While we had spent the previous week at home after our long road trip, and the kids had just started school, we couldn't resist one more (relatively short) road trip to go see the solar eclipse in full totality. Considering the enormous amount of traffic from Colorado that was going to Wyoming for the viewing, we decided to "make reservations" a few months ago at my friend Kiera's house just east of Grand Island, NE. They were just under the path of totality where we could see totality for just over 2 minutes, as long as it wasn't cloudy.
Either way, we headed there on Saturday so we could enjoy some time with friends. It was a fun "pre-party" so to speak Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we all went to the Grand Island Oasis water park (on the last day it was open for the season!). It was a fun time for all.
For the eclipse, on Monday August 21, we went down the road from Kiera's to her in-laws farm, which was right on Interstate 80 and under the center part of the path of totality. It was a cozy and convenient place to watch the solar show, given there was lot of food and there were real bathrooms. Plus, we got to see the constant stream of traffic coming off of I-80 onto the highway all morning. Then as the eclipse time drew nearer, the sides of the highway filled up as well as their (private) driveway.
We had eclipse glasses to watch the early and later phases of the eclipse. I loved seeing and hearing the kids' reactions to what they saw. "Cool" and "whoa" were pretty common responses. Evan and I took notes of what it looked like about every 20 minutes for his school work (since we had to take him out of school for this trip). We got very lucky with the clouds, as we were right on the edge of a high cloud deck. We never had an obstructed view, but there were times we were viewing the eclipse through high cirrus clouds.
The whole reason we traveled for this was to experience totality. A time where you could actually look at the eclipse with your naked eyes, and stars came out, crickets chirped, the street lamp turned on, and you could see the corona of the sun around the shadow of the moon. Oh yeah, and there was a 360 degree sunset. It was amazing. To me the most amazing part was how quickly it got a lot darker before (and then how quickly it became light after) the totality. Just a small fraction of sun can make it look more like "daylight". This is even evident in the panorama I took just as totality was starting. The first part of the panorama (the right side) was still rather bright, while the left (the later part of it) was already looking more like twilight.
A panorama I took right as totality was starting.
I have no photos (of the eclipse in particular) during totality. It went really fast, even though we were in it for just over 2 minutes. I looked at the eclipse through some binoculars to see if the corona was more visible, but they were not great binoculars, so that wasn't such a great view. I don't have a good camera so didn't bother taking any myself (plus I knew plenty of great professional images would be available on the internet afterward). So I just experienced it. I looked at it a lot with my naked eyes, noting where the corona streaks were. I looked for stars. I took a few panoramas, but they turned out so dark they are no good. I watched the kids to see what they were doing during this period. We saw the street lamp turn on. It was really a remarkable and unique experience. And then, as quick as it came, it was over and the sun started beaming out around the other side of the moon and it became light again.
Just after totality, the street lamp was still on, for another minute or so.
We stayed for the second half of the eclipse before hitting the road home. I just felt like we'd been waiting for this moment for so long and then it was over so fast, that I didn't want it to end. So I watched it right up until you could barely see a "nibble" out of the sun anymore. (My kids had been describing the eclipse earlier as if there was a bite out of the sun).
Traffic going home wasn't too bad either. The traffic headed eastbound was backed up from Omaha to Grand Island, but for us heading westbound it was smooth sailing. Until we got to where the Interstate splits into I-80 and I-76. The road merged into a single lane there, and we ended up with a 30-minute delay from that congestion. Otherwise, it was good. Much better than the I-25 jams that were backed up all night long from Wyoming into Colorado. We made a good choice on where to go to watch the eclipse...which was made better by being with friends.
All in all, the kids had a great time, playing with other kids or with the dogs or in the sand pile. And they did enjoy seeing the sun get "eaten" by the moon. I hope they will remember it for years to come. I know I will!
Emma certainly enjoyed all the dogs...
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