At 11:02 PM 8/30/2005, Geary Schindel wrote:
Currently, supply and demand are pushing gasoline prices upward and it is unlikely that we will every see $2.00 per gallon gasoline again.
In addition, the days of driving large trucks and SUV's on caving events with just one or two people in them may be over.
In the '60s and '70s we poor cavers had a problem with the high price of gasoline--even at 25 cents a gallon (which was the same price as a Whataburger--a Whataburger is STILL the same price as a gallon of gas--Hmmmm?). Our solution to the high cost of driving to Mexico and West Texas, some of which is now a part of New Mexico, was specifically to drive LARGE TRUCKS--with SpeleoCampers. Into those trucks and campers we'd pack 8 or so people and 8 or so weeks' worth of caving gear, food, and equipment (try that in your stinking molded plastic SUV). And away we'd go....traveling at what amounted to 3 or 4 cents per person per gallon. Little matter that the trucks got only 10 or 12 miles to the gallon. The socialization demanded by so many disparate cavers put into that close a proximity for such a long time only added to the fun and adventure.
A SpeleoCamper was a roll cage--still is--that was built strong enough to protect the people riding in it in case of a rollover--then skinned with wood and metal to make it weather proof. They were proven to work on at least one occasion--maybe more. Then came the little Jap trucks and American SUVs--neither of which would carry more than the basic load of cavers or equipment. The cost per caver mile in these economy (?) vehicles actually went UP--and the cost of maintaining them was only slightly lower, maybe the same. The creature comforts (in the form of stereo and air conditioners and remotely adjustable mirrors and electronic seats that adjust to the anomalies of your butt) also went up--along with the price of fuel--while the mileage went down and the overall cost of the honky vehicle WAY up.
Now, I notice that quite a few cavers are driving BIG-OLE 3/4-ton pickups again, some of them with Diesel engines that get over 20 miles per gallon, fully loaded--pulling a trailer! I see and say that the time is getting close to resurrect the SpeleoCamper and re-institute the practice of caving in mass--putting a whole herd of them into one BIG vehicle and hauling them to the caving area. By bunching up and sharing the cost of transportation, we can shoot holes in the price of fuel for the individual caver--but a Whataburger's still gonna cost everybody the same. Strange how this economy works.
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