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My Missouri eclipse trip!
8 years ago
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So I just got back from my mini roadtrip down to Missouri for the solar eclipse! I drove with two friends of mine and met up with four others, so we had a total group of seven of us all down there together. :D We were all coming from Minnesota so it was about an 8 hour drive; my particular group decided to dispersal camp, and we successfully found a little spot in the Mark Twain national forest, which literally is like all farmland with some wild bits and a little grassy spot for camping. Not what I'm used to for national parks, maybe it's all Missouri really has for nature XD
ANYWAY, for the eclipse itself we drove to a tiny town called Huntsdale! It was right on the exact center path for the eclipse, and there was maybe 200-300 other people there. The town even put up a big tent and some portapotties, and had drinks you could buy - pretty awesome, I didn't expect that at all. The cloud cover was hazy, so think like a sheet of thin cloud with little patches of blue - don't worry, the sun was so bright it was easy to see the eclipse happening with the special glasses we had to wear.
What surprised me the most was how BRIGHT the sun was. Even with only a tiny sliver remaining, you couldn't look directly at it and you certainly couldn't see the moon in front of it. Everything had a hazy low light look, think like when a big storm is coming and it's blocking the sun. But then, as we were mere minutes from the height of the eclipse, a big fat puffy cloud BLEW IN FRONT OF THE SUN! We couldn't see it at all! As the sun eclipsed behind the cloud darkness came down over the whole area and it was so cool, the clouds were dark above us and it looked as if there was a sunset in every direction - really beautiful. I was hoping to see stars, but the clouds + it not being pitch black meant we couldn't see anything.
But, all that said, I was bummed! We couldn't see the actual eclipse at all! And then...
A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS! XD I heard people maybe a football field down the grass start cheering, and we knew it was coming - suddenly the eclipse appeared as clear as could be! It had the ring around it and everything, and we got to see it for a minute or so before the sun broke through the side again. Talk about the biggest depression and elation switch ever, I felt very lucky to have been able to see it after all that.
So yep, I'm home now. ^-^ We drove back immediately afterwards, and wow I never thought I'd be in stop-and-go traffic on an interstate highway at 10pm at night ON A MONDAY, but that happened. Lots of MN people must have came down, since we were like a giant mass caravan on the way back, which was cool - but it turned an 8hr drive into an 10hr+ one. Lets just say I slept super good last night, heh. I didn't get any good pics myself but some of my group members did, so I'm hoping they'll share. Otherwise yeah, totally worth the time and money... time to start planning for the next one in 2024 :D
Did any of you guys go see the eclipse? I think a lot of people traveled for it, since I kept talking about it to random people before I left and they'd chime in saying they were going too. I'm curious to hear your guys' experiences if you did. :3
ANYWAY, for the eclipse itself we drove to a tiny town called Huntsdale! It was right on the exact center path for the eclipse, and there was maybe 200-300 other people there. The town even put up a big tent and some portapotties, and had drinks you could buy - pretty awesome, I didn't expect that at all. The cloud cover was hazy, so think like a sheet of thin cloud with little patches of blue - don't worry, the sun was so bright it was easy to see the eclipse happening with the special glasses we had to wear.
What surprised me the most was how BRIGHT the sun was. Even with only a tiny sliver remaining, you couldn't look directly at it and you certainly couldn't see the moon in front of it. Everything had a hazy low light look, think like when a big storm is coming and it's blocking the sun. But then, as we were mere minutes from the height of the eclipse, a big fat puffy cloud BLEW IN FRONT OF THE SUN! We couldn't see it at all! As the sun eclipsed behind the cloud darkness came down over the whole area and it was so cool, the clouds were dark above us and it looked as if there was a sunset in every direction - really beautiful. I was hoping to see stars, but the clouds + it not being pitch black meant we couldn't see anything.
But, all that said, I was bummed! We couldn't see the actual eclipse at all! And then...
A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS! XD I heard people maybe a football field down the grass start cheering, and we knew it was coming - suddenly the eclipse appeared as clear as could be! It had the ring around it and everything, and we got to see it for a minute or so before the sun broke through the side again. Talk about the biggest depression and elation switch ever, I felt very lucky to have been able to see it after all that.
So yep, I'm home now. ^-^ We drove back immediately afterwards, and wow I never thought I'd be in stop-and-go traffic on an interstate highway at 10pm at night ON A MONDAY, but that happened. Lots of MN people must have came down, since we were like a giant mass caravan on the way back, which was cool - but it turned an 8hr drive into an 10hr+ one. Lets just say I slept super good last night, heh. I didn't get any good pics myself but some of my group members did, so I'm hoping they'll share. Otherwise yeah, totally worth the time and money... time to start planning for the next one in 2024 :D
Did any of you guys go see the eclipse? I think a lot of people traveled for it, since I kept talking about it to random people before I left and they'd chime in saying they were going too. I'm curious to hear your guys' experiences if you did. :3
Unfortunately I live on the other side of an ocean.
Enjoy!