{"id":46634,"date":"2022-06-11T21:30:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T21:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-dream-of-the-open-road-collides-with-the-reality-of-5-a-gallon-gas\/"},"modified":"2022-06-11T21:30:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-11T21:30:59","slug":"the-dream-of-the-open-road-collides-with-the-reality-of-5-a-gallon-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/the-dream-of-the-open-road-collides-with-the-reality-of-5-a-gallon-gas\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dream of the Open Road Collides With the Reality of $ 5-a-Gallon Gas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gas prices have risen nearly every day since our trip began on May 12. According to AAA’s tracker, the national average hit $ 5 a gallon on Saturday. We had no choice but to adapt to the high prices, and in retrospect I think that was for the best. Instead of hitting museums and cool restaurants and the big cities of the Southeast – inflation made all that stuff too expensive – we leaned into the road itself, letting America reveal itself serendipitously. Since it cost a small fortune to be on the road, why not make it the focus of our trip?<\/p>\n

We decided to stick to the business routes – designed to take you through downtowns instead of around them – and back roads, the original \u201cblue highways,\u201d slowly crossing old, low bridges that put us at eye level with marshes, sweet-smelling honeysuckle hedges and local ice cream shops. Taking these less-worn roads meant traveling more slowly than we had planned, but it also meant we got to see rare slices of America. Plus, if you stay under 50 miles per hour, AAA says, you get better gas mileage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n