No, not at all. I have two vehicles, one, a Jeep, gets 19mpg hwy, the other, a Hyundai, gets 37mpg hwy (about double the Jeep) and I can still fill it up for less than $30. I'll just drive the Hyundai more often till prices stabilize and come down again, that's all. If you stop to think about it would you not go to Bryce or Capital Reef for an extra $10 per fill-up? Eat at home a couple more times per month, turn lights off when you don't need them, oh, and inflate your tires properly taking one from our President (sorry, couldn't help it) and you've easily made that money back. Don't let your story be : I have $6,000 (or more) in astronomy gear but I won't use it because gas went up $.75 a gallon. Bob -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Jay Eads Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 6:10 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Will the cost of gas change your dark site visits or your attendance at outreach events? Title says it all. Some are speculating that gas may hit $250 a barrel (OUCH!) and that $5.00 gas by Memorial Day may be a reality. I posted this question over at Cloudy Nights back in January when the warning bells were starting to go off (still think this is a ploy by the Oil Companies and Speculators to drive up profits) but I would like a more local opinion. So I ask, if gas is between $4.00 to $5.00 a gallon will it change how often you drive to a dark site to observe? I know that SPOC is a good ways out for some of us and will that gas price impact the amount of times you drive out to perform outreach there or elsewhere? I know for me I will still make several trips up to Wolf Creek this summer but what will change is that I will drive up and camp over and get in two nights of observing in. I'll still hit Rush Valley as I have a couple of new spots that I really like and are up a little higher. Lakeside I'll still hit also. I still intend to hit Great Basin at least twice but if gas goes up over $4.00 I may not get that third visit in. Outreach, I plan to hit SPOC once a month this summer so that won't change, but I may hit a Harmon's more as those locations are usually closer. So gas will and will not impact my observing at a dark sites and at outreach. What could also change is instead of driving the Pathfinder I may drive the Altima out to SPOC and to other locations. Then again, it also depends what life throws my way over the next six months. -- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com