We rented a car on Karen's very prudent suggestion ($200 for a full week!). We stayed in Auburn to see the fam. We trucked it up north to Bend, the only hazard a sign reading "Eclipse Cancelled. Go Home."
Undaunted, we took two nights at the Old St. Francis, consuming beer, the local fauna, and a late-nite screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (An aside: the 40th anniversary screening of Close Encounters starts Friday. It's one of my favorite films.)
Moving out Monday at 4 am was no small feat, but after a 5 am stop at the Prineville Starbucci's we were in place by seven, breakfast bars, Kettle Chips, and champagne on hand, 200 meters off the center line. If you want to see an eclipse, pick an alien landscape like Oregon's Painted Hills.
There is nothing I can really say about this. No pictures you've seen do it justice. You were in the path, or you were not. Anyone who says "We got 95%" or "We had 99%" can go soak their head. The difference is night and day, literally, and I do not employ that term lightly. You could attempt to describe color to the blind, or Mozart to the deaf, but if you're familiar with the adage of annoying the donkey while going nowhere, well, that's where you are.
If you weren't there, nothing.
The forecasted traffic zombie apocalypse didn't really materialize, except north of Fossil, but I was a Boy Scout, and I know these roads, and I feel truly sorry for the people on I5.
A few days in PDX (go to Pine State, order a biscuit with butter and marion berry jam, plus a side of sausage gravy, and enjoy the best of both worlds), then take a leisurely drive south. Drop off your cousin. Return the car. And remember that you can't forget it never happened.
1 comment:
Glad to hear that you made it to the Great Eclipse of 2017. I wanted to go up to see it, but it just came too close to leaving for Africa. We had a great trip. Total photo op overload.
Dad
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