No way around using petroleum

Somewhere in California in June 2008

It's a fact of life.

We need petroleum.

Well, we really don't need it. But that's only if we don't want to live the lifestyle we've enjoyed over the past 100 years or so.

Oil is intertwined into everything we see, touch or eat.

The price of gasoline is rotating back into the news.  Forecasts call for, maybe $5 a gallon, by summer.

Down here in the Magnolia State it is already up to $3.48 (that's the low end gas) and seemingly climbing up a few pennies every other day.

The last time we saw gas over $4 was back in 2008. That was the year my wife decided to retire.

I had previously told her when she retired we were going to take a 30-day road trip as far as San Francisco. That's some 3,000 miles one way.  And the decision was made before gas prices began climbing.

By the time we took off on the last day of May, gas was above $3 a gallon.  I decided that I would budget for $4 a gallon. Little did I know it would get that high, and beyond. We were going to California and they always have gas at a higher price.

We were in about the beginning of the second week of travel when we hit the $4 mark. Actually it was way above $4 in Tonopah, NV. -- $5 plus.

We didn't let it bother us -- too much. Maybe the $5 plus we paid would end up being the highest. After all, it was in the middle of nowhere and surely as we got closer to more populated places, the price would come down.

I just wanted to top off the tank and got about 5 gallons. Our tank holds 32 gallons so that would take up to the Pacific Coast, about 300 miles away. Maybe things would be better.

Prices did get better, but not by much.

Planning a one-month trip and the costs involved, even if above what was anticipated, can be handled. We just decided to spend the money.

The Tonopah price was the highest, and California was next.

After we returned home, the prices continued to come down over the summer and got really low -- like about $2  a gallon. 

That was good.

But what if prices get up to $5 and stay there.

We'll just have to cut in other places -- and hit the road again.

After all, we like to travel. Check back in about six months and see just how much we decided to bite the bullet and pay the price.

Next post: Feb. 21, 2012