After staring at map and making our best guesses on roads and traffic jam predictions, we decided to head toward Madras, Oregon on the day of the big eclipse. The only family member we could convince to brave the chaos with us was Aunt Jessica, who was completely on board with moon watching.
We loaded the kids into the car extra early and headed down. The traffic wasn't terrible at all, and we were able to head to a playground next to the Madras town library and even find parking nearby. The librarians had planned several activities for those in the park. They had crafts for the kids, passed out free viewing glasses, offered face painting, and even free juice. Their event wasn't advertised in the paper, and most of the crowd, like us, had chosen the spot almost at random as a place to view the totality that wasn't in the middle of the larger events, not knowing there would be fun activities to enjoy. We felt so fortunate to have lucked into the location. We had a bench, we had activities, a playground, friendly people. It was awesome.
The crowds grew as the eclipse drew nearer, but everyone was polite, friendly, and cheerful. We were interview by a representative from the Spokesman-Review (and quoted in her article). We learned from her article that over 1,000 people showed up to that little park.
Nice specs Eleanor!
Mom- you gotta see this. The sun
looks like a moon.
Until the totality, the boys weren't so
interested in the eclipse. The playground, however...
...just their style.
And the librarians came around with balloons!
And then, more balloons after Steven popped
this one on the grass.
Orange - Jefferson's favorite!
Joining in at the activity tables.
Hard at work.
Sweet headband, handcrafted by Jefferson
Eclipse chalk art
Steven too! Such artists.
Facepainting
Nice eclipse art!
Melinda was given the important task
of not letting the balloons pop on the
grass. This left her with lots
of eclipse viewing time.
Nephew wrangler extraordinaire.
Finally, the eclipse reached a full totality, or "path of totally" as Adelaide misread on her info book. We liked her version so much we started to use it. Even the boys dropped everything to look. Steven came running up to Melinda yelling, "Mom! The sun turned into the moon!" Pretty close buddy.
Moments before the total eclipse, the sky was like dusk. Then, the instant the moon moved to block out the last sliver of sunlight, everything went dark. The glowing disk in the sky was amazing! What an incredible event to behold.
Of course, our iPhones weren't equipped with the right cameras for that kind of photography. But, our buddy Brent had his fancy set up all ready to go from their viewing spot in Idaho. We're stealing his snaps.
Total Eclipse
The path of "totally"
There was more traffic on the way home, but not too terrible. We beat the crowds that were further down, staying ahead of the worst of it. What an incredible day! Not one we will ever forget.
Steven re-enacts the eclipse by
blocking out Matt's face.
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