Eclipse Excitement!

Yes, we got to see the eclipse!

Fortunately the young-uns keen to make the trek out-voted those of us who foresaw many problems in getting to totality. Some of these issues materialized, some didn't, but nothing catastrophic resulted.

I don't have any pictures of the phenomenon itself; the equipment needed to do it justice is pretty far above my little camera's pay grade. But I can tell you about how we got to see it and what fun it was to experience something so unique with our whole little family.

The idea was that we were just too close to the totality band, at our place in Colorado, not to take the chance. A 3-hour car trip Sunday got us even closer, to Ft. Collins, almost to the Wyoming border, where we all had friends we wanted to visit anyway, and who graciously put us up for two nights. Ft. Collins got to see practically 99% of totality, which our friends said was very cool. But we wanted more.

So we got up really early Monday morning and headed north. Our first choice location was Guernsey State Park in Wyoming, lying smack dab in the middle of the totality band. And our son-in-law's brother was already there, camping out, so we even had a personal connection at the place.

The drive from Ft. Collins to Guernsey normally would take about two hours, and it took us 3. Not too bad, considering what we had feared in terms of I-25 traffic. We had studied maps and scoped out secondary roads for contingency plans, but we didn't end up needing them. There was also a chance that the park would be full, but we were lucky there, too. A phalanx of park workers/volunteers were happy to take our $6 per car (what a bargain!) and probably make their entire annual budget that morning.

They had viewing areas set up throughout the pleasant scenery of the park, but we opted to try and find the brother and were successful.That's his camping trailer in the background here:

Our early start meant we had some time to kill before the eclipse even began. So we were able to explore and enjoy some of the park's features, including this nice lake...

Here's a look at some of our fellow eclipse-seers camped out along the lakeshore...

It was a great place to be. In addition to the nice lake, the amenities included restrooms (although Nix brought her own facilities):

We'd come prepared with snacks, chairs, and cameras...

...and even some scientific literature to help our appreciation and understanding of the event...

Spirits were high as the eclipse got underway...

...and it was fun to check on its progress as it got cooler and cooler, the sun getting more and more covered up.

Then, just before totality happened (right on schedule—yay! science!) we could see the moon's shadow rapidly approaching from the west. So impressive! And when it hit our precise area it was really spectacular.

All the descriptions we'd been hearing about for weeks were spot on and while I don't think any of us came out of it personally transformed, as some of the hype had suggested, we all thought it was worth the drive and the preparations.

Our journey back to Ft. Collins did take considerably longer than the trip north did. Instead of people filtering up to the totality band gradually over several hours, if not days, a lot of the eclipse-rs were headed south at the same time. It took 45 minutes just to get out of the park, and traffic was stop and go off and on all the way down I-25. The 3-hour drive up took five hours heading south, which was not a lot of fun. (Although it apparently got worse later in the evening as the visitors from western Wyoming and eastern Nebraska all headed down the interstate.)

But we didn't have to drive any more once we got to Ft. Collins, thanks to our generous friends. Our return drives to Garfield happened on Tuesday.

Some of the kids are looking around for the next eclipse, which will happen in a year or two. But for the most part we're ok to plan on the 2024 full eclipse, for which San Antonio will be in the totality band. And, to be extra special, it will happen on Hal's birthday that year!