It isn't just gas prices. It's the price of everything that requires petroleum products for growing (food), shipping, etc. Plus the increase in prices of anything from overseas due to our incredible shrinking US dollar. It's especially fun when you're on a fixed retirement income, as I am. I got a temporary respite this year (which about offsets the inflation of everything else) by getting a cheaper (i.e. higher co-pay) Medicare HMO plan, but if I should get sick that could really come back to bite me!

I am making less trips to Seattle to see the grandkids (I am going this weekend, my first trip since mid-January), going out to the Columbia River Gorge to hike only once a week (much to the detriment of my training because there are no significant hills in my neighborhood), and trying to combine all shopping/errands/church trips into a single outing as much as possible.

I still plan one trip to the Rockies this summer. I am obligated to a week's backpack in northern Colorado and decided to tack on an 8-day trip into the Wind Rivers (thanks to wandering daisy's trip reports!) right after that. I will reduce motel expenses by camping at the trailheads at both ends of each backpack trip, so that I have a total of only two nights in motels for the entire time.