Man, you have to keep both eyes open when you’re out on the road! I’m not talking about defensive driving, I’m talking about defensive gas shopping! We packed up the old truck and headed out of Williams after spending the night there after the Grand Canyon tour. Our normal pattern has developed as follows: as we leave town, we stop and fill up the truck, check our mpg against the truck computer and head out back on the road. Well, you can imagine my suprise when I pulled into the gas station there in Williams and looked at the price at the pump. It was $3.99 a gallon! I had seen gas signs along I 40 before getting to Williams of $3.25. Beings I still had almost a half a tank, we headed back out on the Interstate going west. We hadn’t gone 20 miles until the gas prices were back at $3.25! Making an extra $.74 a gallon must be sweet! They can’t say it’s because of delivery charges because stations east and west of Williams have the same price! After doing a few quick calculations, I was tempted to cancel the rest of the trip and buy a gas station here in Williams! If you filled up 100 trucks a day like mine (and they have that much traffic there easy), that’s $1,500 a day profit on top of what gas stations are already ripping you off for! I’m just saying, a man can still get scalped out here in the west! Driver beware!
Well, once our truck was filled up with the “cheap” $3.25 a gallon gas, we continued west. Leaving Arizona and entering California was a huge change in scenery. Arizona was all green and the pastures were beautiful. going into California the ground turned brown , then bare with nothing growing on it almost all the way to Edwards Air Force Base. Then we got into the foothills and the scenery began to change again. Soon citrus farms and grape vinyards were on either side of the highway as we began to descend into Bakersfield.
We only stopped once on the road to get a bite to eat so when we checked into our hotel in Bakersfield, we thought we would go get something and take it back to the room. Charlotte was wanting ice cream so we stopped at a store and she settled on a Dove Bar. You know the one you get at 7-11s for $1.19? Well amigo, not in California! The clerk scanned the bar and said, “That will be $4.72.” I thought Charlotte must have picked up something else and put it on the counter but, no, that ice cream bar was the only thing there! Leaving the store, I was trying to stop the bleeding in my mouth where I had bit a hole in my tongue trying to keep from saying something that would probably require bail money, which given this California exchange rate, has got to be pretty high! I was secretly thinking to myself that for that much money I could get a decent hamburger which is exactly where I went. I pulled into the drive through at Burger King and ordered the Whopper. The total came to just a hair under $10.00. As I pulled away from the window with the salty taste of my now lacerated tongue in my mouth, I was torn between buying the gas station in Williams or a Burger King franchise in Bakersfield. It’s funny how you just have to experience some things personally to understand them. How many times have I listened to Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakum sing about walking the streets of Bakersfield? At least a thousand. But I never once questioned why they were walking and not riding. Now that I have lived a little of the Bakersfield experience it is perfectly clear. After eating a Whopper and a Dove Bar, they didn’t have money for gas!
Ted Purcell 
Hey Ted,
I’ll say again: I love this virtual trip I am taking with you…….not costing me a dime. Most things in my life are in the virtual realm now …. if you know what I mean?
Watch what you say about the gasoline prices……remember 90% of your 1965 West Texas classmates have a little crude oil running through their veins and are loving your woes. I know the price of gas has put more than one skillet of corn bread on my dinner table. Got to love those good old boys in Williams: Rich Texan comes pulling in off the interstate with a “pamper me silly” attitude……….what would you charge? As my buddy Don Hughes says: “It may seem like consumer fraud, but it’s only marketing”.
See you on down the road, buddy. Be safe. I’ll go back to listening to my Randy Travis gospel favorites awaiting your next posting.
Edge
Hey Edge,
Yeah I hear ya. But I don’t own any oil stock and I really never worked in the oil field so I’m pretty much feeling like a victim of what ol Hughes called consumer fraud. Is it alright to still complain about the hamburger? I just hope that all those Williams gas station owners drive through Burger King and get the Double Whopper Big Meal Deal when they come over tho shop in Bakersfield!
Randy Travis sings gospel? He must have taken the day off from doing it the other night when they arrested him for DUI over close to my place. I’m not saying that makes him a bad guy, I just think the coincidence was a little humorous. Buckle up that virtual seat belt because we are heading this old truck west to Santa Cruz!
Hey Teddy Joe,
I’m really enjoying the virtual trip and the comments. (I think I smell a sequel coming). I would order one of your books but I can’t figure out how to download it for my Kindle.
Keep up the good work. I feel as if I’m there with you.
Keith
Hey Capehart
Man, I thought you had been eaten by a gator! Good to have you in the truck for the ride! I hope a sequel is all you are smelling coming on! It’s kinda crowded in the cab. Edge called “Shotgun” but Charlotte wouldn’t give it up. So he and Hughes have the back window seats. That leaves the back middle for you. Janie will have to take turns riding in ya’lls laps. I’m really glad this is a virtual road trip and I have a few thousand miles between us but, still, I don’t want any funky oders out there in cyber space trailing off my blog from your, what did you call them? Sequels? That’s cute!
Now that you’re on board, you need to get vested in this trip. The old truck is setting on empty so I’m pulling over to get some of that “cheap” $3.99 a gallon gas. And Edge is making us all smile and tip the gas attendent because somehow or ‘nother he says the more they charge me for gas the better off it is for ’65ers from Monahans. I haven’t made the connection yet but I’m working on it. So welcome aboard and go ahead and get out that black American Express card from that fat wallet of yours and divy-up for the next tank of, oh what the heck, beings your buying, let’s let the old truck drink the Premium! It’s only $4.49!
Keep posting!
Ted
Love reading about your adventures. Makes me wish I could retire now. I wanted to let you know (in case you were not familiar with) about an app called GasBuddy. It uses your current location to provide you with gas prices for stations around you and will tell you how far they are from you and will also give you directions. It has been very helpful to me. Also if you are planning on stopping in the big town of Odessa and are renting a room, you might call in advance for a reservation. My family tells me rooms are very difficult to find with all the oilfield workers in town. Sounds like you all arw having a wonderful time. Gives me some ideas for a family road trip. Safe travels Mr. & Mrs. P.
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for the post and I’m glad you’re enoying the trip! Yeah, we have the little gas buddy ap and it comes in handy. We are also hearing rumors of no where to stay in Odessa. Weird huh? Go figure! Anyway we plan to crash with kinfolks when we get there. Can’t wait to drink some of that great Odessa water! Yum!