With all the hype and BS on rising fuel prices at the pump, I was wondering what others are thinking or feeling about this. Currently in NE Michigan gas is $2.29/gal and diesel is $2.36/gal. There is a possibility of prices going up to as much as $5/gal for gas/diesel. Wow, painful numbers to look at and psychologically damaging! LOL!

Are these numbers making you rethink your horse traveling plans? Or are you just "not worried about it"? Do you think you will travel less?

Curious to hear what others are thinking/saying.

I ride CTR and would normally do a few long trips over the summer.  This summer, we will probably camp closer to home and skip the longer trips.

Happy Trails,

Michelle

Ya'll are planning on driving somewhere?  I was gonna have the horses haul the truck to NM.  3 horses, 1/2 ton truck.  Should take, what 3-4 weeks?  I think the kids have enough DVD's to keep them occupied. Ice chest with some Dr. peppers and a portapotty in the back of the truck and we'll be good to go.

The only place I'm going is NM in a few weeks, and back in July.  Hopefull comming back won't cost as much as going up.  We'll just have to coast down hill till we hit the coast.

Oh, heres some good news for us:  Chevron/Texaco is purchasing Unocal, you know the 76 gastations.  Great,  even less competition now.  But rest easy, the oil companies should make even more profits from deal:  "ChevronTexaco earned $13.3 billion last year, the most profitable year since its inception in 1879. Unocal earned $1.21 billion last year, nearly doubling its profit from the previous year." & "The bid to buy Unocal marks the second major acquisition negotiated by O'Reilly since he became ChevronTexaco's CEO in 2000. The company bought Texaco Inc. for $39 billion 3 1/2 years ago, a deal that resulted in thousands of layoffs."

Now don't get me wrong, I am devoted capitalist.  But why are the oil companies making record holding profits while our costs continue to rise?  Where is thier increase in operating costs?  Smells rotten to me.  

"U.S. stocks fell on Monday, as oil prices held above $57 a barrel".  Some analysts have predicted oil prices peaking about $90 a barrel this year, that would still not be as bad as the prices during the 70's, that peaked at about $100 a barrel (adjusted for inflation).  

The bad part about this is that it isn't just the price of gas that goes up, the cost of producing and/or shipping anything goes up as well.  Everything gets more expensive.   That is unless you own an oil company and can protect yourself from fuel price increases.   

I think I'll just ride my horse to work now.  Buy stock in horses.

Hi everybody

As most of you said, fewer trips that take longer.  I think I will stay over night for the weekend instead of just trailering away every Sunday.  Try to think of justification for the spending- I don't drink, don't smoke, don't gamble---geez I better be able to drag the trailer!!  Right?  I will also pack my new electric cooler with food instead of eating out.

Which reminds me- thanks Dave for the info on wiring the trailer so I CAN pack my electric cooler with food.  Can't wait to get the stuff and start the wiring.

Jean in Minnesota (the weather is getting warmer- the gnats are here)

In Los Angeles, diesel is $2.65 a gallon, more expensive than premium gas.  The bad part is that I am used to it.  I've been driving around 400 miles a weekend.