If you’re planning a road trip along Highway 1 in California, gas prices are some of the highest in the nation.
Sticker shock may be an understatement for the price of gas in the tiny town of Gorda along the Big Sur coast.
“Wow! It's crazy!” said Ryan Swanson of Minnesota.
Drivers are shelling out a whopping $7.59 per gallon of regular gas at Americo Gas on Highway 1.
“These numbers are staggering,” said Donny Mangos of Canada. “I'll put in 10 dollars, 15 dollars and then I'll probably go fill up somewhere else.”
It’s the highest-priced gas in the state to the surprise of some visitors road-tripping along the scenic coast.
“This is the most I’ve ever spent on gas in my entire life,” Swanson said.
But we found out that gas prices in the isolated town have actually been nearly this steep since last summer.
“We've always been, I would consider one of the most expensive gas prices here in California,” said Hector Vargas, Americo Gas supervisor.
When most California drivers were shelling out $3 per gallon for gas, Americo was charging a couple of dollars more than that.
The prices are so expensive because the secluded town runs off generators that take about 15,000 gallons of diesel a day.
But as gas prices soar all over the Golden State, the prices here have garnered a lot more attention.
“They start pumping and taking pictures saying like, ‘I'm buying gas at this price’ but there are some people that do kind of get upset,” Vargas said.
“We're glad we didn't get a whole lot so we're waiting until we get to, hopefully, some cheaper gas down the road,” said Grant Kolkow of Chico.
The next gas station is 40 miles north or 12 miles south at Ragged Point which is $6.79 per gallon of regular gas.
The Shell station in nearby Cambria is priced at $6.29 per gallon, leaving more and more drivers feeling the pain at the pump.
“It's not like the old days when I could fill up a car for five bucks,” said Judy Menezes of Hanford.
