Driving to Virginia this weekend. Gas?

[wordmunger]

I'm planning to head up to Virginia Beach this weekend to meet some old friends. Here in North Carolina, some gas stations have already run out of gas in the wake of Katrina.

I know we've got MR members in Virginia -- is the situation as bad there? I really don't want to cancel this trip -- we've been planning it for months and these are some great old friends.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[macartistkel]

Well I am located at the other end of the state in Virginia--but yes, many pumps are covered up with cardboard boxes here. It is getting bad because I live in such a small town though--surely throughout other places in Viriginia should have enough supply. What do we do if we cannot put gas in our cars???!!! :(

I cannot even fathom the thought. Thank goodness I have a VW Beetle and not an SVU! I almost bought a mini cooper not long ago too. Small cars or hybrids are the way to go right now! :)

[jim.]

Here in central VA, we seem to be ok. No closed stations and prices still below $3/gal. I don't know if you would want to come this far out of your way to the beach. Unless you pass through Richmond? Then it is only 45 min or so.

Jim

[MacFan782040]

Gas is $3.05 here today

[mac-er]

NC government is telling people not to travel this coming up weekend because your trip might be longer than expected.

You think $3.00 is bad....see the picture (from Yahoo..in Georgia)

[wordmunger]

I'm not so concerned about price since we get about 30 MPG -- even at $6 a gallon, we'd "only" be spending $120 on gas (compare this to $900 for a roundtrip flight to VA beach). But if there's no gas at all, that would not be fun.

[Black&Tan]

Also, keep your speed down to 55-65mph. On a Jeep, it's possible to get 3-5 mpg more than driving at 75mph. On a 6 cylinder engine, that should translate roughly to about 2000 rpm.

[RugoseCone]

Here in central VA, we seem to be ok. No closed stations and prices still below $3/gal. I don't know if you would want to come this far out of your way to the beach. Unless you pass through Richmond? Then it is only 45 min or so.

Jim

What is availability like in Charlottesville? I'm possibly headed there from Charlotte tomorrow, but I don't want to get stuck there for more than the weekend...

[Frisco]

I just talked to my brother who lives in Virginia Beach. He said regular is $3 a gallon, up 20 cents from yesterday. He said he doesn't see any long lines yet.

[jim.]

What is availability like in Charlottesville? I'm possibly headed there from Charlotte tomorrow, but I don't want to get stuck there for more than the weekend...
It looked fine on the way in, but I only pass one gas station in the city. I live in the country east of town. You'll probably be fine unless the students here use up all the gas with their SUVs, since they don't get the holiday at UVA.

Jim

[Jeewhizz]

NC government is telling people not to travel this coming up weekend because your trip might be longer than expected.

You think $3.00 is bad....see the picture (from Yahoo..in Georgia)

Nice ;)

I paid 95.9pence (GBP) for my petrol today here in london... that's per litre, and works out to be about $8 a gallon ;)

I would be over the moon with a $3 gallon :)

[ispeakmango]

I'm driving to North Carolina from Va tonight, I live in kind of a small town but the highest price I've seen here is 2.99 for regular. That was today at around 12:15 I haven't been out since. The prices vary a lot here though, for example the lowest right now is 2.46 for regular. Good luck and have a safe trip.

[camomac]

thats why i drive a vespa, 60+ mpg! the way all this is going, i bet you will start seeing more scooters on the road.

i also have a car, but have no need to drive it.