Fort Stockton Memo: Gas Prices Sure Are High
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
In early June of this year, on a somewhat rare driving vacation, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel through Fort Stockton.
It was getting toward evening and I had been putting off filling up the tank. In fact, as we made our way west on I-10 (going 80 mph legally until dusk, thank you, Rep. Pete Gallego), we passed up the last gas station in Ozona, and drove another 100 miles or so before, thankfully, the lights of Fort Stockton showed on the horizon.
The fact is, Fort Stockton, despite all its worldly pleasures, is 100 miles from everywhere. You are damn near forced to fill up on gas there.
Of course I was relieved, because the needle seemed to be way too close to the ‘E.’ Given the relative lack of available gas stations along the way, I feared we were going to run out of gas –which sucks any way you slice it.
But thanks to cutting back to night-time speed limits, we made it to the cluster of gas stations along I-10, on the northern fringe of Fort Stockton.
Now, you may remember, gasoline prices were as bad in June 2007 as they were just after Hurricane Katrina — which means gasoline was at another all-time Texas high — hovering around $3 a gallon everywhere, give or take a dime.
The price hike had come just in time for America’s summer driving season, when the price of gasoline always hit its highest mark — which meant I had been (and could expect to be) paying through the nose for gasoline (by American standards) for the whole trip. I had made up my mind not to let it bother me.
Still, I was not prepared for what I saw on the Chevron and Exxon-Mobil store signs in Fort Stockton. Gasoline at both stations was priced at $3.40 per gallon for regular — the highest posted gas price I have ever seen — and to see it in Texas? It was unbelievable.
And, still, I had to fill up the tank. I blacked out on the exact dollar amount, but I know it was substantial.
It was right about then, I thought to myself, something fishy is going on here…
to be continued
