Readers help man spend 4th with family
Published: Thu, Jul. 03, 2008 03:17PM
Modified Thu, Jul. 03, 2008 03:21PM
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closePhillip Foster won't have to spend the Fourth of July weekend apart from his family, after all.
Lenora Gustafson of Durham and Leavy Brock of Greenville offered separately today to pay for gas so Foster could make the drive from Durham to his grandma's house near Wilson.
"It's tugging at me," Brock said after he read about Foster's plight in The News & Observer.
HIGHWAY CONDITIONS
Interstate 85 is reduced to one lane in each direction for six miles in Vance County, from U.S. 158 to the Granville County line. Other road construction is suspended until Monday morning. Call 511 for traffic updates.
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT
The state Highway Patrol will have more troopers on interstates and major routes to catch speeders and aggressive drivers. Cell phone users can call *HP for help.
A TANKFUL OF REGULAR
A 15-gallon fill-up costs about $60.53 in the Triangle, an increase of $17.26 in the past year. If your car gets 20 mpg, you'll spend $80.70 to buy 20 gallons for a 400-mile round trip from Raleigh to Nags Head.
(AAA, RDU, NCDOT, OIL PRICE INFORMATION SERVICE, STATE HIGHWAY PATROL)
BY THE NUMBERS
1.03 MILLION - The number of North Carolinians who plan a car trip this weekend
1.3 - The percentage decline of car travelers from 2007
94,900 - The number of North Carolinians who plan to fly this holiday
2 - The percentage decline in air traffic travelers from last year
150,000 - The number of RDU airport travelers expected over the six days that began Tuesday
(AAA, RDU AIRPORT)
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Foster was going to miss his family's holiday reunion -- usually a two-day event that includes his July 5 birthday -- because he could not afford the gas.
Triangle motorists paid an average $4.042 per gallon for regular today, a record high. The News & Observer featured Foster in a story about how high gas prices have soured holiday travel plans for thousands of people across the state.
Brock read about Foster and thought of his own three sons, who will drive their wives to his Greenville home for a cookout Friday. One couple is coming from Winston-Salem.
"It would have torn me up if one my sons couldn't get here because he didn't have money for gas," Brock said.
Gustafson and her son will stay in Durham this weekend.
"We usually go to the beach, but I'm not going," Gustafson said. "He's more than welcome to our gas money. I want the young man to have the holiday he's used to having."
Foster, who turns 24 Saturday, was grateful for the generous offers -- and flustered. He called his parents for guidance. He didn't know whether to accept this kindness from strangers.
"My mom said if they bless me with this, then I should go for it," Foster said.
It'll take $20 to $30 to fuel Foster's Mazda for the round trip to Wilson. Foster said he'll call Brock and Gustafson to work out logistics for accepting their gas-money gifts.
"Either way," he said, "I'm going home."
bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4527
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