Friends, Our leave-taking from Orcas Island, WA was delayed about 12 hours last Monday due to 90+mph winds, power outages and a totally messed up ferry schedule (hey, 90 mph winds will DO that!) However, after a rocky start, it was smooth sailing across the Great Basin and down the Prairie to our home in central Oklahoma. We arrived in late afternoon Friday, after a thankfully boring trip.
My wife and I tend to idle the hours away across the West (probably our 40th crossing, lifetime) by playing the "license plate game" and listening to National Public Radio. About mid-week, there was a feature on the rocketing price of gasoline. Rather than the now too-familiar wringing of hands as various folks lament gasoline hitting $3.00 or industry analysts warning that $4.00 is just over the horizon, this report was about the MOST expensive gasoline in the 50 US states.... in isolated communities in Alaska. The town featured was Bethel, an inland city in Alaska's sparsely settled southwest. No roads reach Bethel and the gasoline is barged in up a long river to reach the settlement. THe barge only arrives a couple of times a year. The price at the pump in Bethel, currently just over $7.00 per gallon, is used in snow mobiles and the vehicles in town. There is one long road in Bethel (several miles long, reaching the "suburbs") but the gas prices there are still a very serious concern. Interestingly, the price at the pump does not creep up in fairly small increments like in the Lower 48 states. In Bethel, it remains exactly stable until a new barge load comes in; then it REALLY jumps. The report was done by the local NPR Affiliate in Bethel, KYUK-640AM, which I recently heard on Orcas and from whom I just received a QSL. Ain't this hobby great? John B. _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
