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What many residents may be remembering this Memorial Day weekend is how much less expensive it was to travel in past years.

Crude oil reached a new high at $132.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and fuel prices followed, jumping to an average of $3.95 for a gallon of regular gasoline at most stations across Butler County.

Residents should expect to pay higher prices as they travel this weekend, officials from AAA said.

However, the cost of gas will begin to drop a penny or two at a time after Memorial Day, AAA reported.

"We're cautiously optimistic about it," said AAA spokesman Gregg Laskoski. "During the first or second week of June we should start to see prices go down. There's an ample gas supply and consumer demand is not remarkable. Those two things alone should drive down prices."

And, Laskoski said, experts do not believe gas should hit $5 a gallon this summer.

The best thing for those trying to budget, Laskoski said, is to stay at home.

A couple times a year, Hamilton resident Kim Kirsch drives 200 miles to visit her sister in Indiana. But with the rise in gas prices, she's second guessing her plans.

"In spite of the fact that this is a family holiday, with the gas prices, I don't know I'll go," Kirsch said as she filled up for $3.95 a gallon at the BP Station at High Street and Ohio 4.

A couple pumps down, Hamilton resident Perry Johnson said gas prices have affected his plans for Memorial Day weekend and, likely, the rest of the summer. As a retiree, coping with $4-a-gallon gas makes even visiting relatives in northern Kentucky a financial burden.

"I wanted to take a vacation and you just can't do it," he said.

The Ohio Department of Transportation warns motorists to be careful as construction season is in full swing. ODOT reported 2,124 highway crashes during Memorial Day weekend last year.

Staff Writer Joshua Rinaldi and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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