Before going on my recent drive to Denton, Texas, I took out the calculator and determined gasoline would cost about $800 round trip.

I'm glad to report the cost was about $460. All of my assumptions were untrue.

I thought gas was going to climb to $4 or more per gallon, based on the fact California prices were higher than Washington prices the last two times I drove there.

Prices dropped almost immediately on this trip. I filled up at $3.699 in the Yakima Valley. My next fill-up was at $3.239 in Burley, Idaho.

Prices dropped to $3.159 in Utah and Colorado. Then they took a  dive to less than $3 in New Mexico and Texas. The lowest price I paid on the entire trip was $2.889 in Albuquerque.

I got to wondering why. One thing Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah have in common is that, compared to Washington, they are southern states and closer to sources of oil. But Idaho is a northern state.

So I considered another possible reason. New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Colorado and  Idaho are usually red states politically. Washington, like Oregon and California, is a blue state.

Whatever the reason, I was elated. The savings in gas allowed us to spend more money having fun.

As for the weather, Texas was wonderful but strange. It changed by the hour, and several Texans said they don't trust forecasts.

The high temperature was 80 the day we arrived. The temperature started at 70 the next morning but dropped to 50 by mid-afternoon.

We went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards, a cultural center now, the day after Thanksgiving and encountered 65 degrees. By 5 p.m. the high was 75 as we squeezed in among tens of thousands to watch the Ft. Worth Christmas Parade.

The next day started at 60 degrees and dropped all of the way to 40 with high winds as we arrived at Six Flags for the start of the Christmas season.

It dropped even more and, by 9 p.m. it seemed as if God was giving us a real Christmas effect. Everybody was bundled in winter coats. Six flags even threw machine-made snow at us during stage productions.

Two mornings later we woke to 50 degrees as we headed back for Washington. The high shot past 70 by the time we got to Amarillo.

Over the next two days we encountered beautiful weather all of the way home. It was about 50 degrees when we stopped off in Walla Walla to dine with our older daughter.

Several people have asked how my time in Texas went. Well, I'm excited about doing it again.