Gas prices fall below $3 a gallon

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR - During this busy Thanksgiving travel weekend the price of regular gasoline has fallen below $3 a gallon at many stations in Pulaski and Saline counties.

Lucretia Verner and her cousin ruled out flying and even stopping at restaurants so they could afford to travel from Tulsa, Okla., to Atlanta in time for Thanksgiving.

"It's worth it, just ... being in the kitchen," Verner said outside a gas station in North Little Rock Wednesday.

Despite the high costs of gas and airfare, more people including Verner are traveling for the holiday.

AAA Arkansas spokesman Mike Right didn't have a statewide estimate for folks traveling for Thanksgiving. Across the country, some 42.5 million people are expected to hit the road or take to the skies for the holiday, according to AAA. That's the highest number since the start of the recession in the end of 2007.

Verner paid $3.15 per gallon at a gas station in North Little Rock, compared to the statewide average of $3.20 per gallon. That statewide average is up 50 cents from last year.

But after several years of scrimping and putting off holiday plans, many people have decided to cut back elsewhere so they can share a meal with family flung across the country.

Verner said she and her cousin, Tanish Wells, won't stop to eat on the way to Atlanta. Instead, they'll make do with the water, lunch meat and bread they took with them.

A couple pumps over, Kyle Newman squeegeed his windshield as he filled up on gas on the way from San Antonio to Knoxville, Tenn.

At one point, he considered foregoing the trip altogether, but decided the chance to see his family merits a 17-hour-long drive.

"That's what the holiday's about," he said.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)