Vacation Plans? Are You Kidding?

Photo by A.J. Randall

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  That faint glow of numbers actually does read $2.949.  Ah, you're thinking, this must be from several years ago.  No, this was taken December 18, 2011.  A few months ago, I was pumping gas at Murphy USA in Ballentine, SC and this was the price.  It gave a brief glimpse of bygone days when the price of gas never went any higher than a $2.something.  I barely remember those days.  I'm pretty certain my sister thinks it's a legend that gas could ever be anything less than $3.00.  I bet some of you remember the days when the first digit was never higher than a 1.  I took this picture because those lit up numbers seemed like a beacon of hope at the moment.  Then of course, gas shot up to close to $4/gallon in March.  I paid over $4/gallon during my trip to D.C.  Thankfully I'm driving a Saturn that gets close to 35mpg on the interstate (compared to the old tank I used to drive that only got 20).

Photo by A. J. Randall (Lake Murray)

Gas prices have gone down a bit again, but I think it's just a tease before they jack them up again during the summer vacation.  Despite the title of this entry, I do have vacation plans.  I'm planning a 4 day trip in June with my three best friends.  What's the price of our trip going to cost?  Well, since we're staying at a relative's lake house free-of-charge, it'll cost us the gas to get there and the groceries we buy (and a new swimsuit).  Since most of that will be split 4 ways (excepting the swimsuit), I'd say we're getting to go for a pretty good deal. Sadly, all of you who are making hotel/beach house reservations will also have to factor in gasoline costs if you drive.  Or, if you've got one of those hybrids, then you had better make sure your hotel's got one of these:

Photo by A. J. Randall (Public Parking Garage on Sumter Street, Columbia)

Maybe you should make more friends who own vacation property?