Aaa Mid Atlantic

Seasonable weather and a drop in gas prices across the Tri-State area has AAA officials predicting motorists will be taking to the highways in big numbers this Memorial Day weekend. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the Hagerstown area is $1.34, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. That's about 26 cents a gallon less than motorists paid last Memorial Day weekend. Nationally, unleaded gas has been holding steady at about $1.40 a gallon since April, Bevi Norris, spokeswoman for AAA West Penn, West Virginia/South Central Ohio said in a press release.

TRI-STATE -- With a weakening economy and Thanksgiving just around the corner, the sight of lower gas prices is a welcome relief for many local residents interviewed last week. Edie Riker, 53, of Summit Point, W.Va., said Wednesday that the lower gas prices will help people get out of the house, ultimately helping the slumping economy. "With gas prices dropping, I am more inclined to get out of my house and go shopping," Riker said. "With the economy the way it is and people not spending, now is the perfect time for gas prices to fall.

With gas prices dropping and economic conditions slowly improving, the number of Marylanders traveling over the Memorial Day weekend is expected to increase slightly this year, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. More than 721,000 Marylanders are projected to travel this weekend, a 1.4 percent increase over 2011, AAA said in a news release. One of those is Hagerstown resident Richard Brill, 67, who was leaving Thursday on his Memorial Day weekend trip. “I'm going to the NASCAR race down in Charlotte,” N.C., he said.

A storm that began midmorning Thursday dropped about 3 1/2 inches of snow on the Hagerstown area and created slick conditions that were expected to continue into this morning, according to weather reports from the National Weather Service and Hagerstown weather site www.i4weather.net . Periods of freezing rain and sleet overnight could result in an accumulation of several hundredths of an inch of ice, enough to keep travel hazardous, the National Weather Service predicted.

Vacations making popular stocking stuffers By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer Getting home for Christmas isn't the only goal of holiday season travelers, according to local travel professionals who say they're seeing more and more vacation travel at this time of year. Trips - either during the holidays or for some time afterward - have become popular gifts, they say. The American Automobile Association expects a record 44.5 million people to travel 100 miles or more from home this holiday season.

Local travelers need to learn to plan ahead when traveling outside the country, a local travel agent said as she discussed newly tightened, then relaxed, passport regulations. Citizens traveling to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda who were required to have a passport in hand might not need a passport after all because the United States Departments of State and Homeland Security relaxed that restriction, according to a AAA Mid-Atlantic press release. Travelers still must provide proof that they have applied for a passport and a government-issued photo identification card, according to the release.

It is now six straight weeks that the national average of regular grade gas has set a new record for the calendar day, according to the AAA Mid-Atlantic weekend gas watch, and there is still little relief at the pump. With the national average at $3.81 per gallon Thursday, it is actually up from last week at $3.78 per gallon despite the end of summer and lower global crude-oil prices, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge website at fuelgaugereport.aaa.com. Prices are lower overall throughout the state of Maryland at $3.70, but they were $3.84 in Hagerstown on Thursday, up from $3.81 at the same time the previous week and from $3.78 a month ago. Nationally, prices have still fallen 19 of the last 21 days, according to the Weekend Gas Watch, but they have been increasing across the northeast and west coast.

shappell@herald-mail.com As gas prices continue to spike, consumers said they are finding themselves with less money in their wallets and fewer ideas for road trips in 2004. Meanwhile, a AAA spokesman said the national and Maryland state record for price per gallon could be broken as early as today. John White, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman, said the average price in the state for regular unleaded gasoline rose to just less than $1.71 per gallon by Friday. White said the gap between the current average and the record is about .03 cent.

Labor Day weekend travel is expected to increase slightly over last year's holiday, with most people choosing to drive, according to AAA officials. Nearly all of those interviewed Thursday in Washington County said they planned to stay home this weekend, citing traffic and busy schedules, not gas prices, as their reasons for not traveling. More than 663,000 Maryland residents are expected to travel 50 miles or more from their homes, according to AAA. Nationally, 35.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more, a 1.2 percent increase from the 34.8 million who did so last year.

That drive to the beach this summer will cost about twice as much as it did just five years ago. With gasoline prices averaging around $3 per gallon on the East Coast and about $3.25 per gallon in the West, summer travelers are having to make adjustments to pay for the added costs. And some aren't traveling at all. "For people that are not traveling, the No. 1 reason is high gas prices," AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Troy Green said. Among those who are traveling, many are choosing to take shorter trips to closer destinations, Green said.