SOLAR ECLIPSE 2017

Up early and out the door of the hotel by about 4:30am on this day of the Eclipse - we are heading south to get as close to the center of shadow (Path f Totality) as possible.  We didn't know what to expect.  The media has been warning about 100's of thousands of people all heading for the center.

We made it to Stayton Oregon by about 7:00am where we found a Safeway with a Starbucks.  The parking lot was full and the lines were long, but everyone was having a great time.

While standing in line, we had conversations with people from the UK, some from Switzerland and overheard conversations that sounded like they were from South America. 

We drove around town for a while and settled on the corner of First and Cedar and set up our chairs in the back of the pickup.

Here's a screen shot from Nasa's site - the red line is the center of the Path of Totality going through Stayton.  We were just a little north of the center.

I brought my Improv quilt to work on the binding.  I thought it should go to view the eclipse with us because I had quilted a motif into that reminded me of the sun.

While waiting for the big event, I sat in the back of the pickup and worked on the binding of Improv quilt.

There were people set up all up and down the street to view the eclipse.

We set the thermometer in the bed of the pickup in the shade.  This was several hours before it started.

The first glimpse of the eclipse starting.

You could feel the temperature dropping and see the light changing as the moon covered more and more of the sun.

At totality it definitely was colder.

 I didn't try to take any pictures of the eclipse - you can go see the pictures the professionals took.  We just enjoyed the experience.  For me, I was overwhelmed with emotion at the wonder of it all. 
As the moon moved to completely cover the sun, the crowd erupted in cheers and clapping.  
During totality, when you could safely remove the eclipse glasses and look at the sun directly, I used my binoculars to get an amazing view of a moving aura that extended much farther than I could have imaged.  Around the edges of the moon you could see the bright orange flares of the sun. 
Our world became dark, there were stars in the sky and the street lights came on.  There was a calm quiet as the world stopped to experience the event.
It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This photo was taken by Rod Chandler (a cousin) - I borrowed it. Look him up - he's a great photographer.

I grabbed a quick shot of some of the crescent shaped shadows as we packed up to head out.

Immediately after totality people started leaving town.

We finally found the traffic nightmares we had been warned about.

Somewhere on I-5 northbound.

The lack of sleep finally caught up with Hailey on the way home.

It took us about 7 hours to get back home, twice as long as it should have.

This was the coolest adventure I've ever had - loved it.