According to this CNN article, due to increased costs in transportation (ie: rising fuel prices) Americans drove 9.6 billion miles less in May 2008 than they did in May 2007.

Think about that for a minute. 9.6 BILLION miles. That’s a big number, isn’t it? How big?

The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is referred to as an Astronomical Unit (AU) and is approximately 153 million kilometers, or 93 million miles. Dividing 9.6 billion by 93 million miles gives us 103.

In other words, in May 2008 Americans collectively made 103 fewer trips to the Sun than they did in May 2007.

That is just utterly mindboggling to me.