That route 66 picture is really cool. I remember prices in the 30 cents a gallon range give or take when I was growing up, by the time I started driving in '77 we had had the benefit of OPEC and prices were around 60-70 cents a gallon, I had forgotten how prices really didn't rise that much from there through the 90s and even the early 2000s. I remember we had a family driving trip planned in 2004 or so and prices spiked to over $2.00 a gallon, and I wondered if we could afford the trip, it blew my budget right out of the water. I have seen some adjusted for inflation charts and it really hasn't been that bad when adjusted for inflation, although I wondered how it would look when adjusted related to average or median wages.
Maybe it is just part of getting older, I am sure dollar gas seems very expensive to my parents generation, but the recent $4.00 gas (my car takes premium) and $60 fill ups seem crazy to me, can't imagine driving a big truck or SUV.