Good while it lasted

Gas prices in town are once again becoming untethered from prices down the hill (meaning from reality).  This morning, Lyons was 40 cents cheaper, and Denver 50 cents cheaper per gallon.  Estes stations may want to consider switching exclusively to digital, because otherwise, staff is going to be at risk of back spasms and nursemaid's elbow straining to satisfy the repetitive price gouging, er, changing.

Hurry before these prices go up another dime oops too late

When Safeway opened the gas station at the former Silver Lane Stables (how's that for literal progress?), the break in inflated prices (it's hard to say overinflated, because I recognize the fuel trucks have to drive an extra 20 miles uphill from Lyons), was a pleasant surprise, and when the fuel rewards were factored in (remember when Safeway gave a 3 cent/gallon discount just for being a Safeway cardholder?), gas was occasionally cheaper in Estes than anywhere else in the state.  So you have to look back fondly on those days, because they're gone.  Safeway never had any obligation to provide Estes Park with cheap gas (and force Schrader Oil next door to match or die), and it wasn't like they were hooking us on something we couldn't find elsewhere.

Conspiracy theorists will now examine Estes Park and note how every station, including the recently converted DinoMart, is pricing regular unleaded at the same price, give or take a penny.  This was always the go-to topic of conversation among locals, and an inside tip to visitors if they were running low, to get just enough gas in Estes to get down to Lyons (heck, after the first three mile climb, you can practically coast in neutral down to Lyons), where they could fill up and save $5 easy.  Even with a Safeway fuel reward (increasingly less appealing to chase each month, because Safeway's deli doesn't come anywhere close to King Soopers, and their pre-packaged sandwiches blow), it makes little sense to save 10 cents per gallon just to lose 40.

I hate not supporting local merchants (however "local" you consider Safeway), but it is easier to do so when prices are not so far out of line with surrounding communities.  (I can still hear Bob Mitchell, who always provided reasons why his Tiny Town Shell gas had to be so much higher than Schrader's Shell gas, derisively quote a letter to the editor from a neighboring furniture store carpetbagger about how gas was cheaper in "remote Gilpin County".)  Besides, I'm down in Boulder or Denver nearly every day, so why cut off my hose to spite my tank?  Probably the gas is lower octane at Murphy Express, and it might all average out, but I really don't care, because their "bad gas" gets me everywhere I need to go, and it's just the principal of the thing.  I would rather that $5 go to a family in need, perhaps the guy with the sign right beside Murphy Express.  While we're at it, now that we have a Dollar General, why can't our EDC attract a Murphy Express?

For those Estes Park residents who don't drive much, the solution is easy.  Save the grief and just fork over whatever extortion money the Estes Park petrol consortium currently demands.  (Federally, can we round up already, and say goodbye to the 9/10?  Who is this benefiting?  Is there a steel factory in Ohio that exclusively provides the 9/10?  That fraction may have been meaningful or important when gas was 67 cents a gallon, now it's just a rude thumb in the eye.)  For those whose driving takes them out of Estes at least once a week on business or blunt runs, get on Gas Buddy and fill up wherever your little heart desires.  You have my permission, and I won't guilt you if I recognize you filling up in Boulder or Longmont, unless you are sampling and refilling before paying for the 99-cent 44-ouncer.