eclipse journal

Thurs. 17-Aug-2017: The drive up was mostly uneventful, no traffic.  We stayed at the Shioh Hotel in Klamath Falls; the kids swam in the pool until dinner time.  I found a city park where we went after dinner for a walk.  The air was heavy with wildfire smoke, which made me concerned about the eclipse.  The park had a nice playground and wide grassy fields, but with a lot of bugs.  It was by a lake so we walked out to a dock.  Valerie found a dead fish, probably a Steelhead trout, on the shore being lapped by small waves.  It had a nibble out of its back and looked to be about 1-2 days old.  Val wanted to climb trees but the first one she tried was too large and I couldn’t boost her up.  Then she spotted a tree across the park she thought was small enough with low branches she could climb and took off running for it.  When she reached it she exclaimed about finding something: it was a painted rock from Klamath Rocks, where people leave painted rocks around town with a note to post a picture of it to Facebook.  So I took a picture.  A short while later Lin took Clara & Carol to the bathrooms.  Then Carol came running out yelling “There’s a frog in the toilet!” showing a picture of a small frog sitting on a wad of toilet paper in the toilet bowl.  Val ran into the bathroom too and they took more pictures.  I heard a flush a couple of times; the frog jumped out just in time.

Fri. 18-Aug-2017: Next day we drove up to Crater Lake.  It was a fairly quick drive, but the elevation gain made the kids feel unwell and lethargic.  It was hot and smoky; the lake looked grey, not blue.  We didn’t plan ahead for a boat ride but we drove over to the trailhead – but they were all sold out.  We had some lunch and then I decided to get them out of the car for a while and play in some snow (in August!) by the roadside.  I found a good snow bank and we had some fun having a snowball fight.  Then back to the car to drive to a different trail which would lead to a waterfall, but Carol did not feel well, so we decided to get off the mountain, which did help her recover.  We stopped by a Walmart for supplies and while Clara, Carol, & I were waiting the the van we were entertained by a pair of F-15s from a nearby air base buzzing and circling overhead every few minutes, on a training mission.  The pool at the hotel was closed for cleaning so we just watched tv until it was time to meet Dick & Kathy Noonan for dinner.  They took us out to a very nice restaurant at the Running Y Ranch.  There were a lot of deer seen along the way.  I hadn’t seen them since August of ’91, shortly after Joe died and I was still depressed and grieving.  I always liked them and they were very nice company, much older than I remember.

Sat. 19-Aug-2017: We drove up to Madras.  We made a stop at the Lava River cave, which was formed by the volcanoes in the area.  It was a mile-long natural tunnel which was surprisingly wide and tall.  Parking was tough to find but after circling for a while I found a spot.  The cave was very cool and it was nice to be out of the heat.  Dark, and quiet, when one was away from other people.  Clara felt scared halfway through so Lin to Clara & Carol back out while Valerie and I walked all the way to the end.  Valerie wants to have adventures, so she led the way.  After the cave we continued the drive, which was longer than I thought, but we didn’t hit any traffic.  We arrived in Madras in mid afternoon and found our campsite.  What I didn’t realize was the music events in the festival would be quite so loud – Saturday was 80s rock cover bands, featuring Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Aerosmith, and other “classics.”  It was annoying.  I thought we would be able to just buy food off the vendor trucks, but all of it was unhealthy and expensive.  Our tent was close to a streetlight so it was never dark, one couldn’t see stars, and it was loud until 11pm – and even then there was wind whipping the tent and traffic sounds.  Lin hardly slept, and everyone seemed in a sour mood.

Sun. 20-Aug-2017: I searched for a local pool and found there was an aquatic center in the hills east of the town.  My plan was to stop by the high school, where I heard there were lots of events, since it was on the way to the aquatic center.  We were told traffic and parking would be a problem so we should use the shuttles, which were converted school busses.  We waited a while for one to show up; and found we needed to transfer to another line.  We waited at the transfer stop for almost a half hour before I searched for the high school on my phone and found it was a short walk away.  So we walked over, but found there were no events (and no food, it was lunch time).  The Lowell Observatory was setting up their booth, and the Science Channel was setting up their broadcasting.  The girls ran around the track and occupied themselves while I talked with a Lowell Observatory volunteer.  They later told me they photobombed the Science Channel – one of their presenters was recording leads and they all walked behind her during the taping.  Carol walked through while eating chips.  I don’t know if it made it on air, but the girls all thought it was hilarious.

We eventually abandoned the high school and got lucky to catch a shuttle just in time to get up to the aquatic center.  It turns out it was next to the middle school, where the local little league team was selling camping sites in their soccer field.  To top that, they were allowing the campers to shower in the locker room (though one could shower at the aquatic center too).  And, since it was on a hillside, the field had a perfect view to the west of all the mountains, including Mount Hood.  It would have been the ideal place for our family to go – quieter, with more kids, and the aquatic center – and with the best view for the eclipse.  Sadly I had no idea it was there; when I booked Solarfest in March I thought I was late, and that it was my only option.  Too bad.  The girls swam until dinner time and we headed back to camp.  This night was country music, and it was much nicer to listen to.  We were staying put for the eclipse next morning.

Mon. 21-Aug-2017: In the morning I looked at the sky – wildfire smoke.  The winds had shifted and was sending the smoke we had seen in Klamath Falls up north.  It was an ominous start.  It covered half the sky at 8am and was moving north – so there was no way to get out from underneath it.  I only hoped it would be thin enough to still see the eclipse through, but trimmed my expectations of what would be seen.  We had breakfast and lazed about the campsite.  The girls all became bored, and this caused some problems. 

Clara and I quarreled over cel phone use; I did not want her to spend the time during eclipse not paying attention.  All the girls seemed lethargic and disengaged and it was frustrating me.  I’m ashamed to say I lost my patience.  I had spent my best effort to plan the trip, and we endured so much, I did not want to let them miss this.  After a few minutes I calmed myself and went into the tent to talk to Clara.  She brought up a time a few weeks ago when she wanted to buy a Lego set with her own money and I did not respond – that hurt her, and she kept it buried for so long.  I apologized and promised she could buy it; we made up and I carried her out of the tent to the chair, 15 minutes before totality, so we could watch.

The air was much cooler; Clara needed a jacket.  The light was significantly dimmer.  We were all growing more excited.  The sun crescent grew thinner and thinner.  I glanced to the west and saw it was darker, a curtain of dark, but I did not sense it moving.  Until finally the dark lid of the moon slid over the sun, like covering the bright hole in the sky.  There was a bright rim around the lid, which was likely Bailey’s Beads but I didn’t see individual points.  Then the very bright point like flash with light raditiating out, the diamond ring.   Then that disappeared, and there was the smoke like corona wisping out around one sun disk diameter on either side E & W.  We were all cheering and expressing astonishment.  Val and Lin tried to take pictures but they didn’t work – I urged them to take it in with their eyes.  It was indescribable and beautiful.  Streetlight was on.  I could see Venus to the west but no other stars.  Sunset around the whole horizon.  Then on the west side I noticed the rim was brightening until the diamond brust forth once more, so beautiful, before it was too bright to look at again.  I made a point to hug and kiss each member of my family.  I hope they remember it.

Everything then happened in reverse.  The light grew brighter and twilight grew into day.  To my surprise people started leaving right away, trying to beat the traffic, but it was backed up in a matter of minutes.  The family down the row started drinking whiskey toasts.  I kept on watching the eclipse, basking in the feeling.  I know the eclipse left an impression on the kids, but maybe they didn’t know how to express it.  We slowly came down from the excitement.  I watched the moon disk slide off the sun disk, revealing the sunspots it had blocked in reverse order.  I stayed on it through fourth contact, when there was a very fine concavity along the sun’s limb, until finally the sun was whole again, with an unbroken sharp limb.  Goodbye moon.  Until 2024!

The rest of the day we swam at the aquatic center, with Lin waiting patiently in the lobby.  Valerie spent the whole afternoon on the rope swing, while I spent time playing with Clara and Carol or sitting to the side, watching.  Clara and I had a cannonball contest off the diving board in the deep end.  It was fun.  We ate out, then drove back to the fairgrounds, which were virtually deserted.  There were maybe 12 tents occupied; everyone else left.  It was a quiet night sleeping, but cold. 

Tues. 22-Aug-2017: I got up around 6am and drove to the nearby convenience market for coffee, hot water with which to make hot cocoa, and some Danishes for breakfast.  We left soon after, with no traffic on the long uneventful drive home.  Val said she knew she was in California when she saw the 10 lane highways and traffic. 

It was back home, back to my crazy work and for school to start for the kids and for Lin.  The memory and feeling of the eclipse begins to fade now, but I hope there is an after-shadow left to motivate us for 2024, and again in 2045, when I hope to share the experience with my grandchildren.  Eclipse viewing as a family tradition, of sorts.