Clumsy Crafter: Detour

Tonight we're taking a little detour from our couch potato trip to Austin. We will return to the beautiful views of the Oasis Restaurant tomorrow but tonight we'll have a little lesson about why you should not drive with your gas light on.

Yesterday I drove downtown to pick His Royal Highness up from work where he works in a highrise building with spiffy views. Actually he never looks out the windows. As I approached downtown where it is really hard to find a gas station, my gas light came on. We decided to take the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane back to the house instead of fighting through stop and start traffic. The thing about the HOV lane is that it is one lane with cement barriers on either side. You can't get out of the HOV lane until you are at your transit station. So.... I kinda forgot about the gas and just drove home.

This morning I pulled out of the driveway on the way to a playdate and realized that my gas light was still on. There was a gas station to my right that I pulled into but I left when I realized how high the gas prices are and figured that I could easily make it another two or three miles to Kroger.

Hm... I was wrong.

All the sudden my van started acting weird and I knew what was happening. I made a u-turn and tried to get back to the gas station but I didn't make it. I was across about 500ft. away when the van just coasted to a stop.

I know what you're thinking, just get out and walk, right? That's a great plan until I tell you that it was raining and I had all three kids with me. I could have still done it and would of had a cop not come to my rescue.

He stood by the van and entertained the kids while I hiked back to the gas station and bought a gas can and some gas. By the way, Mr. Gas Station Attendant... I feel like you owe me a nice steak dinner since you took advantage of me with your super expensive but smallest gas can on earth. This by the way is a gas station that I avoid like the plaque. The last time I was there they were openly selling drug paraphernalia but it wasn't out this time.

I hiked back to the van, got a small lecture about driving with less than a 1/4 of a tank of gas, spilled half of the world's tiniest gas can all over my hands and legs, and then drove off into the wild wild world of other gas filled vehicles. I was extremely moody, wet, and smelly. The Playdate was cancelled but I did happen to make it to Starbucks. You could say that I have my priorities in order.

The rest of the day was much better. Thank goodness.