I learned how to drive before I was 10 to help my dad move equipment to other areas of the farm.  I never drove in town or unless we were moving, always on gravel of dirt roads.  I first drove a 1970 Ford Pickup, shifting and all.  Granted, I never really had to take it above 2nd gear, but I knew how to shift before I learned that driving a stick was cool.  Before I could drive legally, I did everything I could to take a back road because if I played my cards right, I could drive there. Before you get into some kind of tizzy, let me make some things clear; This was the 1970's, I wasn't the only farm kid driving to help operate the farm.  I didn't get to just DRIVE whenever I wanted, there had to be a reason. Once 3-wheelers became a thing, driving the pickup was over when moving machinery.  My brother and I would flag dad with our bikes.  Sometimes all the way to my Uncle's place in Pendroy.

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I actually prefer a gravel road to a paved road, for some odd reason.  I've always chalked it up to learning to drive on them.  I feel really at ease. I also think it's why I'm someone who will ALWAYS take a back road.  In town, out of town, between towns, I will choose the back road any time.  I even take side roads in any town I know to avoid their main road.  Especially on the weekends.

Most of my friends grew up the same way, or very close to the way I grew up.  Driving the back roads just to drive, avoid our parents or the police (keggers in the country), it's a great date, or did I mention just the thrill of driving? And in Montana, there is a lot of driving to be done.  We don't even think it's out of the ordinary because to get to almost any major town from the country, it's a good half hour to an hour, and that's if you're close to town.  To get from one big town to another it's a good 2-3 hour drive, generally.

Next time, take a back road.  There's always a back road.  My dad was the BEST at knowing the back roads.  They usually have really cool things, too.  Things only a Montanan knows about.  Know why?  We love to take a drive, especially if you can take a back road.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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