#HKfamily5 & the 2017 Eclipse

Is it true what they say, there are no words to really describe how amazing a total solar eclipse? The answer I am finding after a week of sharing the experience of others, is YES! No matter how I explained it someone, I always felt as though I didn’t give the experience the right kind glory. 

We made the journey north to Oregon and spent some time at AMA house for the weekend, leading into the big eclipse on Monday. We made the trek early Saturday morning but after a few blips in our plans we really didn’t get a good pace till late morning. Ten hours later through the sad smoke filled i-5 in California and Oregon, we made it. Sadly the crazy traffic the news was reporting was only on the 97 side of the state. My guess that i-5 would be next to none. 

The day of the eclipse I had planned for us to view the event near the Willamette River at the Rogue Brewery in Hopville, OR. When we arrive to the main road leading to the Farm, the road was closed off to visitors. It turns out they had sold tickets to a viewing and we were left with having to find a new location. We opted for back up option was the Eclipse Festival being held 5 minutes north in Independence. Thankfully the festival was being held in park right along the Willamette River. We set up camp and waited for the big event, while enjoying the crowd around us. 

The eclipse itself was amazing, the shifting light most people experience in partial eclipse, is on a level 100 times what you normally see. The light changes but as the darkness is cast on the area of totality, the light changes so much that your eyes see changes in shadows as well looking at people. It was if people were shading wight right before our eyes. People became slimmer and shorter it seemed. When darkness falls, its truly dark when you look close to you (100-200ft.) but in the distance, you can see how the light still shines past the line of totality. 

The kids were loving every moment of the event and strangely - while people cheered and became excited on the cast of darkness. The kids and a lot of people around us became very quiet. Looking around, soaking up the experience and noticing all of the little things that make a total eclipse. From the change in weather, to absence of birds or animal/insect sounds, event the eerie sight of the moon creating a ring around the sun. The light shift quickly to darkness and everyone cheered at first and then became very silent. Looking around, everyone seem to be stunned just as I was the crazy new reality we were cohabiting in.

While the darkness only lasts 2 minutes, the crack of light that just showers on the area, blows you away. And then it’s all over and everyone just wanders around scratching their heads. We were lucky enough set up shop a stretch of the river where some 20-somethings had setup a tight rope. Each of the kids took turns trying it. A perfect end to a great adventure. Heading home is where we weren’t so lucky, well maybe not totally unlucky. Driving to Independence only took us just over an hour. Driving home took over 2.5 hours, thanks to some fancy route changes. Of course none of the apps were really working because there was so much traffic on the road, the cell sites were overloaded. Thankfully we drove the Volvo which had satellite navigation. 

So have we been bitten by the eclipse bug, are we officially eclipse chasers. The answer is 100%, Yes! I’ve already got 2020 in Chile and 2024 in Maine already on our radar. For now, enjoy this cute little movie I finally put together.