U.S. Highway 101 near Gold Beach, Oregon: My vote for prettiest highway in the country.

I grew up with family road trips. Summer vacations with a car, camping gear and a cooler are still part of every summer for me. I just got back from a 1,300 mile road trip through Iowa and Nebraska, taking my 7-year-old nephew on his first road/camping trip. We did an overnight canoe trip on the Root River (this was last Monday, before all the flooding started), we camped at Black Hawk Lake State Park in Iowa. We hiked in the Loess Hills at Preparation Valley (a stunning setting, for those who think Iowa is all cornfields). I had a great time introducing him to the wonders of the road. But I wonder if that is a tradition I’ll be able to maintain. Or even one that I should maintain, considering the costs.

All signs point toward a future of expensive gasoline; It will take years to retool Americans’ auto choices; for the next couple of years, people will be using their SUVs and big pickups (and big station wagons — my choice) as a way to send their savings to Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries. My Volkswagen with a V6 burns a gallon of fuel every 18 miles in town and 23 on the highway.

I went through 59 gallons of gas and spent about 230 bucks. That was averaging $3.85 a gallon. I’m assuming that $5 a gallon is a distinct possibility by July.

Is this the beginning of the end for a great American tradition? Is the road trip dying?