Annular Solar Eclipse

The morning after "Creatures of the Night," we got up really early and drove down to Fillmore. The reason? Another solar eclipse.

The last one we went to in 2017, we drove to Idaho (that was a long day) because it was a total solar eclipse and we wanted to be able to take off our eclipse glasses during the time of totality. That was an amazing experience.

This time, it was an annular eclipse, which meant in the path of totality there would be a "ring of fire." We weren't able to take our eclipse glasses off at all this time while looking at the sun but it sure looked cool through them. We got to experience a similar eclipse with friends back in 2012.

Because this eclipse was also a big deal, numerous places were planning on having eclipse viewing parties. We were able to get a couple eclipse glasses at events in September at the Orem Library then Jeremy bought us a few more for not too much.

Orem wouldn't have the "ring of fire" so that's why we headed down to Fillmore. Jeremy's done balloons at Fillmore Library a number of times so he got a hold of his contact down there to find out that they were having an eclipse event there for the public (and where it was because it wasn't in the main library building) and we were absolutely invited. Such nice people.

So as I said, we drove down to Fillmore early to miss traffic (not as early as when we went to Idaho) and to make sure we got parking, then napped until it was time for the fun to start.

The library had some great activities. We made beaded bracelets that glow in the dark and change color in the sun. 

We used stencils and a black light to create images on paper.

We made an annular eclipse simulator that showed the path of the moon over the sun to create the ring of fire.

Lucky popped a balloon using a magnifying glass.

There was an inflatable planetarium we went in to see constellations and planets.

Outside, there was a telescope set up with a special filter to look at the sun. Lucky was the 200th person to look through the telescope.

The eclipse was of course awesome and a great family activity. Outside we were again in a park with many people like the last big eclipse. There was music playing, people getting excited when it was getting darker (not as dark as a total eclipse obviously, but enough to be noticeable), and when the ring of fire part of the eclipse happened, whoever was in charge of the music put on "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. I loved that.

Lucky managed to get pictures with his little camera and eclipse glasses. Way to go, son.

We had fun looking at the shadow crescents made from the light shining through the tree branches when the sun had moved again.

We had lunch in the van before heading back toward home. The traffic wasn't too bad heading back. It got busy at some places but some places were pretty clear. It was definitely easier than our Idaho eclipse trip. 

On the way, we ate Oreos, and I made a "ring of fire" out of mine. Ha Ha Ha. I am so cute.

We got home in the afternoon, not the night. Yay.

For dinner that night we had breakfast burritos because October 14 is Breakfast Burrito Day in Denver. How random can we be finding reasons to celebrate?

It was a great day and well worth the effort.

What We Did for the Eclipse

August 21, 2017 was the Great American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse with areas of totality across the United States.  Where we live it was 90% totality so we know a lot of people who stayed in the area to watch.  We decided to drive the 4-5 hours to Idaho to be in the path of totality.
We know a lot of people who traveled to Rexburg to watch.  That was our original idea.  Jeremy kept checking the weather and it looked like it might be a bit cloudy that day so we planned on going somewhere else, still in the path of totality.  Before we left, Jeremy checked the weather again and it looked like it was going to be clear in Rexburg, but we had already decided where we were going to watch the eclipse from so we went with that plan.
A lot of people staggered their trips to Idaho over several days to beat the traffic so with us leaving home at midnight Monday morning, we didn't have any traffic problems.
We drove to Mackay, Idaho, and parked at a park.  We slept in the van for a few hours while it was still dark.  When we finally woke up, we had access to bathrooms and a playground.

A lot more vehicles joined the ones that were already there by the time we got up.  It was really fun to be around so many other people who traveled there for this purpose.

This is what it looked like all around the park- vehicle-wise.

It was an amazing experience.  We kept checking with our solar glasses to see when the moon started crossing in front of the sun.  Just a teeny tiny bit at first then of course it continued.

It lasted for quite a while so we had fun taking pictures.  All of our kids did a good job of following directions.  We only looked at the sun with the solar glasses so nobody had any eye damage after it was all over.  During the main part, Lucky had fun doing activities in his activity binder so we worried about him a lot less.  He did look up with his solar glasses from time to time of course.

For extra protection for the two youngest, Jeremy cut out paper plates to attach to the eclipse glasses so there were no worries about seeing over the edges.

 Mom:  You look really comfortable, Jr. Jr.

Jr. Jr.:  Trust me.  I am.

Jr.:  Jr. Jr. said that the sun looked like a crescent and then he called it a crescent sun.  I'm a crescent son, too.

Jeremy had an app on his phone to let us know when to look for certain things (crescent shadows, shadow bands, different animal behavior, 360 degree sunset in the morning- with stars).  It also told us when we could safely take off our solar glasses and look directly at the sun's corona with the naked eye.  Amazing.

It really was an amazing experience.  After the totality part, as it got lighter again, the kids went to play some more on the playground.  Jeremy and I carried our glasses around with us to keep looking at it from time to time.

By the time we left the park, most people had already left even if part of the moon still blocked part of the sun.  Jeremy drove the van so I was able to watch the very end of the eclipse out the window.
What a neat experience.  Then of course, there was the traffic.  Everyone staggered going into Idaho, but everyone left around the same time to go home.  We heard the traffic was crazy and took so long for people traveling from Rexburg (5 hours to travel what is normally less than an hour).  Because of where we watched from, the traffic wasn't nearly as bad.  We missed all the Rexburg/Idaho Falls traffic.  There were police directing traffic where two highways met up along where we were traveling.  By the time we got to I-15, the traffic was a little bit slower- some stop and go, some 20 MPH in the 80 MPH speed zone.  Not too much, though.  All in all, with traffic and bathroom breaks, we only lost about an hour according to what the GPS said was going to be our arrival time when we left Mackay.  I'm very happy it turned out that way since the kids had school the next morning.  We didn't get home too late- not like our trip home from Montana (3am.  It's a good thing our children are in general such good travelers).

It was fun to see how many of the vehicles were prepared for traffic.  Lots of them had gas cans, some two or three, attached to their backs or roofs.  We got gas as soon as we got into Mackay so we wouldn't have to worry about it on the way out of town.  We actually made it all the way home on one tank of gas.  I was expecting we'd have to get gas at least once but as I mentioned earlier, the traffic wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

It was a unique experience.

Eclipsalypse

Road Trip!

What did you do to celebrate the Great American Eclipse of 2017?

What We Also Did at the Library

Another day we went to the library, they were having a presentation with someone from the Clark Planetarium talking about the upcoming total solar eclipse.  It was very interesting and it was neat to see how many of the kids there were quite knowledgeable already about astronomy.  Awesome kids.

I took this picture before the program started and showed it to Jeremy.  He said that's pretty typical of our kids or it's a good representation or something like that.  Nichole and Jr. reading, Lucky wiggling, and Jr. Jr. staring off into space.  Yep.  Those are our kids.  They did pay attention during the presentation, however.  Great job, kids.

 It was good library time.

What We Did to Beat the Heat

It has been hot this Summer.  Yes, hot.  We've had to think of ways to beat the heat.  One way is by driving in our air-conditioned van (something I am very thankful for) to the Orem Library where it is also nice and cool.  One day we went out in the heat before going down to the library.  We did have a good reason, though.  For about a week around and after the 4th of July, our city had flying in a local canyon (hiking area) a gigantic American flag.  Huge.  Enormous.  Record breaking in size- "largest American flag to ever fly."  78 feet wide, 152 feet long.  We decided to go up to see it, though technically it's so big we can see it from our living room window through the trees.  To get a better look at it, we drove up to the trailhead then walked up a bit to get some pictures.  It was so neat- and big.

Afterward we did drive down to the Orem Library.  Jeremy got some work in, the kids and I got some reading in, and the kids went on a scavenger hunt.  They searched around the library for paper constellations then took their results back to receive a special prize.  The reward?  Solar glasses for the upcoming total solar eclipse in August (90% in our neck of the woods).  Jeremy and I also earned solar glasses from the library by answering trivia questions.

 It was a nice way to beat the heat.

Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse

You know I like finding reasons to celebrate.  How about a solar eclipse?

We knew that the solar eclipse was coming and that Utah would be a good place to watch it (though not directly as that can damage your eyes).  While talking with some friends' about it, they invited us to dinner at their house.  When we got there we found out they were as excited about the eclipse as we.  Dinner was in the backyard anyway, so they poked a small hole in a big bucket/tub/crate so we could see the sunlight shine through and the moon's shadow covering part of the light.

Click on the pictures to see them larger.

Every few minutes we would go back to see how it was progressing. 

At the main part of the eclipse, the moon was supposed to be in front of the sun but small enough that you'd still see the sun behind it, kind of like this

to make a "ring of fire."  Isn't that cool (the ring of fire, not my illustration)?   

One of the neighbors brought over special glasses so we could look in the sun's direction with protection. 

It looked so cool.  Pictures didn't turn out through the glasses, though.  Too bad.  We didn't have time to keep adjusting the settings to get it just right.

Though blurry, this is a picture of the eclipse through a welding mask with adjusted shutter speed.

Unfortunately, it got too cloudy, so we missed the main part of the eclipse.  Sigh.  Oh, well.  The company more than made up for it.

The sun came out at the end, so we were able to see the moon's shadow on the other side of the light shining through the hole.

It was a good evening.  It was fun to see part of the eclipse, and thanks to the neighbor, we were able to see it more directly than we thought we would.  But the best part of the evening was being with friends.

And friendship is definitely a reason to celebrate.