The oft-repeated prediction across the news media last week was that far fewer people than usual would travel over the Fourth of July weekend because of high gas prices.

If the New York State Thruway on Sunday was any indication, the predictions were dead wrong.

Rhona and I left Rochester, headed back toward Kingston, about 2 p.m. Sunday, and the east-west section of the Thruway was as busy as I’ve ever seen it. It got so bad, in fact, after Exit 24 in Albany that we got off at Exit 23 and took Route 9W home from there – something we’ve never felt compelled to do in the 20-plus years we’ve lived in the Hudson Valley.

The Thruway service areas, meanwhile, were absolutely jammed with cars and people, and one of the editors in the Freeman newsroom told me late Sunday that there were reports of southbound traffic on the highway being bumper-to-bumper slow in Ulster County.

And I heard from one of our reporters, who lives in Woodstock, that the town was absolutely packed with New York City folk over the weekend. He described it as looking like Manhattan had relocated to his community.

The bottom line is this: Gas prices are high. No one likes paying between $4 and $4.20 a gallon for what used to cost less than $2. But, unless it means not having enough money for the basic necessities of life, people are not going to let one inflated expense stop them from enjoying themselves.

The Fourth of July weekend proved that, and I suspect the same will be true for the rest of the summer.

My wife and I received our "economic stimulus" check the other day. Because we both work and we have one dependent child, we got $1,500.

The Bush administration is hoping we'll use the money to buy a big-screen TV, take a vacation or go to lots of movies and restaurants.

But let's face it: One way or another, the money is going into our gas tank.

I deposited the check in one of our bank accounts, where it will help ease the burden of upcoming credit card bills, but what I should have done was cashed it and asked the teller for the payout in $50 bills. Then I should have stashed the money in my glove compartment so I could just reach for a 50 each of the next 30 times I fill up.

I don't drive much, so the money probably would have covered my fuel costs for the next year ... though that assumes the price of gas won't reach $5 or $8 or $10 a gallon by this time in 2009. If it does, nothing will stimulate the economy.