NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It took gas prices more than three years to rise from $2 to a record high of $4.11, but just four months to plummet all the way back again - and then some.
For the first time since March 9, 2005, the average price of gasoline fell below $2 a gallon, according to a report from motorist group AAA.
The nationwide average price dropped to $1.989 a gallon, down from $2.02 on Thursday. The survey bases its information on credit card swipes from up to 100,000 service stations across the nation.
"It's almost an embarrassment of riches after what we saw earlier this year," said Peter Beutel, president of New Canaan, Conn.-based energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover. "This is absolutely the most amazing year I've ever seen in energy."
Beutel said that he expects the nationwide average to keep falling to about $1.75.
"I think in some of these very low-cost areas like New Jersey or Texas, you might even see it come down to $1.65," said Beutel.
The plunge in the nationwide average price comes as welcome news to Americans who are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Still, the motorist group AAA is expecting a decline in Thanksgiving travel this year for the first time since 2002, when Americans were still reeling from the previous year's terrorist attacks. About 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a decline of 600,000 people, or 1.4%, from last year, said AAA.
Gas prices vary widely from state-to-state.
Alaska has the most expensive statewide average for unleaded, at $3.077 a gallon, while Missouri is the cheapest, at $1.690, according to AAA.
Here are AAA's averages for some of the most populous states: $2.239 in California, $2.371 in New York, $2.038 in Florida, $2.003 in Illinois, $1.923 in New Jersey and $1.858 in Texas.
Fast fall
Prices have come full circle since this summer's gas crunch. Expensive fuel made the term "staycation" the new buzz word, as motorists opted to vacation close to home rather than make the costly trek to relatives and friends in other parts of the country.
U.S. automakers witnessed a plunge in sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles, which became a headline issue in the presidential campaign.
The nationwide average price of unleaded hit its all-time high of $4.114 a gallon on July 17, 2008, provoking widespread public outrage.
But that was when crude oil prices were $145 a barrel. It was before the credit crisis and before economists said the country is likely in a deep and lengthy recession.
Expensive fuel and a weakening economy cut into demand for oil beginning in mid-July, sending the price of oil - and petroleum products like gasoline - into a tailspin.
Crude prices have now fallen below $50 for the first time in three and a half years. With a faltering economy that economists expect will get worse before it gets better, oil and gas prices may still have further to fall.
"This summer, we thought [gas for $2 a gallon] was impossible, and now we have crossed the threshold," said Ben Brockwell, director of data and pricing services for Oil Price Information Services. "It's an important psychological barrier."
Of course, lower gas prices will help drivers, but Americans are suffering from a troubled economy marked by mounting job losses and rising unemployment.
"I think the American consumers are afraid that this is a mirage," said Brockwell.
Gasoline has fallen below $2 a gallon in 23 states. In this picture, cheaper gas prices are even reaching out west, where gas is being sold for $1.99 a gallon in Bakersfield, California.

For the first time in nearly four years, the national average for a gallon of gasoline in the United States has fallen below $2. The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports local, state, and national averages daily, and Friday's findings show that the national average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is now at $1.989 cents, free-falling from the record high of $4.114 a gallon reached on July 17. Friday also marks the 64th straight day in which retail prices for gasoline have fallen.

The sharp drop in prices does not automatically translate into more driving trips for Americans, however. Next week's Thanksgiving holiday, traditionally one of the most traveled holidays of the year, will see a decline in drivers on American roads. 41 million people are expected to drive at least 50 miles for Thanksgiving, a decline of 1.4% from the previous year and the first decline since 2002, while the economy was still shaky after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The drop in gasoline prices has correlated with the free-fall in the price of crude oil, resting below $50 a barrel from a peak of $147 in July. With the world coming to grips with the beginnings of a recession, low gas prices are not translating to freer spending habits or to discarding ideas for hybrid and electric cars. 

Despite falling gas prices, the mood was muted at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show. Ford introduced a modified version of their hybrid Fusion automobile, amid reports from Capitol Hill calling the Big 3 automakers "out of touch" with today's necessities, and BMW unveiled an all-electric car called the Mini E. 

Peter Beutel, president of the energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover, believes national gas prices will bottom out around $1.75. "I think in some of these very low-cost areas like New Jersey or Texas, you might even see it come down to $1.65," he said. Currently, unleaded gasoline is below $2 a gallon in 23 different states. Alaska has the highest statewide average, at $3.077 a gallon, and Missouri the lowest, at $1.690.