Monday, November 17, 2014

Bakersfield To Barstow, CA

It was a short day today but we are headed into nicer weather. The coffee maker packed it in halfway through making a pot this morning so that went on the shopping list. We will stop overnight in either Flying J or Walmart in Barstow. Walmart won out because we needed to buy a coffee maker.

We needed gas on the way out of Bakersfield and as we were almost out of town anyway, there were no gas stations close by. Gas has been pretty reasonable in California, if you search for good prices. Truck stops usually have it for $2.89 to $3.10 per gallon. We were getting low and we had the big Highway 58 hill to climb so I pulled into a small gas station and bought $50 worth of expensive $3.79 per gal gas, enough to get us to Mojave or Barstow. It hardly moved the needle on the gas gauge!

A while later something strange happened. I spotted a Love's Travel Center on the other side of the highway with a big sign offering unleaded gas for $2.99. I took the exit and there was a Chevron station, much closer than the Love's, also with a big $2.99 sign. I pulled up to the pumps and was about to gas up when I noticed the price on the pump said $3.79 per gal! I went inside and asked the woman about the $2.99 sign. "Oh", she said, "That pump is around the back". "So", I said, "The pumps in front are $3.79 and the pump at the back is $2.99, the same price as Love's". "Yes" she said with a big smile. I moved around back and filled up for a 25% savings over the front pumps. The front pumps had three or four cars filling up and the cheaper pump at the back had no customers. I guess people around here have so much money they just couldn't care less.

Gotta go, the new coffee maker just brewed me a pot!


9 comments:

  1. I'm worried about what was in those pumps! :D

    Glad to see you're finding warmer weather.

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    1. That was about 75 miles back and the motorhome is still running! I have given up trying to figure out the reasoning behind gas prices in the US.

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  2. Very very strange! That's fairly cheap gas for California - the $2.89 to $3.10 - I mean. Glad the weather is nicer!

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    1. Love's is always the cheapest followed by Pilot and Flying J. The small stations are the ones at $3.79

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  3. We stopped at a southern Washington State Pacific Pride truck stop and paid $2.90/gallon for diesel. That price is unheard of anywhere else.

    I bet that coffee did taste great.

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    1. Certainly the cheapest diesel I have seen this trip! And yes, the coffee was great!

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  4. Gas is now cheaper in the U.S. than it is in Mexico. What a scam with the pump price at that one place! But, if people are stupid enough to fall for it...

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  5. Some people look at the big sign for the gas price but don't look at the pump price.
    I went with a friend one time to fuel up their coach because of the cheap fuel. But he accidentally filled it up with high test not looking at the pump. A very costly mistake.

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  6. That's funny, and they talk about Pemex stations in Mexico :)

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