Gas Pains

The trailhead for the Havasu area of the Grand Canyon is in a remote location. Maps and websites caution travelers to fuel their tanks before the final 65-mile stretch leading to the canyon’s edge, as there simply won’t be another opportunity.

Not there, not back.

Somehow we forgot about this detail until it was almost too late. Thank goodness the gas station we practically coasted toward utilized this fact as a major part of their advertising—signs everywhere proclaimed it was the LAST chance for gasoline, and boy did they take advantage of it.

It was March of 2004, and the cost of a gallon of gas in Dallas was somewhere between $1.20 and $1.40, depending on which supermarket loyalty card you sported.

Last Chance Gasoline was almost 200% of what we’d paid at the start of our journey.

“Oh well,” said Mia’s dad, as he pulled up to the pump and shifted the car to park.

“No way!” I argued. “This is insane. This is ludicrous! I am not going to support this kind of bullying. We need to go somewhere else.”

“There is nowhere else. Didn’t you see the sign?”

We looked out across the flat, flat landscape.

Visibility? Somewhere around 65 miles.

Sixty-five miles of vast nothingness.

“Then we need to go back the way we came. Surely there are more ethical service stations in Arizona.”

“Do you remember the last time we passed one?”

No, I did not. So it was with great reluctance that I conceded. While he pumped, I pouted. And grumbled.“Do you believe these people? Ridiculous. Thieves are what they are! Bullies!”

Mia’s dad just sighed and shook his head in what I hoped was agreement.

Oh, but I wasn’t done. “It’s unbelievable is what it is. Nobody at home is going to believe this insane price. In fact, I’m going to take a picture to show everyone the kind of injustice that is happening right now in our very own country.”

And so I did.

I talk about that photo more often than I care to admit.

But now—in a disgusting tangle of irony—it’s with nostalgia.

“Remember back in 2004 when a gallon of gas was only $2.19? Those were the good old days… Yup, back when things were reasonable…”