All summer long we debated and debated going North to witness the total solar eclipse. Finally we made plans to camp in the Sawtooth Mountains in South Central Idaho. I called and looked up dozens of camping possibilities, all of which were first-come-first-served. Michael's parents said they could go and find a spot on the Thursday before the eclipse and we would join them Friday to beat the major traffic heading to Idaho. So, we started packing and planning and getting excited for a fun camping trip and trying to figure out the traffic situation.... and then, sadly, the Rigby's got sick on Wednesday and didn't feel like they could go anymore.
A few days before that my friend Lura posted on Facebook something about earning an Eclipse badge for scouting and I commented how lucky they are to live in Totality. Her husband Jesse replied that we should come and stay with them.... so, when our plans fell through I messaged Lura and asked if they were serious about the invitation. They graciously said yes!!
We kept hearing speculation about how terrible traffic would be heading to the Idaho Falls area, so we made plans to leave before noon on Friday and head up. We didn't hit any problems at all and arrived in Idaho Falls earlier than anticipated, so we decided to stop at the newly re-dedicated Idaho Falls Temple and walk around. The Temple and grounds are absolutely beautiful. We also walked by the river and saw the falls and enjoyed the sunshine together.
 |
| Dog's can't go on Temple grounds. |
Saturday we figured traffic would be getting crazier, so we stuck around the house all day-- the kids had a water balloon fight that lasted all afternoon. It was the baby Aisling's (pronounced Ashlyn) birthday, so we got to join in the celebration, and topped off the night with the shooting of a cannon. Pretty sweet- this is the entertainment you get from an ex-army officer. So fun.
We were heading inside to put the kids to bed when we saw a HUGE fire in the neighborhood across the road. The men grabbed fire extinguishers and took off running and in a truck, while Lura called 911. Turns out someone had a big bonfire (flames 10-15 feet high) in their yard... but the angle we saw it from and how much black smoke was billowing out of it, it really looked like a house was on fire. The fire department showed up quickly with sirens blasting, and we're pretty sure the people were fined since they're in the middle of a burn ban. Good times.
Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then got to go to my cousin Dave and Brenda's house in Ammon (Idaho Falls area) to play for the afternoon, have a barbeque, and celebrate Dave and my birthdays (2 years apart). It was so fun to see them, and my cousins Caryn and Phil from Tennessee, and my Uncle Gene. The kids had a blast playing with the other kids and started planning the next get together before we even left. Hope it's soon!
Monday morning I made homemade Maple Bars as a treat for breakfast.... so yummy. Then we had the kids make paper plate masks to attach their solar glasses to for more eye protection. And then finally, the main event started!!
It was fascinating to watch the black circle of the moon slowly slide across the orange sun (through the solar glasses of course)--- first it was a Death Star, then a Pac Man, then an orange slice, then a crescent, and finally a tiny sliver. After it was half-eclipsed the light coming down started cooling, being dimmer, and cast an eerie dusk-like blue light instead of the bright sunshine. It kept getting darker and cooler as we watched from the Coyne's backyard.
We poked holes in papers and looked at the crescent shadows and the kids were enthralled in that for awhile as we waited for totality. Even Joey loved putting on the glasses and looking at the eclipse. He kept saying "It's covered up!"
The birds in the trees started twittering like they do at twilight, and some doves landed on a phone pole and huddled together.
Even though I had read about what would happen I really had no idea what to expect. We watched the last sliver of sun slip behind the black moon and took off the glasses. It was full-on end of twilight dark out at that point, and quite chilly too (we found out it was a 22 degree drop in temperature). Then we heard a cheer from up the street... We looked up at the dark moon, saw a sudden flash of light from the lower left quadrant, and then all of a sudden the sun's corona became visible. Michael says it was like someone poured gas on the moon and then threw a match. It went from being a dark ball in the sky to having a white and light blue flame totally encircling it. The total eclipse was one of the most interesting and beautiful natural things we have ever seen.
We were lucky to be right under the path of totality, so we had 2 minutes and 16 seconds of this amazing sight-- we had time to enjoy the eclipse and corona, spot a bat flying through the air, notice that all the birds had gone silent, see the 360 degree sunset on the horizon, snap a couple of pictures, and cheer. Then there was a bright diamond flash at the upper right quadrant and then the corona disappeared and the sun was back to brilliantly blinding.
Hundreds of birds took off flying immediately! And we saw "Sun Snakes" which are waves of light and shadow racing across the ground as the sun's rays return. Fascinating.
We stayed out and watched the rest of the eclipse as the moon slowly slipped across the sun until the very last edge was off and the sun was a perfect ball again. And right then and there we decided that we want to chase the next eclipse too! It was really a wonder to see. We are so amazed at the phenomenon, and we all felt tiny and that our Heavenly Father really is in control of every part of this universe to line that up so perfectly and so precisely. Amazing. Thrilling. Fantastic.
Since we hadn't experienced any traffic at all, and news reports from Idaho Falls over the weekend said that things were running smoothly, we decided that we would try to leave for home after dinner Monday evening.... so Lura and I were making pizza, and I got a text from a friend of mine (Jessica Peck) who had also been in Rigby for the eclipse. She asked me if we were trying to get home that night. I said we were thinking about it. She then told me that they had been in the car for 4 hours and hadn't made it to Pocatello yet (65 miles away). In fact, they hadn't even made it to Blackfoot yet! We decided to wait until later and see if things cleared up... I kept checking in with Jessica to see what progress they were making. It took them 6 hours to get to Pocatello, and another 3 and a half hours to get home!
I texted another friend who was also in Idaho (Tabitha) and gave them the heads up.... they decided to leave at 9pm.... and got home at 3am. Our friend Jason was also staying near us and left at 6:30 (right when we were going to leave), and got home at 2:30am.
Luckily Lura and Jesse didn't mind us staying another night!!! We got up early and left for home at 7:30am... and made it home by 11. No traffic at all except for 10 minutes in construction in Utah. So glad we stayed the night!! And left early!! We heard that it became a 6+ hour drive again by Tuesday midmorning and afternoon.
 |
| Sunrise |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment