Sonya Lindgren is not forgoing that rite of summer, the family vacation, because of gasp-inducing gas prices and jitters about the economy.

She is just scaling back.

Instead of heading north for her family's typical week in Canada, the Ambridge woman, her husband, Thomas, and stepson, Sam, and her mother-in-law, Brenda, plan to drive to Washington, D.C., for a three- or four-day trip, where they will visit the free Smithsonian museums. For an evening out, they plan to check out the new stadium for the Washington Nationals and sit in the cheap seats at $10 a pop. They also found hotel rooms for less than $100, with a free shuttle to the Metro. Instead of expensive meals out, they will pack coolers so they can hold an old-fashioned picnic.

"We are going to try to do it for under $500," she said.

Less, she figures, may be more. Tromping through museums and national monuments will be an educational trip. "We are checking out our country and seeing what it is all about," she said.

People are still planning to take summer vacations this year -- but often scaled-back versions, according to a survey by the American Automobile Association.

"If they still plan to travel, they may not travel quite as far or stay quite as long," said Bevi Powell, director of communications for AAA East Central.

The Memorial Day weekend is the official kickoff of the summer travel season, and it is considered an important indicator of summer travel plans. A survey by AAA showed that 37.87 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day, a 0.9 percent drop from last year.

Of those people, 63.8 percent plan to travel 500 miles or less.

"Typically, if it is just gas prices, that is not enough to deter people with their travel situations," said Ms. Powell. "But this year, with the combined concerns about the economy, that is why there is a slight decrease" in travel plans.

The Air Transport Association, the trade group for the leading U.S. airlines, also forecasts a slight dip in air passengers who will travel from June 1 through Aug. 30. Some 211.5 million passengers are expected to fly this summer, down 1 percent from the summer months of 2007.

And travel prices are going up.

Air fares over the Memorial Day holiday weekend are expected to be on average $179, an 8 percent increase over last year, according to AAA's Leisure Travel Index. Car rental prices will jump 45 percent to $45 per day on average, compared with $31 last year.

Hotel prices are mixed. Hotel rates for AAA 3 Diamond hotels will average $162 a night, 7 percent less than last year. Travelers staying at AAA 2 Diamond hotels are expected to pay $112 per night, 9 percent more than last year.

Even with sticker shock, the summer vacation still beckons.

Katie Hindes plans to vacation in Avalon, N.J., this summer with seven other members of her extended family to continue a reunion tradition started by her grandparents 35 years ago. Last year, in an odd twist of fate, the house they rented every year was torn down, a few years after her grandmother Trudy died.

The family decided not to go to Avalon last year because they would miss their grandmother too much. But this June, they plan to return to Avalon for a week with their grandfather, Paul Sr., and a new member of the family, her niece Emma Kate.

"Gas is really expensive and everything has gone up," said Miss Hindes, 30, who lives in Mt. Lebanon. "Everyone is trying to cut back, but this is one area where we dwon't want to cut back. This is a chance to have Emma and my grandfather in the same house in Avalon. We don't want anything to get in the way of that memory."