RSSGas prices hit harder in rural areas
It's even worse in rural areas like Bickleton, where driving is a necessityfor the Yakima Herald-Republic
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BICKLETON -- Sixteen-year-old Junior Hernandez works six days a week at grain elevators in Roosevelt, about 25 miles south of here.
To save money, the Bickleton High School junior has been carpooling to work this summer.
High gas prices, he says, "made me broke, made me think a second about what I'm going to do, and where I'm going to work."
Across the country, consumers of all ages have been noticing the high gas prices. In larger cities and towns, people can opt to take public transportation. They also don't have as far to go for groceries and entertainment.
But for those who live in rural areas like Bickleton and have to drive about 40 minutes to get to a town of notable size, high gas prices pose a greater hardship. Here, it's difficult to avoid spending a lot more money on gas -- for fun as well as necessities.
"If we're going to go to town to have fun, we make it a trip that's going to benefit us by going grocery shopping or on parts runs," says 16-year-old Morgan McBride, a junior at Bickleton High School.
Like many Bickleton teens, she says her family has been trying to conserve, cutting back on trips to Sunnyside, Yakima and the Tri-Cities. McBride estimates her family goes to town once every two weeks.
The price of gas "makes me think twice about going to the movies and visiting family or going swimming or camping," Hernandez says.
Bickleton doesn't have a movie theater or a large shopping center.
"When we make trips to town we think of other stuff we have to do and we stock up for at least two weeks," says Holly Goodnight, a 15-year-old junior at Bickleton High School.
Tricia McBride, a 17-year-old senior at Bickleton High School, lives in Alderdale, about 25 miles southeast of Bickleton. The upcoming school year, she says, is going to be "harder" because of high gas prices.
"Going to school is going to be super-expensive," says McBride, who estimates she spends about $100 a week on gas.
"I get a lot of pressure not to go out and do things," she says. "I used to go to the Tri-Cities to shop, and now I go closer" to home.
The same goes for Hernandez, who says he watches "what else I buy because I know I have to spend so much every week on gas."
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