May 19, 2004: My first encounter, but not first payment, of $2 gas in Iowa was at this station at the Lime Springs corner on US 63. I managed to avoid that mark for another 10 months.
I’ve been keeping track of my car fillups since August 2003. The summer of 2008 was the worst for gas prices, with the summer of 2011 slightly less worse, but 2022 is rising up the charts quickly.
The highest price I had ever paid in Iowa for 10% ethanol blend was $3.899 in Davenport on July 6, 2008. (Two months later, prices dropped substantially.) The highest price in the next peak was $3.729 in Manchester on June 13, 2011.
Until last Thursday. Stations that had been listed at $3.949 in GasBuddy an hour before I drove past them were crossing the $4 mark. I use that tense deliberately, because one changed in the five minutes between looks.
The most I’ve ever paid nationwide was just above $4 in multiple states on that July 2008 road trip, peaking at $4.159 in Indianapolis. That’s unadjusted for inflation, since that’s something that’s become a much larger factor. (Speaking of inflation: An in-store slice of Casey’s pizza rose to $3 earlier this year.)
In 2019, I figured I’d probably give the car one more year. In 2020, I figured I’d probably give the car one more year. In 2021, I figured I’d probably give the car one more year. In 2022…