Chasing an eclipse

While one happens every 18 months somewhere this was the first that was readily accessible to the larger USA population in almost 100 years

So we had to go see it right?  The original idea was to ride our bikes during - but well we didn't want to crash in the dark!

We made our way south, with the original idea to go to Bowling Green Kentucky but we ended up in Nashville, TN. The traffic wasn't heavy Saturday morning but the ramp up was obvious

We found a random bike route for Sunday morning - it was incredible!  In 53 miles we climbed 3000 ft so it was also hard, and the last half was all sun and no towns for water. But a church let us in and we were grateful (and hot, sweaty, and out of water!). We saw: 3 turtles, 2 deer, 100+ wild turkeys, 1,000+ butterfly's, 20 or so horses (some on the road!), 13 loose but friendly dogs, 1 cat in the shade, and like 6 cars!  I was pulling the three of us (the 2 other ladies passed on the ride when they saw the profile we picked!) up a 3 or so mile climb, perfect pace and pitch, no one saying a word, occasionally the crackle of tires as they crunched the pavement - magical!  We all said the same at the top!  How lucky to find that route - what a day!

We went with no concrete plans so made everything up as we went. We didn't know where to watch the eclipse but decided to head a bit north, parallel to the drive home. 

A state park JOHN says!  So off we go. 8:30 am, turned to the street leading the the park and . . . 

That line of cars ended up being about 3 or so miles long!  We had seen signs for eclipse parking ($20) and one guys parked in a turn out under power line - which is where we thought we'd end up. But we needed a toilet and acces to food so we continued blinding chasing a spot to watch. We thought we'd rather pay at a church parking lot and so came to the town of Bethpage. But the small church didn't have anyone so we circled to a place we had seen

Wow - what incredible luck that was. We couldn't have possible pre-selected a more perfect place!  Pulled in, there were 2 cars setting tents and tripods. The owner came over - they weren't charging for parking, they had just purchased the old bank to open a restaurant and didn't know what to expect so were having food and games and having fun.  The guys already there were old friends from Michigan - one now lived in TN the other in Alabama. And BRYAN from Alabama was . . . An amateur astronomer!  WOW!

He has 2 set ups, camera and scope. Through the scope we could see sun flares - as they happened!  It was so cool and they and the owners were so nice - basically they put on a big tailgate party!

After hanging out with our new friends and more that came (Bryan's friend James also came from Alabama with a camera body that cost $3,000 - and he had 2 set up!) the eclipse was imminent. Decided I should embarrass myself and set up my camera with them. My friend Mike bought his tripod which was great to have!

Haha yes that's my camera at the bottom of the picture - everyone thought it was hilarious and came to take a pic!  The next camera is mine too - I didn't buy a solar filter ($150) for my camera so was using a welding screen which ended up not filtering enough

As you saw in OHIO or PA the eclipse starts small - but when you're with this group as soon as the moon touched the sun they were shouting with excitement. Truth be told I couldn't see it at first!  

It's funny - in the iPhone picture above you can actually see the eclipse below the sun - look close!

These new friends were so nice - they came over to see how mine was going and to help me with understanding my camera settings - but the welding screen wasn't allowing me to get photos. Then James brings me a solar filter - he had an extra and wasn't going to use. Really?  We taped it to my camera and - walla!

The pre-totality was honesty a bit slow but we saw shadow banding and the weird coloration that occurred. And of course the reflection through a pinhole or in this case hand shadow puppet!

And then, wait for it, oh my gosh it was cooler than I thought it would be. (And it had gotten really hot with minimal to no cloud cover so yes the fact that it cooled down a bit was appreciated!).  I can't really describe it other than it was awe inspiring, surreal, and definitely made you appreciate nature and it's power and our small albeit impactful place in it. Absolutely stunning. Incredible. 

I stitched my photos together into this. I was so lucky to land where those highly skilled guys were. What a blast

What a lucky weekend!  Perfect ride, perfect place to watch an eclipse. We shadowed 65 for awhile heading home, knowing traffic would be bad. We had no idea

Our 5.5 hour trip home took 13. Unbelievable that at 2 am 71 North was bumper to bumper still. I don't know how many millions of people went to KY and TN to watch but we were stuck with most of them. 

But it was with worth it!  Can't wait for 2024!

Oh - and you all don't mind if me and all my friends invade you and camp out in your yards do you?!!  It's going right through Cleveland and the surrounding areas!  You're in for a real treat!!