Travelers resigned to record high gas price

For gas-hungry motorists on the Grapevine, the view from the pump was grim Monday, with regular fetching a whopping $3.69 a gallon.

As he watched the digital gas pump display flicker to a total of $74.85, Austin Bryant muttered, “It’s almost like paying a mortgage payment.”

The 26-year old manager of a plumbing company was returning to his San Fernando Valley home from Pine Flat Lake, east of Fresno, in his Ford F-150 pickup and towing a 20-foot speedboat. Leafing through gas receipts jammed in his wallet, he said, “It’s been like this the whole trip.”

Bryant was one of thousands of vacationing California motorists who traditionally head up or down Interstate 5 over the Memorial Day weekend.

For those vacation-goers, Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said, Memorial Day will rank as “the most expensive holiday weekend ever for gas fill-ups in the Southland, both in terms of real and inflation-adjusted price.”

But even with record gasoline prices and a beefed-up California Highway Patrol presence, the number of motorists on the move Monday was tracking about even with last year’s numbers.

And while there was anger at gas prices that are hovering just below the all-time high of two weeks ago, there was also a prevailing sense of resignation for those who were gassing up here at the Petro Stop Travel Plaza on the southern edge of the San Joaquin Valley. It is one of the last refueling spots for motorists heading south to Los Angeles and one of the first for those coming over the mountains heading north.

John Kinson, 47, a San Jose firefighter returning from a weekend in Ensenada, shook his head in dismay after topping off his tank. The cost: $31.92 for 8.6 gallons. Returning the nozzle to the pump, he said, “The gas companies are very smart to run up their prices like this. Average folks don’t have much of a choice. We can sit home and do nothing or scrape up 50 bucks for a tank of gas.”

The American Automobile Assn. predicted that travel would be slightly up this Memorial Day weekend despite high gasoline prices and soaring vacation costs. AAA estimated that 38.3 million Americans would travel 50 miles or more from home over the weekend, a 1.7% increase from last year. Of those, about 32.1 million were expected to travel by car.

The average price of a gallon of regular gas in California on Monday was $3.42, a few cents cheaper than on May 8, when prices reached an all-time high. In a comparison, the club said gasoline prices were about $1.25 a gallon in December 2001. The current price increases stem from low inventories coupled with production problems that continue to plague refiners in the United States.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would penalize oil companies, traders and operators found guilty of price gouging. But President Bush is expected to veto the bill if it passes, on the grounds that it could induce shortages.

All that was of little concern to drivers pumping gas Monday afternoon here. Instead, some were saying that higher gas prices have caused them to cut costs in other areas to make trips affordable. In essence, the high costs weren’t enough to keep them off the road, but it was a reason not to spend money on other things.

Melinda Elisaia of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., said she made significant and painful trims to her guest list for a San Francisco Elks Lodge memorial gathering in honor of her husband, who died a year ago.

“I’m shocked. This is crazy,” she said after racking up a $75 gas bill at the Petro Stop Mobil station. “It’s going to take two more tankfuls to get home.”

Roberto Arroyo, 37, who was going home to Modesto after a holiday weekend with his family at Disneyland, figured his fuel costs would top $180.

“I had to tighten up my pocket a bit on this trip,” he said. “There was a sweatshirt at Disneyland that I really liked, but I didn’t buy it. It was worth half a tank of gas.”

Richard Ferko of Thousand Oaks wondered aloud when low-income families would be priced out of vacations altogether, especially since gas prices have tripled over the last eight years.

“When gas hit $1 a gallon, I said this is ridiculous,” said Ferko, who spent $100 filling his tank. “When it went to $2 a gallon I said it better not get any higher. Now it’s way above $3 and on its way to $4. Absurd.”

Sean McClinton, 37, of Irvine wasn’t the least sympathetic with the people complaining about the price of gas.

“They can go out and make more money or stay off the road,” he said.

Instead, his source of vexation was the fact that it took more than five minutes to authorize his credit card at the pump.

“I’m never coming here again.”