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[Paulie pchris00]

I will have more to post soon, but for now, I have a video of my reactions from a few minutes before totality to a few minutes after it ended.

My observing site was the parking lot of Volunteer State Community College, Gallatin, Tennessee, which is the town my heart really wanted to be in for totality.

[Centaur]

Aug 23, 2017 13:06:18 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I will have more to post soon, but for now, I have a video of my reactions from a few minutes before totality to a few minutes after it ended.

My observing site was the parking lot of Volunteer State Community College, Gallatin, Tennessee, which is the town my heart really wanted to be in for totality.

Excellent, Paulie!    Glad you got to see it. Thanks for sharing your video. Looking forward to more. I watched 89% coverage from Hampshire, IL.

Save your eclipse glasses. We won't have to go as far to Indianapolis on 2024 APR 08 when the duration of totality will be longer. Perhaps it will be closer still for you. 

2024 Previews: www.CurtRenz.com/moon18.html

[Paulie pchris00]

The entire eclipse experience was great. My girlfriend, our dog, and I camped in Ozark, Illinois, about forty minutes from Carbondale. We went into Carbondale Sunday afternoon, but because of the questionable forecast, we slept early, and left our campsite at 3:00 AM Monday morning to head for better skies in Tennessee. We arrived at Volunteer State Community College right at 7:00 AM CDST, when the campus parking lot opened. Not knowing if the campus was pet friendly, we set up under a tree in the parking lot, and took separate walks around the campus so that one of us was always with Dalton. Once totality was near, though, I started my car, cranked the AC, and we put Dalton in the backseat, so that we would not be distracted during the precious seconds of totality. The 160 seconds of totality were over all too soon, and I am ashamed to say that the partial eclipse after third contact seemed anticlimactic. Since I had told Dawn we were there for those two minutes, forty seconds of totality, and it was very hot and humid, she wanted to leave. I slowly started to pack up, and let the experience sink in. Still, I did not see fourth contact, and may have even left before the eclipse was over. Next time I will make it clear that I am staying until fourth contact. It was a great weekend, and not even the worst traffic jam I've ever seen could dampen my mood much.

I can't wait until 2024.

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[Centaur]

Thank you, Paulie, for that fine description of your eclipse experience. You and Dawn were real troopers for taking that detour.  

Next up on the eclipse calendar will be the Total Lunar Eclipse of 2018 JAN 31: www.CurtRenz.com/moon15.html

[Paulie pchris00]

I still watch this video a few times a week, on average, and I keep finding things I hadn't noticed before. This morning I saw that the reflection in the white car in the background really showed the Baily's Beads at third contact. I might have to figure out how I can get to South America for 2020, because I'm not sure I can wait until 2024.

[Centaur]

Nov 9, 2017 8:33:36 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I still watch this video a few times a week, on average, and I keep finding things I hadn't noticed before. This morning I saw that the reflection in the white car in the background really showed the Baily's Beads at third contact. I might have to figure out how I can get to South America for 2020, because I'm not sure I can wait until 2024.

There's no need to wait until 2020 DEC 14, Paulie. A total solar eclipse will also cross Chile and Argentina on 2019 JUL 02. eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2019Jul02Tgoogle.html

I hope you can remain healthy until then. 

[Paulie pchris00]

It will be a struggle just to be able to go to one of the next two total solar eclipses that cross Chile and Argentina. If I wait until 2020, I have three years to save instead of 19 months. Plus, the 2020 eclipse will be about a week before the southern hemisphere summer solstice instead of winter, and looks to take place in the middle of the day, rather than low in the western sky. I think I would rather wait for the potentially better totality.

[Paulie pchris00]

Nov 9, 2017 8:33:36 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I might have to figure out how I can get to South America for 2020, because I'm not sure I can wait until 2024.

Well, I had money saved, and early this year I was starting to think about a South American trip in December.

And then COVID19 wrecked the world. There is no way I am traveling under these circumstances. It looks like I'll have to wait until 2024 after all... 😢

[Centaur]

Aug 14, 2020 23:22:01 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

Nov 9, 2017 8:33:36 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

I might have to figure out how I can get to South America for 2020, because I'm not sure I can wait until 2024.

Well, I had money saved, and early this year I was starting to think about a South American trip in December.

And then COVID19 wrecked the world. There is no way I am traveling under these circumstances. It looks like I'll have to wait until 2024 after all... 😢

Indeed, Paulie, it's far more important to stay safe and healthy. Indianapolis or Cleveland may be where you want to make reservations for the 2024 total solar eclipse.