The Total Eclipse of 2017 was epic! We decided to go to St. Clair, to a venue a friend I went to school with runs, called Lost Hill Lake Events. It was the perfect location, because, despite the hour drive to get there, we were able to get the full two minute and 40 second totality (the longest in our area!).
Because we knew we'd be traveling down 44 around breakfast time, we decided to stop at Krispy Kreme for breakfast donuts. We don't got often, and thought it would be a nice little treat. But when we pulled up we were in for quite the surprise! The drive through line was backed up almost to the main road. Worried we'd be late for the eclipse, I insisted we go inside, assuming it was just a long drive through line. I was wrong! The line inside was worse! It snaked up and down and across the restaurant! I thought we should leave, but Jared said we had plenty of time, so we waited. When we went in, we assumed that it was everyone coming for cheap Cardinals donuts (when the Cardinals get so many hits on a certain day, locations in St. Louis offer discounted dozens of donuts) ... come to find out, it was not Cardinals day, but special eclipse day! The location we went to was one of just a handful in the nation to be offering special eclipse donuts ... their original glazed donuts, but with a special chocolate glaze, instead of the regular glaze.
Our day was off to a great start! :)
Look at all that chocolate! Two rows of yummy, yummy donuts!
Jared is super excited about these donuts! :)
After we picked up our donuts, we headed down to St. Clair, and it wasn't a bad drive; very little traffic, and plenty of time to explore the beautiful grounds, eat our donuts and get setup.
A look at the sun via iPhone. Those clouds made me a little nervous, but they sure looked pretty!
Our little setup in the parking area! In the back of the car, our glasses, backups and other gear. Got my Canon 70D, 300mm lens with solar filter, tripod and shutter release. Then another tripod and phone adapter for the tripod, and a table to put the filter on when it's totality time. We're ready!
As the eclipse started, Jared put on his glasses for the first time ... and couldn't see!
And so it begins!
And totality! Oh my gosh! It was epic! Amazing! A truly emotional experience! Words can't even describe it. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the moon, it got eerily dark and the temperature dropped like 20 degrees (which was so welcomed!). It was the shortest two and a half minutes of my life. I could have looked at this forever. Even Jared got a little emotional.
I mean look at this! This was right after totality! And those clouds, framing the eclipse so beautifully!
And then the clouds came, and started to slightly cover the moon, but how stunning is it?
It's unbelievable. And the fact that they waited until after totality — and passed almost immediately after this — ... so thankful!
The clouds rolled back in during the second half of the eclipse, and the effect they had on the sun is pretty amazing. It's almost Halloween-y.
One of the neatest things I've noticed about some of the pictures is that you can see the sun spots.
If you look at the center of the sun, then a little to the right, you can see three little blurry dots —
sun spots!
Jared is enthralled! As was I! Definitely an amazing day!
We have already marked down the next eclipse in Missouri — 2024. And possibly in Australia the year before! :)SaveSaveSave