High gas prices not stopping Thanksgiving travel

— -- Randy and Peggy Handy almost canceled their annual Thanksgiving trip this year because of soaring gas prices.

The couple, who are driving about 1,200 miles each way from their home in Danville, Va., to Meridian, Philadelphia and Tunica, Miss., weren't sure they could afford the trip.

"But it may be $5 (a gallon) next month," says Peggy, so they decided to go anyway to visit with friends from Randy's days in the Army Signal Corps.

The Handys, both in their 70s, are like millions of Americans this Thanksgiving.

Despite record high gas prices for November, people are not being deterred from driving to visit family and friends.

AAA, the auto club, estimates that 38.7 million people will drive at least 50 miles from home this holiday, a 1.5% increase over last year.

"With Thanksgiving, you're dealing with an unusual situation," says AAA spokesman Mike Pina. "Basically, you're dealing with people coming home once a year. They've got emotional reasons for coming home. It's not really an option not to go home."

Robert Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA, says, "this is the first time that we have seen gas prices topping more than $3 a gallon in November. A year ago, prices were in the range of $2.20 a gallon, so this year travelers are really feeling the pinch."

AAA expects 4.7 million Americans to fly, up 2.2% over last year; another 2.8 million will go by train, bus or other modes of transportation.

Pina says he has seen no evidence that people opted to drive instead of flying because of expected holiday flight delays.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported Tuesday that most of the country's aviation system was operating smoothly, but the agency did say there were delays in Chicago and the three major airports around New York City, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

At midday, the FAA said delays were mostly moderate. Some arriving flights were delayed over an hour to Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia.

The Handys, who were interviewed at an Interstate 20 rest stop in Alabama, say they always drive. "She's afraid to fly," Randy Handy says.

The Waters family of Byers, Kan., didn't consider flying, either.

Father Kyle, mother Linda and children Dagan, Alaina and Hunter drove to Atlanta "to see the pandas" at the zoo and then were headed to Branson, Mo.

"We're farmers, so we don't get to get away much," says Kyle Waters, 45. "We always travel this time of year because the kids are out of school and there's not too much to do on the farm."

Drivers at the Alabama rest stop say the holiday week travel seems heavier this year than last. Congestion is likely to get worse in some parts of the nation, due to causes both natural and man-made.

• A western storm system that brought snow to Wyoming and northern Colorado on Tuesday is expected to bring rain to a wide swath of the nation Wednesday and Wednesday night, from the Northeast through the lower Mississippi Valley. Snow is possible for parts of the Great Lakes, northern New York and northern New England.

• In the South, a 55-mile stretch of Interstate 10, the major east-west route between New Orleans and Houston, will be closed until at least Dec. 4 because of a burning natural gas well near the interstate in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana. Authorities were routing traffic onto alternate routes.

• Police across the nation will be cracking down on drunk driving, says Jonathan Adkins of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents the states in traffic safety matters. "From coast to coast, law enforcement will be out on the roads looking for drunk drivers," he says. "There are no excuses, no exceptions."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving says American families will be sharing the highways this holiday season with more than 2.8 million convicted drunk drivers with three or more convictions.

Police also will be stepping up enforcement of "Slow Down and Move Over" laws, designed to protect police officers and others.