In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, you know gas is really expensive. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get $250 worth of gas just for visiting a Web site? Now through Nov. 7, you can enter to win free gas from SpringsWheels.com.

In order to win, contestants must register then look for Frank, the SpringsWheels.com gas attendant. Finding him will automatically begin filling your special SpringsWheels.com Great Gas Up fuel gauge. Each week day during the contest period, Frank will be placed somewhere on the Web site. Each siting of Frank is worth a quarter tank of gas on your fuel gauge. Click through the Web site to find the attendant and fill your tank. Once your fuel gauge reads FULL you will qualify for the weekly prize drawing.

Click here to register for the contest.

And click here for the official rules.

SpringsWheels writer Heather McDonnell explores that question over at her Mommy Blog. I don’t really know the answer. Maybe if you pour the milk right on the battery. But I’m pretty sure leaving a milk-filled baby bottle in your car until it turns stinky won’t do it. My guess is the battery in Heather’s car was old, and leaving the doors open, with the dome light on(?), probably drained it. But I’m no Click and Clack. And I’m not a mommy, so the mysteries and wonders of smelly milk and sock monkeys are beyond my understanding.

Go read the Pikes Peak Parent Mommy Blog and decide for yourself.

Betty Skelton Erde was once the fastest woman on Earth. More than 50 years ago, she was setting speed records on Utah’s salt flats. Today, she becomes the fifth woman inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Detroit. Erde is 82 years old and she’s lived a pretty incredible life. She still drives around in a red Corvette that matches her red hair.

According to this story from Yahoo! News:

“She also becomes the 174th person honored; Erde will attend the ceremony in which Champ Car driver Michael Andretti and five other racing legends also are being inducted.

Dozens of firsts are attached to her name: the auto industry’s first female test driver, in 1954; the first woman to set a world land speed record in 1956 (145 mph at Daytona Beach); and then the world land speed record for women in 1965, hitting 315.72 mph at Bonneville.”

Erde sounds like someone we could all do well to emulate. Not because she’s a speed demon, but because she pushed the boundaries. “But if Erde was aware of how different she was for a woman at the time — unmarried, without children — she didn’t show it. ‘I had to do what I wanted,’ she said.”

Now, “she gets her speed fix by watching Danica Patrick in the IndyCar Series and lives with the satisfaction that she helped open aviation and motorsports to young women.”

I can imagine. Hats off to Betty Skelton Erde for her induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America and for opening the door to motorsports for young women everywhere.

“Said Erde, ‘It’s been quite a ride.’”

I recently got a new car stereo. It’s very exciting, with a remote control, a removable faceplate, AM/FM, HD, CD player, Bluetooth capabilities, an auxiliary jack and a USB port. I’ll be playing music from HD radio stations, CDs, my iPod and a USB flash drive (not all at the same time, of course). We’re all set for a cross-country road trip. I just want to mention that until last February, I was driving around in a vehicle with a cassette tape deck. Huge step forward.

My significant other helped pick out the stereo and ordered it for me. When I asked him how we were going to get it installed, he said, “I’ll do it.” (He’s so handy.) I’m going to let him tell you how easy it was to replace my factory-installed stereo with my new fancy-dancy space age stereo.

Note: These are his steps. Make sure you read the instructions that come with your stereo carefully, following all safety precautions.

1. Order the radio from Crutchfield.com.
2. Wait three days.
3. Check the contents that were sent to make sure that all the pieces came:
   1. Radio
   2. Installation kit including new mounting bracket and wiring harness
      
   3. Installation instructions (read these carefully)
      
4. Assemble the new wiring harness. This required solder and, to make it look neat, shrink tubing and zip ties, all from Radio Shack.
   1. You will have both the wiring harness that comes with the stereo and the one that mates to the vehicle. Follow the instructions that come with the receiver and match the colors. There weren’t any dimmer controls for the new stereo, so I taped those off.
5. Unhook the car’s battery.
6. Remove the old stereo:
   1. Remove the bezel surrounding the radio and hiding the screws by starting at the bottom of the bezel. Insert a screwdriver that has the blade taped, pull straight back on the left and the right. Two tabs at the top should be holding it now. Insert the blade behind the bezel and pry it straight back.
   2. Unscrew the four bolts holding the radio bracket in.
   3. Remove the stereo with the bracket and disconnect both the factory harness and the antenna connection.
7. Place the new stereo into the new bracket and secure it in place.
8. Test fit the mounted stereo and adjust it to fit how you want.
9. Plug in the stereo through the harness and the antenna.
10. Hook the battery back up and make sure that the radio works.
11. Screw the new stereo and bracket into place.
12. Carefully push the bezel back into place.
13. Save the factory radio so that you can put it back in when you sell the car.

Now hop in your car and cruise around, playing with the buttons, setting your radio stations and basking in the glow of your new stereo that you installed all by yourself.

If you’re planning a family trip before back-to-school time, August’s car-care tips from my Rain-X calendar are designed to keep you off the side of the road waiting for a tow truck or roadside assistance.

This 10-minute pre-trip check-up will help make your journey a little easier:

* Check tire pressure and tread wear.

* Examine fluid levels and top them off if necessary.

* Inspect hoses and belts for any holes or leaks.

* Prepare an emergency kit for  your car in the event of a breakdown.

* When loading your vehicle, it is recommended to evenly distribute the weight as much as possible.

And if you’re a parent, you may want to practice saying these infamous lines:

“Don’t make me come back there.”

“I will turn this car around and go right back home.”

“Don’t put your hand out the window. You’ll pull back a bloody stump.”

“Stop touching your brother/sister.”

And the one my dad always said when we asked how much farther?: “Just up the pike a piece.”

I never understood that one. But it usually meant “a long way.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With gas at nearly $4 a gallon, we all may be getting a little worried about how we’re going to get around. We’re probably biking more, maybe looking at more fuel-efficient vehicles, riding public transportation and maybe even forgoing our summer road trip. But are any of us this desperate for a tank of gas?

Sara Lacey at MotherProof.com tells the story of Dixon Willoughby Partin, an unborn child whose father sold his naming rights for a $100 gas card in an Orlando, Fla., radio station contest on the Dixon & Willoughby show.

As Sara so eloquently points out, “The real kicker is that the amount of the prize is only equal to about a tank and a half of gas.”

Maybe if it were a lifetime supply of gasoline, I’d consider letting radio hosts name my kid, but probably not. I guess we should be glad Dixon isn’t a girl.

When I bought my Honda Element I got a variety of reactions from people. One friend described it as the Swiss Army knife of cars. Another called it ugly.  Almost everyone thought it was interesting. Most reviews of the car I read were average. I never really saw a glowing test drive, but most reviewers had little bad to say about it. But now, one car reviewer has dubbed my car “cool.”

Top Gear on BBC America (airing locally at 6 p.m. Mondays on digital cable channel 109) is my favorite car-related program. It’s funny and quirky, though not always relevant as it is from Britain and the cars — and language — don’t always translate. Plus, they generally get to drive supercars that I’ll never see outside of movies and magazines and they get to do fun stuff like race jets and tanks. Putting my envy aside, I still think it’s a fun show, and the hosts — Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May — are pretty critical of most cars, even cars they like.

As you’ll see in this video, May sets out to see if the Element is a “cool Honda.” All the things I love about my Element — the seat configurations, the rubber floors, its funky looks — are the things that he thinks qualify it as cool. That and the fact that “old people” wouldn’t buy it.

So, while my car is practical — and I don’t fit May’s description of the typical driver — it’s a cool car. Which makes me cool. Right? Right?

Sean Geisen and Jordan Wood of Doherty High School in Colorado Springs represented Colorado June 24 at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills national finals in Dearborn, Mich. The students were accompanied by their instructor, Brad Wheaton.

The contest gives the “best of the best” an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and capabilities by resolving the same types of automotive challenges they would encounter in the real world, working to repair a “bugged” 2008 Ford Focus. As an incentive to students to pursue automotive careers, Ford and AAA awarded $7 million in scholarships at this year’s state and national competitions — a $1 million increase over 2007.

Crossing the finish line in 73 minutes and 40 seconds, aspiring auto technicians Paul Bretl and Chris Cheek, 2008 graduates of Grafton High School, in Grafton, Wis., drove their fully repaired 2008 Ford Focus to victory in the 59th annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills national finals.

Although Giesen and Wood didn’t place in the winning top 10 at the competition, they were among the 50, two-person teams that had triumphed over more than 8,000 auto tech students who entered the competition last fall at high schools across the country. Following an online exam, the highest-scorers advanced to their states’ hands-on competition, then onto Dearborn, where the 100 finalists sat for another written exam worth 40 percent of their overall score. The hands-on finals account for the other 60 percent of the score.“This competition fulfills two important functions — allowing students to gain experience and earn education scholarships and also to recognize prospective career options,” said Steve DeAngelis, Global Manager of Technical Support Operations at Ford.

If you grew up in the ’80s (or were already “grown up”) you totally wanted a talking car like KITT on Knight Rider. Well, now your car can at least sound like KITT, thanks to a GPS device from Mio. You can read all about it over at the Sci Fi channel’s DVICE site.

The best part: “The voice of the GPS is indeed that of William Daniels, who spoke KITT’s turn-by-turn directions to David Hasselhoff in the TV show.”

In case you don’t want to read the entire review, the final verdict: “In the end, we wish it was sophisticated enough to understand speech or at least include Bluetooth (it doesn’t) so the conversation wouldn’t be so one-sided all the time, but the price is right. Yeah, we still want one”

Don’t we all?

What are you doing this weekend? If you’re looking for something auto- (or motorcycle-) related, check out these events:

Tail-Wagging Poker Run
The first Tail-Wagging Poker Run to benefit All Breed Rescue & Training, takes place tomorrow, with plans of becoming an annual event. The event starts at 9 a.m. at the Crystola Roadhouse, 20918 U.S. Highway 24 in Crystola, where participants will pick up a poker sheet, first card, T-shirt, door prize ticket and breakfast. First contestants go out at 10 a.m. and the last at 11 a.m. The run goes through Cripple Creek, Florissant and Green Mountain Falls, ending at Overtime Sports Bar & Grill, 2809 Dublin Blvd. Last participant in at 4 p.m. Prizes will be given for best and worst poker hands, as well as many door prizes. Donations are $30 per driver and $20 per passenger. Poker hand participants must over 21, and all modes of transportation are welcome. For more information, visit www.HaveaNiceDog.org or call 264-6460.

Soap Box Derby
The All-American Soap Box Derby takes place 8:30 a.m. Sunday in downtown Colorado Springs. The All-American Soap Box Derby is a youth- and family-oriented racing program, established in 1933. The goal of the Soap Box Derby Program is to promote families working together to teach youngsters some basic skills of workmanship, along with the spirit of competition and the perseverance to continue a project to completion. The Pikes Peak race is one of 450 races held throughout the country each season. For more information, call 488-8808 or e-mail info@ppsbd.com.

Tejon Street Bike Fest
The 8th annual Tejon Street Bike Fest takes place all day Sunday along Tejon Street. Bike show registration 9:30-11 a.m., Motorcycle Rodeo at 1:30 p.m.; Bike Show Trophy Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. and the Corona Bikini Contest in Rum Bay at 5:15 p.m. Admission is free and additional events include live music all day, a vendor show, Coors Light beer garden, registration to win a 2008 Miller Lite/H-D and more. For additional information, go to www.pro-promotions.com.