high gas prices

High gas prices are really packing a powerful punch aimed directly at my checking account. Had we anticipated such high prices at the pump we may not have purchased the beach condo. That really isn't true, I would have purchased the condo anyway but had I waited another six months I may have been able to snag the unit at a much more attractive price. On the flip side the possibility exists that had I waited someone else may have grabbed the very best condo in my building and I would have had to settle for a unit on the first floor that does not have ocean view or an interior unit that lacks my two extra windows. So I'm happy how things worked out. Very happy, actually.

Let's get back to the gas prices. When we departed for the beach around 6 pm Friday I had just under three quarters of my maximum fuel capacity. Upon arrival in Rodanthe around 10 pm (we made a 30 minute stop in Plymouth, NC along the way as per our custom) my tank read just above 1/4 tank. We drove around a bit on Saturday, but not very much, and upon departure on Sunday around 4:00 pm my tank was under 1/4 full.

The fill up at the "cheap" station in Nags Head cost me a whopping $96.42 for 87 octane. Throw in the $9 we spend in Plymouth each week to feed the two of us and the dogs and our round trip is now over $100.00 just to transport ourselves to the coast. That's no longer chump change. Go each week and you're staring at a $400 per month transportation cost. Ick!

What this means is we won't be driving out each and every weekend, and we normally don't that in the first place. Visiting the coast three times a month happens frequently but I think we're going to have to cut that down to two visits per month.

Should gas hit the $7/gallon mark I'm not sure what we would or could do in that situtation. We can't take the dogs in Kelly's car. Sure, Beeper would be ok, but Mr. Boo would trash the place, annoy us to no end and we'd all want to kill each other by the time we arrived. Boo is NOT a good car dog. Years ago when I would see people with a dog barrier in their car I would wonder how someone could transport a "family member" as little more than cargo. Now that I've had Boo and I have watched him slowly transform from great car do into "psychotic slobber, pant and tear sh*t up" dog I currently travel with today. Currently Boo gets the entire back of the Suburban as his space (we call this area the "psycho ward") and he is free to partake in his annoying habits safe and secure behind his barrier (and by "safe" I mean I can't just reach back and throttle him Homer style around hour two of the journey). At one point, back when we had the Jeep Liberty I honestly considered having Boo ride in a small horse trailer.





As it turns out a horse trailer for a mini horse/shetland pony does exist, but we opted for a larger ride before the purchase could be fully investigated. But mini horse trailers isn't what I wanted to talk about. Somehow I've managed to get off the rails once again. Back to $7/gallon gas. What do I do then?

The solution may be a third car, something along the lines of a used Subaru Forrester perhaps? Or maybe some other kind of Subaru station wagon. There are many unknowns about Subaru ownership and perhaps a Subaru isn't the correct solution for my dilemma. What kind of highway mileage does a Forrester get in real-world conditions? Are they reliable? Can I even afford one? (Spending the money to pick up a used vehicle might not make a lot sense regardless of the fuel price. How long would it take to recoup my expenses of purchasing a new vehicle through better fuel economy? I'd bet it would take quite a long time.)

In the end I'll probably just have to eat the gas price and continue to take the Suburban. It's not the most efficient vehicle ever created but it does the job. At $7/gallon the round trip would cost around $175, or $75 more than it does right now. With four trips a month that is an extra $300.00 a month over and above what we're paying right now. We'll have to make some adjustments to make room for that expenditure, and part of that "room" will be cut-backs across the board including the number of times we travel to the beach.