None of us have ever seen a total solat eclipse. I saw a partial in the 90's, maybe 60% totality. It was very cool seeing the light filter through the trees and observing the cresent shadows on the ground. Even if you didn't know about the eclipse, you knew somethig was up. The light was different. So what was our plan for this one? Find the places in the US with the least amout of clouds for that time of year. It had to be near a decent city/airport (to get flights and a hotel), and the closer to the east coast the better (i.e. cheaper). The very best place would be all the way west, just east of the Cascade Mountains. All the moisture from the Pacific drops on the West side of the range, leaving dry/arid terrain on the east. But that is a long flight and long drive and few hotels. The next best in terms of weather looked like the middle of nebraska. And Omaha was right there on the east side of Ne. Perfect. Fly in Sunday, super steak dinner, then drive to the middle and the further west it looked like it would even get better. We could even follow the path of the Transcontinental Railroad. Plans changed. The weather forecast that weekend was cloudy and rainy for Nebraska. A serious possibility we would not even see the sun. But the airline tickets were non-refundable, so we went. We had a great steak dinner (thanks to you know who), saw a great episode of Game of Thrones. Monday broke to pouring rain. Very bad. Where to go, east or west? Our crack team worked the internet and discovered that all the different weather sites have different predictions, and satelite photos are too static and granular to be predictive. But they found the only blue sky within a 200 mile radius! Totality was SPECTACULAR. Ever have a fantastic meal, the best you have had, and you take a photo of it. Does it do justice to what it tasted like or how you felt? Same here.
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generated 2017-11-10