Meeting With Ostriches

After our poppy gazing at the Antelope Poppy Reserve (story here),
Anita, Nancy, and I visited Quail Run Ostrich Ranch in Lake Hughes.

photo by Anita

This guy in the foreground is very feisty and is used as a "guard" against predators.
Did you know that ostriches can easily kill coyotes, bobcats, and such? No, neither did I!

Check out their feet! If I remember correctly, they kick/claw their victims.

Kinda gives you that Jurrasic Park vibe, right?

The owners gave us a great talk about ostriches "from egg to table", explaining their evolution, physiology, temperament, and their amazing immune system. [I didn't take notes, and don't remember much. Sigh.]

Why is there a wing in the dirt in the photo above?
That ostrich is doing her sexy lady dance!

Shake it!

Here's the male. He's still a teen and a bit awkward. His moves need some work. video by Anita

Photobombed by four birds -- strike a pose! photo by Anita

We all got bottles of the Pure Ostrich Oil.
It's amazing. I've been slathering it on my neck, face, and hands.

Available at the ranch's Gift Shop or from Natures Edge Ostrich Oils

Have you seen an ostrich up close?

Linking with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #sharealllinkup

BLOOM!

I'm writing this instead of doing my taxes.
I'm pretending I don't have to do them. La la la la la.

Last Wednesday, I skipped work and went north to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve with Anita and Nancy.
It was INTENSE!

Nancy and Anita -- it was the first visit for both of them.

Like my "hiking boots"? I had to tie down my hat with my scarf -- it was so windy!
Photo by Anita

Photo by Nancy

Anita and Nancy -- strike a pose, girls!

Selfies are hard work.

Anita and Nancy with Bob, a volunteer at the Reserve.
He told us many interesting facts. I don't remember any.

This was only the start of our adventure.
More later!

Linking with Patti's Visible Monday nope, she's on vacation. Lucky! She's back!
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

The Poppy Geezers

Anita and I decided on Friday to drive up the coast Saturday and rendezvous with Stephan to go look at the poppies. It was a beautiful day and a lovely drive. But let's get to THE POPPIES!

See them? Here we are in the Santa Ynez Valley, approaching our target: Mt. Figueroa.

First stop.

Selfies! Geezers can take selfies too!

"Stephan, go stand in the back."

Yah!

 On to the next photo op.

Mt. Figueroa and oak grove.

Anita brought many accessories. She's a professional poser.

 Next.

"Girls, climb up that hill and I'll take pictures."

"Wait, I'm coming up."

"Go stand by that rock."

Random car photobombing. You can see how narrow the road is.
It got gnarly when large SUVs and trucks drove by.

The view from the hill.

 After a VERY SLOW descent, we posed in a bare spot next to the road.
A lady admonished us to not crush the flowers. We didn't. This was an existing bare spot.

Add caption

Final stop at the end of the road.

Our last spot had a handy posing log. Easier than posing at the Fowler with Silvana.

"That's a wrap."

This is the path that we ascended in part 3.
It was the most crowded area, but nothing compared to the 100,00 people that went to Lake Elsinore.

The return to sea level.

Ahhhh! I had SUCH a poppy hangover yesterday!

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

How To Take a Bad Group Selfie

You can practice in a mirror:

Keep in mind, no mirrors at your destination!

Find a good background and gather your friends:

Poppies in background: check.
Ruth: check.
Where's Silvana?

Over there

OK then, here we all are!

Niiiiice photo, Silvana.

This was part one of my expedition to Lancaster with Silvana of @embellish-or-perish and Ruth.
For part two, we went to MOAH, to view shoes by Chris Francis (among other things).

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

52 Pick-me-up: Indigo / Gratitude

••• 

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