Rural frustration: Wanting to conserve gasoline but needing to get places

Mimi Estes and her husband, Duane, of Salisbury usually take a few  long weekend jaunts in the summer to see friends. This summer, they’ve cut down to one. Karin Gerstel of Falls Village is rethinking her plans for a spring vacation to “somewhere warm.â€� And Lisa Scheble of Salisbury is seeing “a considerable tightening of the beltâ€� this summer and thinks she may turn down a couple of tempting invitations that involve flights, both because of cost and environmental concerns.

Throughout the Northwest Corner, people are making careful and sometimes difficult choices this summer when it comes to vacation plans. While the new term “staycation� didn’t pop up in most conversations, it seems that everyone is painfully aware of the apparently ever-rising cost of gasoline—and the accompanying rises in everything else.

Of course, as many people mentioned, this lovely area is a great place to be “stuck� in—it’s a vacation destination in itself. “My vacation plans haven’t been altered because I live in Lakeville full time for vacation and fun,� said Ken Lauber.

And one good thing seems to be that while people are inititially cutting back because of cost, it is making everyone more aware of what Scheble called “the carbon question.�

“Up until now, the questions of fuel and energy have lazily remained on the back burner,� she said. Not any more.

“I’ve changed my school schedule so I only have to go twice a week,� said student Wallis Jaklitsch of Salisbury. “I’ve looked for closer classes rather than going to Waterbury. I go up to Great Barrington as much as I can because the gas is cheaper. I try to double up on what I need to do up there.�

Lisa Wojcik of North Canaan said her family will take fewer weekend trips to Cape Cod this year and she’s moved closer to work to save gas.

Caitlin McNulty of Cornwall has no summer plans; “I’m breaking even with my paycheck on gas to get to work.� McNulty noted that younger people like herself are feeling the pinch in particular ways. “I haven’t been to an amusement park in a long time,� she said wistfully.

Others are making sacrifices elsewhere to retain a traditional family vacation.

“I can hardly afford to drive my car,� said Holly Hunter Stonehill of Sharon, an owner of Salisbury’s Country Bistro. But, she added, “We’re going to the Outer Banks [North Carolina] anyway. It’s the family thing we do. All the kids come and they bring their friends.�

James Wexler of Sharon will still be going with his family to Rhode Island, as they do every year, which he figures may cost around $100 in fuel. But Wexler, who owns Window Wares in Millerton, sees the pinch elsewhere and is realizing, “I have to raise my installation fees to cover fuel costs.�

Pat Surdam of Salisbury thinks it’s “essential� to balance hard work with play.

“I feel I’m working harder and being more frugal so I can take time out and be with friends,� he said. He thinks he may be going to the Thousand Islands this summer, but at this point he’s still not sure. He recently drove to Chicago, splitting the gas costs with a friend ($150 each). “I saved up for awhile to do it.�

One thing many mentioned: Kiss goodbye to the Sunday drive. “No driving for fun anymore,â€� said Carrie Alexander, a carpenter from Salisbury, who now regrets selling her dirt bike last winter. “No going for a drive because it’s a nice day.â€�  

Hil Lowinsky of Millerton, who owns a “sweet� 1973 BMW named Muffy, agrees: “I can’t go on random drives anymore with my hair flying all over and my tongue wagging. I used to love going out on midnight drives and I can’t do that anymore.�

While summer plans and alterations are the thought of the day, winter fuel costs are the elephant in the living room no one wants to think about.

Alexander said she is going to Costa Rica this winter, “so I don’t have to heat my house.�

Dan Dwyer, proprieter of Johnycake Books in Salisbury, hasn’t altered any summer plans. However, as a former board member of Salisbury Family Services, he is worried that the fuel assistance plan will take a big hit this winter.

A recent meeting of the Commonwealth Foundation of Northwest Connecticut board spent time coming up  with contingency plans to meet anticipated emergency requests for fuel assistance, he said.  

“My concern is not summer,� Dwyer said. “Have I seen a retail downturn, fewer people coming here to buy rare books? Yes, but it’s hard to complain that there aren’t as many tourists driving through when people are struggling.�