52 Pick-me-up: Indigo / Gratitude

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I went to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve today.

It did not go as expected.

What does this have to do with this week's color/emotion prompt, Indigo / Gratitude? 
I'll get to that, don't worry. 

It was a beautiful morning, and I was looking for any excuse to procrastinate on finishing my taxes. 

ROAD TRIP!!!!! 

The drive up San Francisquito Canyon Road was lovely. 

I took a bunch of road photos (I'll post them on Flickr later) and entered the Antelope Valley with great anticipation. 

Then I got to the entry gate and discovered that I didn't have my wallet. 

OH NOOOOOOOOOO! 

That was not the worst part. Just wait.  

I took a selfie at the Reserve's entry on Lancaster Road, with it as a backdrop. 

Note the lack of poppies. [Chloe frames c/o Ditto]
Linking this up with Patti's Visible Monday.

I was on a mission to find poppies. 

CA Poppies. Done. 

Well, why not take some outfit shots and be a silly fashion blogger dressed inappropriately? 

Argh! You can't see my INDIGO pants!
You CAN see the DIY poncho that I made by cutting a hole in the middle of a throw blanket.
(As reported by Enid on Friday)

Alright, enough of that.

I was getting low on gas.

I contemplated the situation and decided to go home a longer, more well-traveled route.

Remember, I DIDN'T HAVE MY WALLET.

What I DID have was a change purse in my console for feeding parking meters.

(Thank you, Severo, for insisting that I have this).

$2.83 won't get me a gallon of gas. Trouble brews.

Also in my dash, I found a spare AAA card (they'll give you $5 of gas if stranded) and a jade amulet.
(The woman who gave it to me said jade gives "luck" to travelers. I needed all the luck I could get. I put it on).

I zeroed out the "mileage counter" to keep track of my miles.

Onward.

Fifteen miles later, the "very low on gas" light started blinking.

What did I do?

I stopped and took more outfit photos! 

Why not? It was a good field full of poppies! The best of the day!

Exiting the car, I found a bunch of burrs on my pants:

A good look, don't you think?It's known as a "3D" print.Now you can see the color of the pants.

Got the shot! Thank you wind!

I had cut the poncho's neckhole too big, so I cinched it in with a giant safety pin that I obtained in Austin, TX.
All that orangish field behind me is poppies. They were all closed because it was windy and cloudy.

It was 5 more miles to I-5, and 28 miles down (literally, so I was able to coast) the freeway I saw a bunch of roadside business. I parked to assess my situation. And scour the car for more change. 

Success!

I found the other change purse, it had some quarters in it!

I was now up to $4.30.

The Mobil station was charging $3.25/gal.

Could I find better?

I consulted the GasBuddy app.

Yes, a 7-11 across the freeway was listed at $2.99.

Even better, it was down to $2.74 when I got there.

That would get me 1.5 gallons.

I WILL MAKE IT HOME.

Thank you GasBuddy for finding me the best deal in town.

Thank you Prius for your great mileage.

Thank you amulet for your magical powers.

Thank you readers for indulging me!
Gratitude, it's a powerful thing.

Indigo / Gratitude -- link and tell!

An InLinkz Link-up