Thursday at 4:39 pm and we are finally on our way to our vacation. Aren't we just the epitome of happiness? I had a rough day at work, the Planner was sunburned from a day spent packing travel goods, the Kid is just a kid and happy to be doing anything new, and the doggo, well the doggo is indifferent.
Friday, started out with breakfast with the Worrier and a switch in travel plans. The Worrier is letting us take his four-door truck. FOUR DOORS. Everybody has their own door, their own seat, their own cup holder, and their own space. Now don't get me wrong, the beloved beep-beep has all of the above-mentioned items but in a much, much smaller space. 1500 miles just got a whole lot better. We will be traveling in modern luxury.
This space even includes doggo space. Yes, even the dog has to have her space too. There are early morning, morning, and late morning naps. There are early afternoon, afternoon, and late afternoon naps. There are early evening, evening, and late evening naps. Poor doggo. She turns 12 in just a few days. She spends her life wanting to go and dreaming about going instead.
Four doors with plenty of space to allow for homeschooling continuation. Oh yes, homeschooling continues even on a vacation. What better way to learn about something new such as a solar eclipse. Four new books were bought for just such occasion.
Fridays travels ended with a stay at Monahans Sand Hills State Park. Sand! We drove over 400 miles to sleep in sand. We live in sand and now we camp in sand. Good grief, more sand. We must have a sand obsession. This sand was nothing like our sand. This sand was amazing. Hiking around on the sand dunes was very therapeutic. What was even better was the temperature. Cool and dry. Not hot and sticky.
Saturday, dawned bright and clear. Wanting to spend most of our travels doing back road wanderings after the eclipse, we hit the road early. Lots and lots of highway travel later and the day ended in New Mexico. Another new state for the Kid. This kid has been to more states in nine years than I care to count right now. When I was nine I had only been to one other state. Texas. Ha! Texas is just one state. It's so damned big and traveling at 55mph it seemed like two or three states. Bopping along at 75/80mphs, miles wrack up quickly nowadays.
Drove miles and mile from home and who were our neighbors at Sugarite Canyon State Park, Raton, NM? Campers from Texas on the one side. Go figure. Never got to meet them, but they were from Texas so they couldn't be that bad. On the other side from us were campers all the way from Raton, NM. Can you imagine driving all that distance to stay for week? Seems excessive right. How long is that drive? 20minutes? 25minutes? No more than 45minutes if they lived on the far side of Raton and if everyone that lived there was on the interstate. They said they wanted to get out of the city for a break. A city with less than 7000 people. They were great! There was one other camper, an older woman with her pet macaw but she did not seem to keen on having company in her van camper. Hey, to each their own.
After set up of the tent site, we hit the trails to work out the butt-itis. You know like tendonitis but in your fanny. Sugarite Canyon State Park starts at 6,950 feet in elevation. In two days we have gone from zero feet elevation to 7,000 feet. There might be some huffing and puffing involved in this hike. Huffing and puffing from me that is, she with the desk job. This hike might be embarrassing. The Kid could out hike me when living in Asheville, NC and hiking the Appalachian Trails on the weekends. Now, four years later, he is stronger and I am jello.
The hike was a great way to end the day. Having no idea on how long the trail was or where it ended, or if it ever ended, at one hour in we turned around and headed back for dinner. Hiking in the mountains was beautiful. Nature does not give a damn about humans and their destruction. Wildfire had ripped through the mountains sometime previously as thousands of acres were barren of trees. Walking in standing remains of pine and oak trees with green grass and bright flowers was tranquil.
Hiking the AT requires hiking in both directions on the stretch of trail as the total length of the trail runs from Maine to Georgia. Over 2000 miles of hiking! This is long time bucket list for me. One of these days, one of these days. I used to hate hiking a distance, turning around to hike the same trail back, and I would complain about seeing the same thing twice. Turning around and hiking back to our campsite reminded me to be open-minded and to enjoy what I am seeing at the moment because the moment is NEVER the same. NEVER. On the way back I saw this rock pile. How could I not see a cairn two feet tall on the way in, is beyond me. But I did. Life, if you desire it, is always full of wonderful surprises. I added my rock and went on about enjoying the quite.
Sunday dawned way too late. Living on CST my whole life and tent camping in MDT doesn't seem like that big of a deal but it was. This picture of the sun barely coming up was at 6:22am MDT. The park did not officially open the gates until 7am. Before the sun came up, we were up, packed up, and fed up, and the gates were still closed up. As we drove to the gate to hike the trail on the entrance, it turned out it the gates were already opened. If we had known, our trip would have started at 5:30MDT. Remember, this is a vacation. Chill, relax, enjoy the view. Hard to break habits. Have to go, go, go. Only have so many days to enjoy the non-Texas weather.
Of course, we also had to go go go to get in the truck to get driving. Driving equals a warm and toasty cab. And the heater was a much-needed thing. Holy penguin, snowman! It was so cold. Brrr...brrr...brrr. I have no way of knowing for sure what the temperature was way up there on the mountaintop at 8700 feet in elevation but twenty minutes later in Des Moines, NM where the elevation was 6,600 feet, it was still too cold for me. Oh, have I ever mentioned the fact anything below 70 is cold for me? Well, it is.
(Please excuse the blurry image. Hard to take a picture at 70mph.)
Sunday resulted in many new sights. There were road signs for deer, elk or moose, and bear!
Mountain overlooks where former Texans have gone before,
mountain rainstorms,
mountain highlighted scrub terrains,
and mountain rivers and their river train trestles.
All so beautiful. Too bad there was no time to stop and explore. The only planned stop for the day was the at Garden of the Gods in Denver, CO. And what a stop it was. We stopped, stretched, took a picture from the parking lot, and left again. There are some sights that take multiple visits to appreciate. Then there are sights requiring visiting during non-peak tourist season. Garden of the Gods would be both of these. Sunday's visit would have been like a trip to the local amusement park. No, thank you. Will come back on another day and time when there are about 4000 fewer people and there is more than 1 hour for exploration. Onward ho to Sinclar, WY.
Sinclar was the closest free camping area to Casper meaning less of a drive on Monday leaving plenty of time to scout out a location for solar eclipse viewing. Sinclar was beautiful!
Mountain valleys and their cold mountain rivers filled with cold weather crawdads and cold oblivious children.
Mountain winds that stop blowing just long enough to allow mountain-sized mosquitoes to attack. Eeck! First the sand and now the mosquitoes. Kinda seems like we didn't even leave home. Well, except for the cold weather and the mountains, and oh yeah, the lack of bay waters...
Last but not least, mountain sunsets which are equal in beauty to water sunset or beach sunsets or desert sunsets. Heck, sunsets, in general, are just perfect.
On the way out of the campground Monday morning, this pronghorn was seen running in and out of the creek bed. They are so much bigger than expected. I thinking goat size when really they are more like donkey size. While pronghorns are in Texas I have never seen one. Before this trip was over we saw hundreds more.
Not having a desire for the pre-planned breakfast and in much need of a diet drink, we stopped at the only restaurant open on the highway. Years have gone by since eating at this fast-food chain and in the last two weeks, I have eaten there twice. Ugh. Being there is no lovely Whataburgers and food is needed to keep hangry attitudes at bay, sausage biscuit it was.
While waiting for food substance, I glance over the parking lot and what did I see? SEAGULLS!!! Hello, we are a thousand miles away from the gulf and even more from an ocean but out here in the vast plain was a gull. It may not have been a laughing gull, like those from home, but these much larger seagulls do travel in the winter and are seen in and among our gulls. They are hard to miss as they are twice the size and freckled in color as compared to laughing gulls. But you know what, they sound and act exactly the same. Just love me some seagulls. Here they were fighting over some spilled corn from the local feed store. It was a great way to spend time while waiting for food substance which as it turned out was not that bad. Go figure.
Driving along the highway it became apparent we were nearing the totality zone as there were people pulled over on the highway in any empty driveway, pullout, pullover, parking areas, or spot a car could be parked. Notice I did not say safely parked because they weren't. They were just parked.
It also became apparent we would be not be spending the eclipse in solitude as there were thousands and thousands of cars with no less than two people per car. Not wanting to drive anymore in the traffic, oh yes there was lots and lots and lots of traffic, we parked and made ready for the big event. In front of us, below the telephone lines, a river filled with more cars than could be counted. Behind us miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, rock outcroppings, and prickly bushes of various shapes and sizes.
After an hour of exploration observing some wonderful rock formations and rock lichens, we headed back to gather our viewing gear and to find a great spot. Up the hill a little way from the quickly filling parking lot and in and among many pokey bushes, stickers, and cactus, a spot was found.
It turned out to be a good spot too. The power lines were well below the viewing zone and there were no clouds or dew or haze to interfere with viewing. As it turned out, it was especially bright as there were no grasses to reduce sun glare. Can you be burned by dirt reflection like snow reflections? Hmm. It would have been great if the group behind us had practiced inside voices instead of stadium voices. Good grief.
One final check to ensure all items were ready and working for perfect viewing experience it was discovered jackets were going to be needed. Jackets at noon when it was pushing 80 in temperatures. After a quick jog down to the truck, we decided to mess with the dog while bidding our time. The doggo was not amused. Spoilsport.
(picture time: 11:29am)
And now we count down the minutes. Once the moon starts to cross in front of the sun there is about an hour before totality. Some say the hour seems to take forever.
(picture time: 11:33am)
If one would stop complaining and look around at the changes occurring, one would realize an hour went by very quickly. Just look at the differences in ten minutes in just the lighting alone. Then there were other things to consider: such as evening sounds, cooler temperatures, and a general change in personal awareness of those all around. Even if we were unaware, nature knew something was happening.
(picture time: 11:42pm)
And then it happened. Just like that. And what a happening it was too!
Words cannot describe the emotions felt. There was whooping, there was hollering, people laughing, people crying, there was praying in many different religious fashions, and then there were those in utter silence.
(picture time: 11:42pm)
IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!
(picture time: 11:42am)
What an experience! This is one of those moments in life one knows they will never be the same afterward. Right, wrong, or otherwise, life will never be what it was before Aug 21, 2017, at 11:42am. There is now before Eclipse2017 and after Eclispe2017.
(picture time: 11:45am)
The entire totality lasts less three minutes. Three minutes to changes one life. Three minutes millions of people were not privy to experience. Three minutes of FREAKING AWESOMENESS!!!!
(picture time: 11:45am)
It just didn't seem real. While the sun was blocked by the moon, night was not night as one would think. Night was more like night just after the sun goes down and the stars start to come out. Night where the ground is still warm but the air is chilled. Except for the dog, it was night, night, lights are out night. She did not appreciate her three minute night nap when she is used to a five to six hour night nap. Haha. Poor doggo. Guess her inner nature does not process total eclipses well.
(picture time: 11:45am)
Over the next hour, while the sun makes its complete appearance, the weather will warm, the people will leave, and Casper, WY will go back to being a sleepy little spot on the map, and all who came to experience this experience will be bonded together. Black, white, or brown, striped, spotted, or checkered, none of this will matter so long as you were there to share.
(picture time: 12:02pm)
It is amazing how quickly the sun returned to its full strength when just before it seemed to be taking forever to disappear. Notice I was not the only person who needed warm clothes when the sun went down. Of course, the planner is wearing shorts to my pants but that is beside the point.
Having been left by the Kid to go wander the hills, the Planner and I packed up our gear and headed down to find the kid. Being old and crunchy and having had her nap routine all discombobulated, the Planner carried Princess Twinkle Toes to the truck. Poor doggo my foot. Rotten doggo is more like it.
There are no words to describe this experience except that is was FREAKING AWESOME!!!! However, the group at the bottom of the hill said it best. (see above picture) Since we were on vacation and not on a day trip, we stayed to watch the remaining sun shows its full face. We ate lunch, spoke with our lawn chair neighbors, planned the next four days worth of travel, and just enjoyed the space.
Before leaving Casper, WY we ventured across the highway from where we viewed the eclipse to view this utterly fantastic trestle.
Standing on the bridge, the air coming off the river was oh so cold. Two boats went by with teams of fly fishing enthusiasts and they were bundled in layers. Even the river guides themselves. Guess the water is still cold at the end of August. Not like our bay waters which read at temperature in the upper 80's last week. Who needs the Hot Springs of CO when there are hot bay waters just down the street.
In three and half days we drove from Coastal Bend Texas to Flat Lands WY. 1493 miles of adventures and still fours days to go! What a great way to spend time with the family.
Wishing to spend another night in BLM forests, the next portion of our trip was just driving and driving and driving. There were no animals, no traffic, no homes, no water. Dry barren land. It was beautiful.
Monday evening we camped in BLM forest land with miles and miles of nothing but trees, animals, and ruggedness. It was amazing. That is until the neighboring resident (50 miles over or so) came to warn about bears due to the Eclipse viewers who did not heed to bear safety 101.
Ummm, bears. Sure, bears. Bears and this little blue tent. "What's that you hear?" Oh, don't worry this is just the sound of sleep being tossed out the tent for the night.
Tuesday dawned bright and early and tired. Stressing bears will do that to a girl. Stress for nothing too. Oh sure, there were lots of animals to be heard during the night such as little four feet pitter patters and four hoofed steps, howling yotes, and munching critters, but not a bear to be heard. Not that I would know what a bear sounds like in the woods. But the ears were strained all the same.
With nothing on the day's' agenda but driving wonderful windy back roads of WY into CO, we ate a quick breakfast and headed out. For miles and miles, it was just trees and rocks and gravel roads. Then bam you take a corner and you're in a teeny tiny tourist community staring at this.
After stopping for a tasty beverage, a bathroom break, and a sandwich, the roads were hit again. Have I mentioned this kid loves racking up state highway signs? He can't even take a serious pic either, he has to act a fool.
Tuesday ended in another BLM forest land camping site. This one in a valley with a small creek running through it and lush green grass on either side surrounded by nicely scented pine trees. It is going to be great sleeping. Oh sure, I guess there are bears but that was last nights worry.
Oh and let me tell you that water was cold, cold, cold. Unless of course, you are the cold water immuned dog and kid. And in case you didn't know, blue lips are not a sign that water is too cold. The kid promises. Promises, promises, promises.
Wednesday morning dawned just as wonderful as all the other days. We left our wonderful yote filled valley and headed into Colorado in search of Tillamook ice cream. A friend back home said it had to be had while in CO. Since one: it is not available in Texas, two: I do believe Tillamook has very creamy cheese, and three I love ice cream: Tillamook ice cream was the agenda for the day. Of course to get to the land of wonderful ice cream we had to drive out of BLM land and back to the land of the people. After exiting BLM land we were greeted with a field full of geese. They were not honking, bummer, but they were strutting, dancing, and mating and it was great.
Having driven since before daylight in search of ice cream and roads less traveled, a decision was made to search out a smallville city in CO for the purpose of phone and internet services and something tasty. Something tasty besides ice cream. Something a little more filling. Something other than sandwiches and other travel/camping food.
And what better tasty food than pizza and freshly brewed root beer. If you are ever in Salida, CO make sure you take time to eat at Moonlight Pizza and Brewpub. It was most delicious.
Wednesday afternoon came. Wednesday evening went. After a brief four hour nap outside some rest stop in North Texas at some dark hour, Thursday morning went too. Wait, what? Thursday? Yes, you read right, Thursday. No, nothing was left out in our travels, plans just change.
Only stopping mid morning Thursday to grab a bite to eat at our beloved go to choice of fast food, the roads were hit once again as there were still miles and miles to go and less and less time to get there. Have to say, this is the first time I have ever not been happy to eat at Whataburger. Good grief, I didn't even get to enjoy all the tea I could drink as this meal was to go. To Go! Just plain unheard of by any one who knows me. I can count the number of times I have had Whataburger to go as they fit on one hand. This to go experience marks yet another turning point in life.
This meal represented the end of an experience and the beginning of an unknown. Well, at least for the Planner and me that is. The Kid was unaffected at the abrubt change of plans.
And the doggo just wanted to know why she could not have some fries. Just one or two she pleaded.
At the return of the Worrier's truck, 2979 miles worth of travels were experienced. Miles were good and bad, congested and carefree. So long lovely traveling truck. Sorry we can't stay and relive our wonderful experiences but Harvey is coming to visit and we gotta go...... as in right now...... RIGHT NOW!!!!