Cheaper gas doesn't spur travelers

Gas prices are dropping even as millions of Americans prepare to hit the nation's highways and skyways for the last three-day weekend of summer.

Dropping below the $4 mark for the first time in three months in Santa Rosa, the average cost of a gallon of gas would seem to favor a Labor Day weekend getaway.

Or does it?

While declining consumption has fueled a seven-week drop in pump prices, predictions of a sudden spike in retail prices were rife Wednesday as a tropical storm threatened oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, sending the cost of oil soaring for a third straight day.

Even without that threat to oil rigs, the federal Energy Information Administration said it's the $3-a-gallon threshold that seems to matter to U.S. consumers, and prices would still have to fall significantly to prompt Americans to drive more.

AAA reported that 3.5 million Californians plan to travel by car this weekend, a 1.8 percent drop from a year ago.

The impact of an uncertain economy, rising energy costs and other factors has been more profound where air travel is concerned, with 590,000 Californians expected to fly somewhere for Labor Day, a drop of 3.4 percent from last year, AAA said.

"We are definitely noticing a significant downward trend in travel this year," Northern California AAA spokeswoman Cynthia Harris said in a written statement.

"But even as Californians face steep increases in travel expenses, they continue to put a high value on travel in their lives and find resources for quick getaways with family and friends," she said.

Monte Rio resident James Breaux, for instance, said Wednesday that the cost of filling his tank is always an issue but he's contemplating a run up the coast this weekend, even if he only goes as far as Gualala.

"I just decided I don't feel like staying home this weekend," Breaux said outside the Santa Rosa AAA office on Farmers Lane, where he obtained a guidebook to help him nail down lodging.

Inside, auto travel adviser Laurie Casey said Wednesday that business remained relatively slow at the counter, where she and other representatives hand out maps and tour books to members as well as arrange travel reservations.

The trend for those traveling by car this summer has been to take shorter trips, often to Oregon and Washington, where people are camping, or staying with friends to offset fuel costs, Casey said.

Sebastopol resident Jeffrey Weston wanted to fit in a campout with his 8-year-old son, Noah, but "can't stand to be anywhere on Labor Day weekend."

So they headed out to Point Reyes National Seashore on Wednesday with plans to return Friday, ahead of the crowds.

Gina Riveras of Santa Rosa said she generally spends the weekend out of town but would not this year, having just returned from a trip to Colorado and, before that, Canada.

"It's time to do chores," she said.

Vivian Valencia of Santa Rosa, meanwhile, said high fuel costs have kept her from traveling as often as she otherwise would to visit her husband in Monterey, where he's working for several months.

But this weekend, she's on her way.

"I miss him," she said. "So that was the top priority."

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249

or mary.callahan@

pressdemocrat.com.