To join a gym or not?

This is something I have be toying with for oh, the past year? My uncle owns a health club that one of my brothers works at. It's a nice club with indoor (and outdoor) tennis courts, indoor (and outdoor) pool, a roller rink, loads of cardio equipment, etc. Being that I am his niece, I can get a free membership. Downside? It's about 25 minutes away. I used to go to that gym when I was taking a summer course at the college near his gym four years ago because it was closer. Now, I don't feel like driving that far.

I was a member of the gym that is like five minutes from my house. I joined when I came home from undergrad and had been going. That was two years ago. Of course, there would be weeks when I wouldn't go because I was either too busy, too lazy or I felt like I had gone enough for that week. I was going up until February 2010 when I started to get pain in my back. It was soooo bad it hurt at points to even sit in my car and drive or even lean over the bathroom sink to wash my hands! A visit to the orthopedist, Xrays, MRI and medicine later, turned out I had an issue with the lumbar spine or something. I had to do physical therapy from April-July last year. It helped TREMENDOUSLY ! And so did leaving my waitressing job that made me lift heavy stuff all the time (I think they attributed it to a work-related injury). I never rejoined the gym because my semester was really busy with work, school, tutoring. And then since I knew I'd be starting student teaching in January, I didn't join.

In the process of leaving my old job, I ended up losing weight! I think since September, I lost about 25-30 lbs, which is great. My old job used a lot of butter and fried a lot of their food. So when you were working 5 days a week and eating it as your breakfast (it was a breakfast/lunchonette place), it made ya gain weight. But I'd still like to lose 5-10 more lbs and also just keep myself in shape.

So, here I am with the dilemma. To join a gym or not? I have several options: 1) join the gym that is 5 minutes from my house that is relatively small, 2) join the gym that my friend Shannon goes to that is about 10 minutes away and have a workout buddy [even though our schedules are opposite sometimes] or 3) check out the new gym (I think it is LA fitness...I could've sworn it was planet fitness). Once I'm done with my summer classes, I'll have even more time during the day to go, which is when I like to go. I'm just confused what to do! If it is a $100 membership, is it worth it?

What would you all pay for a gym membership?