Eclipse!

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Amskeptic
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Eclipse!

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:14 pm

The traffic got a bit crazy as the Day Before wound down in Riverton Wyoming. We came into town with not yet any idea of where to camp. Relying on fifteen years of always finding a spot, I stayed relaxed and irritated at the RVs, SUVs, lost tourists, and spied thousands of freshly purchased "No Trespassing!" signs everywhere.

According to my whc03grady (thanks, Mitch!) Vemo video, the center of the moon's shadow was going to be exactly where I actually ended up, midway between Riverton and Shoshoni. According to my stinky casual online map (now that I have dumped MapQuestGoodRiddance), I had only to travel thirteen miles out of Riverton and look for Bass Lake Road, bang a left, go a few miles until a hard right, look for the left onto a dirt road. From there, I looked for a trail that nobody had taken because the ditch and the berm said so. Chloe lifted a right rear tire for just a second, but momentum got us through. The trail (brought to me by satellite imagery from Google) led me away from civilization in the direct path of the shadow, so no danger of driving out of the totality. Drove past several campsite/party spots with big RVs and those hated ATVs all unloaded and ready to strafe my beloved countryside. Two hills and the swarming people were left behind. Wow. This easy? Yay hey yay:

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Slid down a hillock with lots of broken bleached vertebrae and a pelvis, executed a fast hillside three-point turn as I could feel Chloe's rear tires break through the silt:

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With failing light, I removed the crank pulley AGAIN, you know why? Because last time I painted it, during the + 100* Generator Brush Spring Faint, I did not give it enough time to DRY and the centrifugal force against that nice fresh paint THREW PAINT all over the engine compartment! You should have seen it, the pulley with all of those strands and clots of black yarn, and the apron coated in sticky splats. So, sanded anew with a promise of an all night dry:

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You can't quite discern the cliff behind the car, but that is a cliff behind the car. I thanked my loyal little cow, took a walk up the hill and surveyed this beautiful solitude at sunset:

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Strange desert denizen stares:

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Gazed at the stars in the silence, no chickens, no dogs, no motorcycles, no pick-ups, no voices, no crickets, just the Milky Way and the Big Dipper in a riot of stars.

Here's the next morning after the pulley installation, the timing mark painting, the valve adjustment, where I moved the car back up from the cliff cul-de-sac. The eclipse has begun:

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The camera was already demanding "night" exposure, and did a fine electronic job of masking the change in lighting. You can bet I was already getting furious with God with those high clouds stealing over the sun:

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"You don't even want to know what I will do if You block my view of this event, You Big Cosmic Cloud Clown, I will devote my life to EVIL, I will squash bugs, I will be rude, I will litter, I will never ever give a damn ever again . . . hey, the cloud has dispersed. "

The failing light started accelerating. You could see the western horizon was darker than the eastern.

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The sun was down to a quarter crescent. I photographed through my NY Cynthia Commemorative Eclipse glasses, but the Kodak EZ Share 612 was getting confused:

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Photographed through the reflection of the center side window. The camera felt more comfortable with this set-up, less chattering of its electronics:

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This is right when the sun went coronal around the moon. Unbelievable majesty to see all dusk colors suddenly occur. I saw one planet or star to the west of the corona. I wasted fifteen seconds to video and try to photograph (and try to find my glasses where are my glasses???? I can't see in this car!) The moon orb was a beautifully defined black rock, and the corona was an unexpectedly brilliant shimmer of white. Here's my camera's interpretation of "beautifully defined" with a little Paint.Net assistance in dimming out camera lens rings and a ghost Jupiter that is the Kodak EZ Share 612 equivalent of "sun dogs":

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Way way way too soon, light began spilling out to the right of the moon rock, and I had to go back to the eclipse glasses as the countryside just sped through a facsimile of dawn, sunrise, early morning, mid-afternoon:

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I hung out at the Broken Bones Cul-de-Sac for the remainder of the day to try to keep this experience. My mind was too chattery with photography and video concerns even as I promised only fifteen seconds to be devoted to recording it. These solar eclipses are so too brief.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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wcfvw69
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Re: Eclipse!

Post by wcfvw69 » Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:39 pm

Great pics Colin. Amazing after watching the national evening news that you were able to find that solitude. It appeared every prime part of the country was packed.

I walked outside with my welding helmet on and down. I'm sure the neighbors were concerned. I peeked up as the sun was about 3/4 covered. Pretty spectacular.

I guess I'll know tomorrow if I damaged my eyes.. :blackeye:
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by hippiewannabe » Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:16 pm

Probably not as spiritual as being out in the Big Sky Wilderness, but it was a good party and an awesome experience.. Clouds moved in 20 minutes before totality, but miraculously opened up a viewing window with two or three minutes to spare. Got to see the full glory of the corona, though not a sky full of stars. Making plans for 2024!


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And most people fucking hate poetry.

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whc03grady
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Re: Eclipse!

Post by whc03grady » Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:54 pm

Bass Lake Road? We were only a few miles away, then, just off Bass Lake Road at Lake Cameawait.

That really was something, wasn't it? Those cirrostratus cleared out just in time for totality.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by Jivermo » Tue Aug 22, 2017 12:28 am

Wow. Thanks.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Eclipse!

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:37 pm

whc03grady wrote:
Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:54 pm
Bass Lake Road? We were only a few miles away, then, just off Bass Lake Road at Lake Cameawait.

That really was something, wasn't it? Those cirrostratus cleared out just in time for totality.

Really? Man, I didn't see you on 20/26, 789, not nowhere. Just huge RVs and a couple of Vanagons.
Just a few miles away?? West Shore Road? We cuddashuddawudda.

I was off Bushwacker Road not three miles away.
I could see your lake and Boysen Reservoir from my vantage point.

Brought the whole family I hope? Those lucky kids.
How did Ludwig do? Did the windows manage to roll down?

"Those cirrostratus cleared out just in time for totality."
Could you hear me yelling at the heavens from where you were?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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whc03grady
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Re: Eclipse!

Post by whc03grady » Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:46 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:37 pm
whc03grady wrote:
Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:54 pm
Bass Lake Road? We were only a few miles away, then, just off Bass Lake Road at Lake Cameawait.

That really was something, wasn't it? Those cirrostratus cleared out just in time for totality.

Really? Man, I didn't see you on 20/26, 789, not nowhere. Just huge RVs and a couple of Vanagons.
Just a few miles away?? West Shore Road? We cuddashuddawudda.

I was off Bushwacker Road not three miles away.
I could see your lake and Boysen Reservoir from my vantage point.

Brought the whole family I hope? Those lucky kids.
How did Ludwig do? Did the windows manage to roll down?

"Those cirrostratus cleared out just in time for totality."
Could you hear me yelling at the heavens from where you were?
Colin
Yeah, we were damn close, now that I compare the photographic evidence. Upper is yours, lower is Melissa's:
Image

Yes, we brought the kids. We were set to be satisfied with the 53 seconds of totality we'd've gotten from our RV park spot in Thermopolis, but the good folks at bodeswell texted me with an offer of space just off the center line. Glad we took it; we got 2:20 of totality.

We couldn't hear your yelling, but later one in our party theorized that eclipses were man's earliest and most convincing affirmation of the Power of Prayer: "See? We sacrificed that goat/cow/virgin/little kid and the Sun did come back! It works!"

Another family we were with has a '78 that a mechanic in Austin has really botched. I gave him the site and implored. We'll see.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:39 pm

whc03grady wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:46 pm
"See? We sacrificed that goat/cow/virgin/little kid and the Sun did come back! It works!"
Well . . . yeah. I sacrificed my little brown cow's fresh crankshaft pulley paint and the sun came back.
Didn't it? Yes, it did. See?

I do not like how the errant thinking and rituals and illogic over thousands of years of human ignorance have made it so hard for the rest of us to just enjoy a nice little cosmic miracle for what It Is.

That eclipse did not last half long enough. I still miss it.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by whc03grady » Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:13 pm

Hey, don't get me wrong: that was one of the coolest, most awe-inspiring, crazy things I've ever seen. I just decline to use terms like "miracle".

You'll get four and-a-half minutes in April 2024 if you make the trek to Nazas Mexico.
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/ ... oogle.html
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Amskeptic
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Re: Eclipse!

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:32 pm

whc03grady wrote:
Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:13 pm
Hey, don't get me wrong: that was one of the coolest, most awe-inspiring, crazy things I've ever seen. I just decline to use terms like "miracle".

You'll get four and-a-half minutes in April 2024 if you make the trek to Nazas Mexico.
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/ ... oogle.html
On it. I will thank you AGAIN.
Colin

I use 3 and 4 in the dictionary:
Latin mīrāculum, equivalent to mīrā(rī) to wonder at

3. a wonder; marvel.

4. a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality:
a miracle of modern acoustics.
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by drober23 » Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:17 am

Glad you got away from everything and everybody to see it Colin. It really is something to see.

We had the '75 Westy in Tryon, Nebraska. Had about 30 acres of field to me and about 100 other people. Pretty sparse compared to the busy places. A ranching family had kept the cattle out of this part since the fall to allow folks to camp over.

There was dense fog in the morning that did not break until just a couple minutes before the "first bite" of the moon across the sun's surface. We had gloriously clear skies until the sun had almost shaken off the last of the moon's grasp. Then the clouds rolled in. It was an incredible sight!

My sister-in-law came with us, and brought her fancy camera with the proper sun filter. She got really nice pictures. But Colin's picture of the corona is just about as nice as she got with the fancy setup. Travelling with 3 adults and a 13 year old for a 2,000 mile+ camping vacation in the bus was pretty cozy. But it has worked great.
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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Re: Eclipse!

Post by tristessa » Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:52 pm

A small group of us camped at the Oasis Resort campground in Maupin (hi Mark!) and trekked from there to the nearby "ghost town" of Shaniko for eclipse viewing. Myself and my wife, Kubler and family +1 guest, Joseph & part of the family down in the usual spot, Xelmon and his family up around the loop, and "Fancy Pants" Shepski and his gang in the new-to-them (gag) Sprinter...

Good times were had surrounding this awesome experience. I took a few pictures here & there but don't currently have anyplace to post them thanks to Photobucket being greedy evil extortionist bastards...
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