Joan and I drove down to Nashville for the 2017 eclipse. This time, our home in Mason, OH was just on the edge of totality. So our daughter Amy and our grandkids Lucy and Charlie flew out from Virginia for the event. We got extremely lucky as the skies were forecast to be 40% to 60% cloudy but it turned out to be almost completely clear skies.
We made a plan to drive up to Heuston Woods State Park. It is on the Indiana/Ohio state line and was well withing the path of totality (3 minutes and 2 seconds of totality). We planned to make a day of it and went early to get a good spot.
We drove all the way around the lake and evaluated spots in picnic groves, near the Nature Center, at the Marina, and at the Beach. Eventually we decided to park at the archery range which is right next to the dam. We were so early that we procured a picnic table and we had rest rooms nearby.
The day started chilly but it got hot in the sun. The high was 77F.
The crowds eventually found us. We kind of wish we had brought a tent/awning.
We had studied up and were inspired by this YouTube.
Smarter Every Day - Eclipse I had downloaded the suggested app for timing the eclipse. We performed some of the exercises suggested.
This colander showed the partial eclipse shadows as projected thru each of the holes.
It was sweltering hot as the contact was made but we started putting long sleeves back on as we approached totality.
Getting close to totality wearing our eclipse glasses.
And, then when it happened, we took them off. It was dark but there was a bright horizon all around us - 360 degrees.
And this is what we saw.
Amy used a filter on her phone and got these progress photos leading up to totality.
And this was receding.
In the time before the eclipse, we did some hiking and nature walks. Turkey vulture.
And lots of spring wildflowers in the understory of the woods.
There were trilliums that hadn't opened yet too.
We knew about the traffic problems after the Nashville eclipse so we planned a rural escape route from this one. It worked out pretty well and it was a perfect day observing nature.
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