$2.69

I dropped Amy off at work this morning. The Thornton's gas station on Center Street in Bloomington was only $2.69 a gallon for regular unleaded. I shrieked in excitement, as the Mobil by our apartment was $2.77. And I needed a fill up.

I've been watching gas go down in price lately. When we drove to Heather and Chuck's on Saturday, I think I spent $2.85, and thought it was a bargain. Prices in Central Illinois are cheaper than up north. Must be taxes. My dad said he spent over $3 for gas for work that day.

I just can't believe I am thinking that $2.69 is a bargain. As a sixteen-year-old, driving the Ark, my 1979 Pontiac Bonneville, I remember paying 89 cents a gallon. As prices crept toward a dollar, I remember driving to other gas stations looking for 99 cents or less, refusing to pay over a dollar for a gallon of gas. This was also when I was making less than $4 an hour at Art's. I also remember paying almost $5 a gallon just this year up in Alaska.

Have prices really gone up that much?