It's official: Gasoline is selling at $5-a-gallon on a daily basis, within the continental USA, smack dab in the middle of California's most-scenic road, in a town called Gorda, along gorgeous Highway 1, about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. There have been reports, on-again and off-again, about $5-a-gallon gas being sold in America, but until now, those reports have come mostly from Alaska or Hawaii, and they had almost always been short-lived affairs (see the posting on this site, below, about $5-a-gallon gas on the Hawaiian Island of Maui). (Photo - Recent gas prices, as reported by the Los Angeles Times).
It's probably safest for you readers, especially those with weak hearts, if we kind of "build up" to the story about the $5-a-gallon fuel, so we'll start-off with this report from the LOS ANGELES TIMES:
"California gas prices hit a record high today (3-17-08) but that milestone probably won't last very long. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded hit $3.511, eclipsing the previous high of $3.499 reported last May, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Today's average is more than 58 cents higher than what motorists were paying a year ago. Southern California pump prices remained either slightly below or matched their all-time peaks." (end of LA TIMES blog posting).
Now the bad news, and, interestingly enough, it's from the NEW YORK TIMES' Jesse McKinley, reporting on the highest-priced gas in the country, which is, no surprise, found in California. Seems their brother reporters working for the Los Angeles paper with the same "last name" missed this one (but they'll probably remedy this soon ... Like, right after they read today's NEW YORK TIMES ... Happens almost every day, one way or another). We've truncated the story a bit for brevity, and also added a word or phrase or two to help readers not familiar with California's Central Coast (which is a shame, because it's so beautiful and offers so much):
"The reason for consumer agitation is that a station in Gorda, in Big Sur on the Central Coast of California, is serving up what may be the costliest gas in the land. On Tuesday morning, as crude oil flirted with $110-a-barrel and petrol prices set records nationwide, a gallon of regular at the Amerigo station was going for $5.20. Premium was fetching an eye-popping $5.40-a-gallon, though that included a free copy of a local newspaper (which was free, anyway).
The station manager said the price reflected this tiny town’s remote location as well as its reliance on a diesel generator for all of its power. That generator uses 100 gallons a day, and the gas station helps foot the bill. The manager said the price of a gallon of regular at his station actually topped $5 for the first time in late 2007 — “More holiday cheer,” the station's manager said — as crude prices began to surge. It has stayed put ever since.
The normal business transactions for any gas station have led to a kind of gallows — or perhaps gallons — humor among its manager and the station’s two other attendants, who serve the public and deal with their displeasure. They say that paper towels to clean windshields come at “$35-a-foot,” and that they want to install slot-machine arms on the sides of the pumps. They keep copies of particularly large bills — like those for RVs — as mementos.
Many gas stations along the coastal highway do not have prominent signs advertising their prices, in large part to preserve the area’s famed views, where crashing waves, stands of cypress and stark cliffs are set against an endless blue horizon.
Gorda, a popular spot for jade hunters and coast-loving bikers, also boasts impressive vistas, as well as a 
bundle of quaint cabins and a lonely llama who grazes near the station. The town, whose population ranges from about 10 (during low season for tourists) to about three dozen (in midsummer), is also home to a general store, a diner and a pair of pay phones. Cellphone reception is nonexistent, and radio is a crapshoot.
Locals have gotten used to paying a lot for a little, as almost everything has to be trucked in from big towns up and down the coast. A twelve-pack of Budweiser costs nearly $15, and a small coffee at the general store is more expensive than at the average Starbucks.
And Gorda is not alone in pricey petrol along the coast. In Cambria, 35 miles south, the price of regular at the Chevron station was $3.95 on Tuesday. In Big Sur, the tourist-friendly hideaway 40 miles north, a gallon of regular went for $4.80 at one Shell station.
The management at Gorda's Amerigo station is not immune to the price pinch; Tuesday was trash day in Gorda, and the station's manager, who oversees all the business in town, had to fill up the town’s truck to make the trip to the dump. The bill was $123." (end of NY TIMES story).
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