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| title | layout | categories | date | image | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse 2024 | post |
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2024-04-12 | partial-collage.jpeg |
On August 11, 1999, myself and a couple of friends took a trip down to Cornwall to get in the path of totality for the eclipse that was happening in the UK that day. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and we had wall to wall clouds which meant that we could actually see anything. We did experience totality which was an awesome and eerie experience.
This year, I knew about the eclipse happening across North America (where I now live) but didn't initially plan to travel for it.
A friend of mine asked me on Sunday if I would be able to watch his cats, as he was planning to take a day trip down to Indiana to see the eclipse. Then he asked me if I'd like to come with him. My initial reason for deciding not to travel was that I had left it too late to book a hotel and the amount of driving to do it in a day would be brutal (about 12 hours!). I figured if he was planning to do the trip anyway I should take the day off and hitch a ride!
He picked me up at 5am on eclipse day, and we began the trip down to Indiana from Madison, Wisconsin. We didn't have a specific location in mind, just that we would find the path of totality and then pick somewhere. We took a good look at the map on the way down and decided on Bloomington as it seemed like a small enough town that it wouldn't be too busy, but not so small that there were no amenities.
About 3 hours after we left we found ourselves entering Indiana...
It took us another 3 hours to reach Bloomington, at which point we had to decided where we were going to go. We found a nice park somewhere just outside downtown in the suburbs called Bryan Park. There were plenty of people already camped out for the eclipse but it wasn't busy.
At 1:49pm (13:49) the moon started to move across the sun. For the next hour we watched through our solar eclipse glasses as the sun became obscured. Gradually it became darker and we noticed that the temperature was dropping. By the time I took the last shot of the partial it was almost dusk like.
Then, at precisely 3:04pm (15:04) the moon completely covered the sun and...
Wow.
I mean, wow!
For 4 minutes we stared in awe at the corona of the sun. It seemed massive in the sky. It went as dark as night. The birds stopped singing. People cheered and clapped.
Then... the sun started to re-appear. Beading at the edges at first. Then becoming brighter until we needed to don our solar eclipse glasses once more.
We decided not to stick around to watch the moon recede from in front of the sun. We were very hungry and also knew we had a long drive ahead of us (I ended up driving us the whole way back).
We stopped for food at a local place called Yogi's Bar & Grill. It was good! They had this lovely bulb lit sign on the wall right over our table.
After that we got back in the car and started the long journey back to Wisconsin. We decided to avoid Chicago on the journey back (Chicago drivers are fucking crazy!). My friend dropped me home at 11:30pm (23:30).
It was a very long day, but absolutely worth it. Experiencing the eclipse was an absolutely fantastic experience. Seeing a partial eclipse is great, but it really doesn't hold a candle to being in the path of totality.
I'm already thinking about how I can get to Spain or Iceland for the eclipse in 2026. I'll be better prepared this time!