Just weeks from the start of another summer travel season, St. Louisans are taking a hard look at whether escalating gasoline costs have priced them out of their dream vacations.

Michael Right, vice president for public affairs for the AAA Auto Club of Missouri, notes that the average price of a gallon of self-service regular unleaded averaged $1.39 in the month of May just five years ago.

Two years later -- by 2005 -- that same gallon of gasoline had crept over the $2 mark and, just two years after that, it was selling for slightly more than $3 a gallon.

The May 2008 pump price: a whopping $3.55 a gallon.

Right notes that, while AAA's annual summer travel projections won't be out for another two weeks, he says, "I suspect we are going to see things fairly flat, if not below, the 2007 season.

"People have indicated that one of the ways they deal with higher gas prices is fewer leisure trips." And bi-state residents who do decide to travel, he says, will be sticking closer to home.

This week, the Beacon spoke to some drivers to get their takes on travel plans and the impact of higher fuel costs.

This is what they had to say:

Susan Hager-Colston, St. Louis, restaurant server and the mother of two young children:

While Hager-Colston (shown with daughter, Liam) says she would love to plan a more extensive summer vacation, escalating fuel costs likely will mean an in-state float trip on the Huzzah River near Steelville, Mo.

"We were thinking about going someplace farther, maybe out to Oklahoma or Tennessee, but Oklahoma and Tennessee are long states, with a lot of driving." She said the cost of filling up her big Dodge truck's empty tank: "anywhere from $80 to $100."

Kimberly Miller, St. Louis, stay-at-home mom and stained-glass artist:

She says that until recently she and her two daughters (Haleigh, 4, and Michaela, 2) traveled to visit her family in LaPorte, Ind. about every six weeks. But no more. "Now," she said, "we're visiting them pretty much just on the holidays. We'll see them on Mother's Day and then for a family reunion in July."

She says she would like to take the girls on a real vacation this summer, "but we know right now we're not going to be able to do that, so I really haven't thought much about it."

Instead, she says, they will be spending the summer visiting "all the free things around St. Louis." She specifically mentioned Twilight Tuesday concerts at the St. Louis History Museum, the Zoo and the Art Museum.

"We have everything we'd want right here within a few miles," she said.

Ben Spector, of Toms River, N. J., and Devina Shah, of East Brunswick, N.J., both graduating seniors at Washington University:

Spector says higher gasoline costs will not affect his plans for a summer cruise, but did say that trips from his new job in Cincinnati to visit his parents or friends in Chicago likely will be by plane, and not automobile. "I can easily see how these prices are changing people's lifestyles," he said.

Shah said the higher gas prices already have changed the way she will go home following graduation. She had intended to drive back to New Jersey, but says she now will fly home and hire a transport truck to take her car there. "My parents made the drive out here a couple of weeks ago and decided it would have been cheaper for them to fly," she said.

Mario Stanton of St. Louis, an emergency medical tehnician with the St. Louis Fire Department, and his wife, Janary Stanton. The couple has two young children:

Mario Stanton says the family's vacation plans to Branson will not change, but says almost everything else associated with their driving has.

"We used to think nothing of visiting friends in West County or family in Franklin County," he said. "Now, though, it's 'I'll see you on the holidays.' "

She said that she is acutely conscious of the cost of gasoline prices every time she gets into the family car. "We make one trip a week to the grocery story; that's it," she said. "And if something isn't within a five-mile radius, I'm not going."

"I'll tell you one thing," Mario Stanton said, "our next car is absolutely going to be a hybrid. And if they came up with a good electric, I'd buy that."

Mary Ann and Bob Zabielski, retirees from Chesterfield and friend, Sandra Schoenberger (left) of Gulfport, Fla. who teaches line-dancing:

Mary Ann Zabielski said she believes that the true impact of the higher fuel costs will not be felt until the coming winter holidays or next summer. She says "people have been saving their pennies for this year's vacation."

Bob Zabielski said he feels especially sorry for lower-income Americans. Not only will they likely see their travel plans curtailed, but likely will cut dramatically back on eating out and traveling downtown for baseball games and other sporting events.

Schoenberger says she has little doubt that the gas crisis will begin hurting her state's economy, if it hasn't already. Middle-class families who once planned a summer driving vacation to Disney World and other Florida attractions will see themselves priced out of the market.

"Businesses are going to start closing; that's all there is to it," she said. "They simply won't have the traffic through them that they need to hang on."

Share how your travel plans have changed because of high gas costs.