Welcome to the solar eclipse post from your favorite adventuring trio: GK, #1, and the Squeels. Get ready for an amount of photos.
We took a route through Dayton to pick up Heather. Her house is the gold star. She packed amazing car snacks. Grant and I highly suggest her if you need a road trip caterer.
We kicked off the weekend by waiting for an hour in Dayton to get the AC in Grant's car fixed. We were so thankful we did it, because once we got to Tennessee it was 200 degrees 'round the clock.
Despite an 18 year absence, Heather found Wallace Rd. by memory alone.
We arrived in late evening, shared dinner with Shirley Borden, and then enjoyed a nighttime swim in the Borden's pool. It was lovely.
no more tall grass, only soybeans
On Sunday, we ate lunch with Milo, Shirley, and Matthew Daniel at the local sub shop and then Matthew Daniel gave us a tour of campus. We tried to get into the math building, but it was locked.
We strolled around downtown, indulged in some ice cream. Then, we headed north into Kentucky for some parks Heather remembered and wanted to visit.
Columbus-Belmont State Park on the mighty Mississippi was steeped in history and 'earthworks.' The signs may have read "no climbing" but we are rebels at heart.
Downriver, we visited Reelfoot Lake & Lake Isom National Wildlife Refuge. Cypress trees and frogs abound.
That evening we drove back to Martin and Donna fed us pizza and stories.
She got out her original P. Hertzel to many oohs and aahs.
We woke up on Monday to donuts and croissants and geared up for the eclipse. We hit up a supermarket for a resupply of car cheese and aloe for our sunburns. (Except I was vigilant and didn't have one, suck it Heather and Grant.)
We drove into the band of totality with our sights on Princeton, Kentucky. The traffic into town was minimal and manageable. Yet, we chose to avoid the crowds downtown and headed out to the municipal airport, on Grant's suggestion. It was an excellent spot.
Plant took some photos before and during totality. It was truly amazing. There was virtually no cloud cover, and the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees during the total eclipse. Which made it a bearable 180 degrees for about two and half minutes.
Right after totality, Grant snapped this photo (below) that shows the shadow of the moon. Grant is the unsung hero photographer of our trip.
We left shortly after totality wrapped up, around 2 PM. Traffic in may have been manageable, but traffic out was a mess. We sat at a standstill on the interstate for a number of hours we didn't care to count. Luckily, we are (almost) all patient people and excellent at car games. We arrived in Dayton around 1 AM.
Happy eclipsing! We are eager to do it all again in 2024.
How did we take zero photos of Grant?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletebecause we were too sweaty to hold our phones properly
Deleteor we are self-involved. you choose
DeleteThere is so much to love about this post. Each picture is a treasure. I loved my first glimpse of Matthew Daniel. What a great staged photo! This post is such a warm combination of glimpses into your adventure & a nod to our history in Tennessee. Thank you for bringing it to life for me.
ReplyDeleteBTW. It was always Wallace Road.
ReplyDeleteIt was Weakly Road, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise
DeleteI agree with everything Mom said. It's a wonderful walk through a huge part of our family history, and I really appreciate your documenting it so well. The pics of the house and yard really bring back that history quickly. Looks like our little Christmas trees didn't survive, for some reason. But I see Matthew Daniel hasn't changed a bit! Nice of him to show you around. I wonder if he will be mayor some day.
ReplyDeleteYou said Donna told stories!? Like what?
ReplyDeleteI forgot about that painting. Looks like I did a good job.
And then you went to Columbus Belmont Park and Reelfoot Lake!! How fantastic. Any memories stirred there?
ReplyDeleteNo new memories, no. We went there chasing old memories I already had, and it paid off.
DeleteSo glad you had clear skies. That was the opposite of my adventure. The Moon shadow is pretty neat, and the first one of its kind that I have seen.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to post all of this.