For many today, golden years mean less travel, more work

When Lynda and Don Perdew retired, they sold their home in Southern California and used the money to buy a 37-foot recreational vehicle. Then they set out to see the country.

That was 10 years ago, and the Perdews are still on the road. But now they're taking shorter trips and staying longer in each place. Now parked at a campground near Mount Rushmore, they'd like to visit Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah this summer. But with gas prices topping $4 a gallon, they aren't sure it's affordable anymore.

"We're sitting with a calculator in one hand and a map in the other, trying to figure out how far we're going to get when we get 7 miles a gallon," says Lynda Perdew, 61.

Like the Perdews, many older Americans had long envisioned retirement as a period of adventure -- a time ...