: How long have you owned your vehicle?

A: I've owned it for three years. See, I bought it in 2008.

Q: How old are you?

A: I am 60. I just had my birthday.

Q: Oh Happy Birthday! So what's your cars main use?

A: Well in the summer I drive it quite a bit because I have a cabin in Santa Cruz and I drive back and forth to Santa Cruz a lot. So I mostly drive it along the Highway 1 Coast.

Q: Is the Highway 1 Coast your favorite drive?

A: Absolutely! Absolutely my favorite drive. You go past Pigeon Point Lighthouse, and the weather changes, and so it's often times foggy here. Then you drive down to half moon bay and it's still foggy. Then you get to Pigeon Point and it clears up, so the change in weather really sticks out.

Q: Have done that trip a few times?

A: Well I've been taking this trip my whole life because my parents bought this little cabin—that I have now—when I was a year old. So I've spent most of the summers of my life in Santa Cruz.

Q: Could you tell me where you bought the car?

A: I bought the car in Santa Cruz from a used car dealer. See, I saw this car in the summer. They always showcase a little car and this was the little showcase car. It sat there during the summer and I walked by and thought, oh, isn't that a cute car. But I wasn't going to buy a car because it's cute. Then I was going to Santa Cruz in October and I was driving my husband's old yellow Squareback and it was getting kind of tired at the end of the trip. I thought, if that little yellow car is still there I'm going to go buy it. And it was still there, on the lot, so I knew it was meant for me! I walked in and told the guy, sharpen up your pencil, I'll see if my ice chest fits in the back, and I'll take it out to the cabin, and I'll come back. He knew only a woman would buy it and the summer was over, so his prime time for selling little cutie cars was fading, so I got it after the summer in October.

Q: Did you buy it with the Daisy Rims?

A: Yeah, that is what made it cute.

Q: Where's the furthest place you've driven to with this car?

A: Reno. I had the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) meeting in Reno. It was the first time I'd ever driven to SNE. It was kind of nice because I had my car there with me the whole time. I got all these posters and things that I couldn't take home with me on the airplane, so I was able to just stick it in my car and take it home and give it to people. It was great!

Q: Was it a good experience when you purchased the vehicle?

A: Yes, it was wonderful because see, I use to own a 1970 yellow Beetle that I had until 1978, so I'm kind of known as this yellow Beetle person. But then I drove Volkswagen buses because I had children, you know, so I was the Girl Scout leader who always had a Volkswagen van. When I saw this, it kind of brought me back to my youth again and back to my first car.

Q: Do you have any rules in you car?

A: Rules? No, I don't have any rules.

Q: If your car had a theme song, what would it be?

A:Traveling along, singing a song. I don't know probably, that song. "Side by Side" by Harry Woods.

Q: If your car had a human emotion, what would it be?

A: Happy! It's a very happy car! People tell me that all the time. It just is.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about your car?

A: Just that it's happy, and it smiles, and that my car is just great for tootling around town and going up the hills. It doesn't go too fast, but I don't need it to go too fast, so it's just perfect for me.