Aaa Mid Atlantic

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.

Thanksgiving travel starts today for millions By KERRY LYNN FRALEY Staff Writer You might have to miss the parades on television. But if you're willing to do your Thanksgiving traveling that morning, you also might miss some of the heaviest traffic of the year, according to police and transportation officials in the Tri-State area. The American Automobile Association estimates that 32.4 million Americans will travel 100 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - 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.

tarar@herald-mail.com TRI-STATE - The number of automobile travelers is expected to be down across Maryland this holiday season, but those who venture out on the roads will likely face heavy traffic and delays, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic said Monday. Spokeswoman Myra Wieman said AAA is expecting 871,400 Maryland residents to travel 50 miles or more in automobiles during the holiday season, a 2 percent decrease from last year. In 2001, 893,760 state residents traveled by car for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Wieman said.

As motorists take to the highway for the Thanksgiving holiday, considered the busiest travel holiday of the year, officials are advising drivers to leave early and stay late. "Leaving early, particularly on Tuesday, will help to mitigate delays," according to David Buck, a spokesman with the Maryland State Highway Administration. --cont. from front page -- Drivers who normally leave work early the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and hit the road at noon can avoid delays by taking the whole day off and starting out in the morning, he said.

TRI-STATE adamb@herald-mail.com Taking up two pumps at the Sam's Club gas station with his truck and trailer, Jesse Luhn had a lot of gas tanks to fill Tuesday. "It's tearing me up," said Luhn, who operates his own lawn maintenance company and needs to fill not just the tank in his truck, but the tanks in his lawn mowers. With the price of regular unleaded gas hovering around $2.35 a gallon at stations in Hagerstown, prices have hit record highs across the country.

For the first time since early July, gas prices dropped this week nationally and locally, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic's website at midatlantic.aaa.com. The national average for regular-grade gasoline was at $3.80 per gallon Wednesday, down from $3.85 last week, and the priced locally dropped from $3.85 to $3.82 per gallon, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Area residents remained skeptical about what lies ahead at the pump. “We'll have a break for a few weeks and people will say gas is looking good, but it's not going to be any relief,” Hagerstown resident Frank Daymude, 29, said.

While some people were stocking up on burgers and sparklers for July Fourth celebrations Wednesday afternoon, Randy and Pat of Hagerstown were at Advance Auto Parts on Dual Highway browsing for tires and spark plugs. They were getting their van ready for a trip to Skyline Drive in Virginia, where they planned to spend the holiday weekend relaxing in the Blue Ridge Mountains and visiting a parent’s grave, said Randy, who did not want to give his last name for fear of attracting burglars while they are out of town.

kevinc@herald-mail.com Wednesday morning and the livin's easy for Barbra Runyon at her Chambersburg, Pa., travel agency. This is not necessarily a good thing. Summer begins three weeks from today. Summer travel season, however, kickstarted with Memorial Day a week ago and early returns - at least at Runyon's Your Travel Specialist - are less than promising. "Things have definitely slowed down," she says. "People are staying local. Or, they're not needing a travel agent.

TOWSON, Md. - As more than 1 million students head back to school in Maryland, AAA Mid-Atlantic reminds motorists to slow down and be on the lookout for crossing guards, parents and children returning to local streets and sidewalks. One-fourth of all children 14 and younger who die in motor vehicle crashes are pedestrians, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Forty-three percent of those fatalities occur when schools are letting out. "Children get caught up in the excitement of going back to school, seeing their friends again, and they forget to look both ways," said John White, Public and Government Relations manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic.