When we were in Bend during July's vacation, we noticed tons of signs, billboards, campsites and stores that were marketing the solar eclipse. This as really going to be a big deal. Several campsites already were booked up months ago. While we were there, I always pick up travel magazines and brochures just because I could and some of them give you really good information about the area you are visiting. Since I already had my legit eclipse glasses I decided to order some for Ben through Travel Oregon. They were suppose to be here within 6 weeks of when I ordered it, which was plenty of time before the main event on August 21st.
That day at work everyone was pretty excited for the eclipse. My work unit actually blocked off a 1.5-hour block to go watch it from 9:15 to 10:45. A group of us went out there to go start watching.
It was a clear and warm summer day. It was suppose to be in the 80's. We sat there on the grass watching the progression of the eclipse. It's been a long time that I could remember that I've been able to watch a solar eclipse. The last one I could remember I was at least 9 or 10 and we were in Tenino at a Girl Scout function. As a kid, when they talked about it, made it sound like the end of the world and I was actually frightened. It wasn't a total eclipse in our area but we were handed out the special glasses so we could watch it. They were very serious about wearing the glasses instead of with the naked eye. When we all didn't die I thought differently of solar eclipses.
About 9:45 we were joined by the rest of our team that wanted to come out and watch.
We all tried taking pictures through our glasses with our phones but were not that successful. This was the only decent one we got.
At the time of "totality" I was disappointed I was not down in Oregon watching the main event, instead, I was out on the lawn watching 94% of it covered. It would have been awesome to see the complete totality and experience night in the middle of the day. We have another opportunity in Texas in 2024 that we might go down and see. It depends on where we are in our life at that point.
As it was getting closer, you could feel the temperature drop and the sky turn this orangey color. It was a really weird experience. At the moment of "totality" the temperature had to have dropped 20 or so degrees and I was glad I was wearing my vest because I got cold. It was fun to experience it but again, I wish I would have been down in the path. I just really didn't want to be there with buttloads of people and traffic. I hate traffic.
We all went back inside around 10:30 and went back to July enrollment. On the way back inside, I noticed crescents all over the sidewalks. The tree leaves acted like a perfect pinhole for the light to shine through. I thought it was cool.
Meanwhile, mom did not get any eclipse glasses and everyone came over to our house while I was at work to watch the eclipse with Ben's Oregon eclipse glasses. They all shared one pair in the back yard. When it was over they all went home. Ben texted me this and I thought it was random.
Here are some pictures of totality from Oregon:
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