Gas Cost Protested as Holiday Gets Off to Fast Start

The high price of gasoline isn’t expected to curb this year’s frenzied Memorial Day weekend getaway, but it is sending one angry gas station owner to “jail.”

Keith Fullington says the $1.60-plus price per gallon is nothing less than highway robbery and has erected a makeshift cell at his Rowland Heights business in protest.

The holiday weekend, which marks the beginning of summer for most Americans, seemed like the perfect time to highlight the hole gasoline prices are leaving in people’s pockets, he added.

“We need to bring some sanity back to oil prices,” Fullington said, just moments before donning his black and white striped jail fatigues and entering “solitary confinement” Thursday.

While drivers join Fullington in grumbling over California’s pump prices, up 27 cents a gallon from a year ago, surprisingly few, if any, appear to be giving up holiday travel plans, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

A record-breaking 2.3 million people are expected to hit the roads, the organization said.

For those able to tune out the frustrations of crowded, slow-moving freeways, the weather, at least, will be on their side.

Warm temperatures and sunny skies with little if any wind are expected this afternoon through Sunday from the Pacific Coast to Palm Springs, said Curt Kaplan, a National Weather Service specialist.

Temperatures will be cooler in coastal areas, where highs will range from upper 60s to mid-70s, and some morning fog is possible, Kaplan said. The San Fernando Valley will be warmer, with highs in the upper 80s and possibly 90s over the weekend. Looking for someplace even hotter? Then head out to Palm Springs, where it’s expected to reach 108 degrees in the Low Desert on Saturday.

In Ventura County, the holiday invasion of tourists was evident Thursday at Rincon Parkway, where the majority of the park’s $18-per-day seaside spots were occupied by RVs.

Rincon Ranger Drew Mashburn said more than half of the 160 camping stalls at his and nearby county beach parks were filled by lunchtime.

The first wave of weekenders arrived Wednesday, he said, and the remaining slots would likely be full before today.

The frenetic rush to get out of town was also apparent at recreational vehicle rental outlets in the San Fernando Valley, where holiday travelers had snapped up most motor homes and trailers before today.

At Los Angeles RV in Sun Valley, manager Cruz Leija said all 16 recreational vehicles were spoken for before noon Thursday.

“They have been going out every day this week,” Leija said, who expected the last four RVs to be picked up by this afternoon. Even though the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $1.66 in the Los Angeles area as of May 16, RV renters didn’t seem concerned about filling a 70-gallon tank.

“If gas was five bucks a gallon they would pay it,” Leija said. “They have their sights on getting away and they’re going.”

One of Fullington’s longtime customers, Carol Endicks, grudgingly agreed.

“My [monthly] gas bill is as high as a car payment,” said the Chino resident, whose job as a sales representative forces her to spend about $87 a week fueling up. Even her sister from Maryland described their $1.55-per-gallon cost as “ridiculous.”

But Endicks said the gas prices won’t change her weekend plans to relax in Lake Meadow.

Endicks isn’t alone. Anita Haenni, who manages Transatlantic RV Rentals in Sylmar, said she had rented six of the eight RVs on the lot by Thursday. “I have a lot of return customers who go to the same places every year,” said Haenni. “This is one of our best weekends all year.”

Recreational vehicles were expected to fill Angeles National Forest campsites, U.S. Forest Service officials said.

“On a major holiday weekend like this one--when people make a concerted effort to get up here--it fills quickly,” said Diana Arthur, a Forest Service spokeswoman.

Even so, Arthur encouraged day-trippers to take advantage of numerous recreation areas including the Charlton Flat picnic area, Chilao fire lookout towers and the Mount Wilson observatory.

Forest officials expect traffic snarls on roads leading to campsites, but said those sites would remain open unless an accident or inclement weather prompts a shutdown by the California Highway Patrol.

Caltrans officials said motorists should be prepared for traffic delays in both directions of the Golden State Freeway for seven miles between California 138 and the Kern County line today and Monday afternoon. The freeway will be reduced to two lanes in both directions for bridge repair work.

Los Angeles area airports, too, are bracing for massive crowds this weekend. Officials are advising passengers to arrive at terminals at least an hour before their departures, carry photo identification and travel light.

At Los Angeles International Airport, about 200,000 travelers were expected daily through Monday, up from the 165,000 passengers on an average day, officials said.

Burbank airport officials were expecting as many as 4,000 more than the 14,000 travelers moving through the terminal on an average day.

Van Nuys Airport officials said the 2,000-space parking lot for its FlyAway bus shuttle service to LAX was filled Thursday afternoon. However, drop-offs were still welcomed.

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Times staff writers Karima A. Haynes and Aaron Sanderford contributed to this story.