Scaled-back travel — Fewer will be hitting road for Labor Day

A daughter's wedding at Robert Redford's Sundance resort has brought Ollie and Marcy Hazard to Utah for the holiday weekend.

The trip out West for the residents of Ellicottville, N.Y., about 50 miles south of Buffalo, also includes a couple of weeks at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, and then a visit to a friend's cabin in Oregon.

The Hazards are among 39.1 million people in the United States expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the weekend. That's a 13.3 percent decrease from last year's Labor Day weekend, according to an AAA report.

Closer to home, the AAA report estimates travel will be down 6 percent in the Mountain States — Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico — with just over 2.6 million people traveling 50 miles or more.

"One of the biggest reasons for this decline appears to be poor timing," said AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough. "Last year we experienced the most Labor Day travelers this decade largely because many children were not yet back in school and families took the opportunity to take a final summer vacation. This year, Labor Day week falls one week later, and schools are already back in session."

About 2 million people in the Mountain States are expected to travel by car over the weekend, about 100,000 people by air and nearly 400,000 people by other modes of transportation, such as boats or trains, Fairclough said.

AAA estimates that airfares are 17 percent lower on average this weekend. AAA Three Diamond and Two Diamond lodgings are expected to be 12 percent lower, and Mountain States travelers will spend an average of $195 per night. Car rental rates are up about 7 percent. An average family of four in the Mountain States is projected to spend $867 over the four-day weekend, traveling 759 miles round trip, Fairclough said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Hazards, who will sleep in tents in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, were shopping at REI on 3300 South, looking for camping gear. They bought a water bottle, hiking poles and a coffee pot and mugs. During this trip, they anticipate cooking more than in previous trips, when they ate out.

"Like everybody else, he's taken a pay cut," Marcy Hazard said about her husband.

On Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.70, according to AAA. Historically, gas prices in Utah tend to drop after the holiday weekend.

Nationally, the average price of a gallon of gas was 10 cents cheaper than in Utah, at $2.60.

David Williamson of Centerville was also at REI on Wednesday, looking at skillets for camping. He, too, will be pitching a tent — in Wyoming in Star Valley. He is going to travel to the area for a family reunion.

"We turned it into a camping trip," he said.

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