$4+ gasoline hits coastal California

Bolinas, California is not your typical American small town by any measure. Priuses and Mercedes sports cars share the streets with 30, 40 and 50 year old pickup trucks and jeeps. An unusual mix of boho artists, multimillionaires, unreconstructed hippies, and surfers, the town would be overrun with tourists if they could find it. As the Wikipedia entry puts it, "Bolinas is perhaps best known for its reclusive residents; historically, any road signs pointing the way into town on Highway One have invariably been torn down by local residents." I've visited many times, but still missed the turnoff over the weekend.

The town is an eccentric nod to long-lost small town values of live and let live combined with civic pride. The lone gas station, however, with its hand-painted price adjustment, points toward our future. Regular unleaded today is $4.39 per gallon. And I'm sure, when they get around to it, the Premium Unleaded price will reflect the correct cost $1 higher than appears in the photo.