I didn’t start planning our 2017 solar eclipse adventure until just a couple of weeks before the big event. But, as soon as we experienced totality, I started planning for the next one. 

Texas 2024, here we come! 

2017 Solar Eclipse at Grand Targhee

When I was growing up, I remember borrowing someone’s welding mask and watching the sun shrink into a crescent and then grow back into a ball. It was cool. But it wasn’t life-altering because I didn’t see the eclipse in the path of totality. So, we only saw a partial eclipse.

But I didn’t realize that. In my mind, that’s all an eclipse was.

Overhearing Eclipse Talk Around Town

On a summer day, I had my girls at the playground and heard other moms talking about taking off work for the eclipse. I thought that was definitely a strange reason to take off work. 

Then, I started seeing Facebook posts about people making travel plans and hotels booking up. I began to wonder if there was more to this eclipse thing than I had realized. 

Research commenced, and I couldn’t believe the things I was reading. These descriptions were nothing like I had experienced. And that’s when I realized that I hadn’t seen a total solar eclipse. What I had seen was certainly interesting, but it wasn’t to be compared with the vision my mind was forming based on my research.

Making Plans for the Path of Totality

When I started planning for the eclipse in earnest, it was only two weeks away, and solar glasses and camera filters were getting sold out. Thankfully, I ordered supplies when I did because, in the couple of days leading up to the eclipse, people were getting desperate for glasses and filters.

I’m pretty sure there was a run on the newspaper distributor. They gave out a pair of solar glasses in each newspaper, and people were stealing them from papers at people’s front doors. I’m pretty sure the stacks of papers left at stores didn’t even have glasses in them, or maybe someone stole them.

Suffice it to say, solar glasses were a hot item, and if you didn’t plan ahead, you were out of luck.

Having a Change of Heart About Taking off Work

Anyone who knows me knows I’m all in — 100% passionate. So, for two weeks, all I did was obsess over the eclipse. I told Rick, “I think you’d better take off for this.” He was a little surprised, having recently heard me mock others for considering taking off work for the eclipse. But he trusts me and he knew that if I thought it was worth a day off, it must be pretty good.

He got the day off! I called his parents and sister to see if they wanted to make the trek with us. They did. So, I started to nail down all the details.

My Biggest Fear — Missing the Path of Totality

I knew the exact spot where the road we were taking entered the path of totality. So, while I reserved a parking spot at Grand Targhee, deep in the path, I knew that if worse came to worse, we would still see the total eclipse once we got to that point on the road.

We left extremely early in the morning. Grand Targhee was about three hours away, but I had heard stories of traffic gridlock, and rural Idaho or not, I wasn’t about to take chances.

Still, my stomach was in knots for the entire drive until we reached that point in the road! Then I could breathe again because I knew that no matter what happened, we would not miss totality. 

We Made It to The Total Eclipse

Once we parked, we walked a short distance to a nice quiet piece of lawn with a great view. Having never photographed an eclipse before, we spent some time reading tips and figuring out how to capture it. 

Then, we had to try all the super cool things I had read about. I will write a post about all those things early next year in preparation for the 2024 eclipse. But one of the coolest things is that the dappled sunlight that shone through the tree leaves was in the shape of a crescent that grew smaller and smaller as the eclipse grew closer to total.

Strange World of Darkness

The world felt so strange in the half hour or so before totality. Your body and mind know what to expect with dusk and sunset. Shadows lengthen, the sky darkens, and the sun disappears. It’s so normal and accepted.

On a primal level, everything about the eclipse was wrong. And our bodies and minds felt it. The birds and insects picked up their songs and calls, just like they do in the evening. The sky darkened, but the shadows didn’t lengthen. Even though we knew what was happening, the whole thing felt spooky.

It was against natural rhythms. It was wrong. 

The darkening glow was not akin to the golden half-hour before sunset. Instead, it was an eerie, otherworldly dimming. 

The Moment of Magic — Totality

Call me crazy, but the two most exhilarating moments in my life were when Jellybean was born, and the sun was totally eclipsed. It almost sounds sacrilegious to make such a statement. But I don’t know how else to tell you how magical it was.

The entire ski resort erupted with cheers and we could hear the echoing from all directions.

You didn’t have to wonder if it was truly eclipsed. It was totally obvious. We took off our solar glasses and stared at the sun’s corona. We screamed. We cried. We laughed. We absorbed the magic.

And then, in a literal flash, totality was over. But just before the end of totality, Rick managed to capture the diamond ring where the sun shines through the moon’s crater. I hadn’t dared to hope we could get it on camera. Those three-ish minutes were some of the most emotion-packed of my life. 

When we hopped in the car for the long trip home, the first thing I said was, “2024?” to which everyone emphatically replied, “YES!”

Plans for the 2024 Total Eclipse

Make the path of totality a priority. On April 8, 2024, the path of totality will travel from southern Texas to northern New England. This is your chance. You will not regret it!

Things to do in advance:

• Get your solar glasses
• Purchase solar filters for cameras
• Make lodging arrangements
• Check the weather forecast

Yes, I realize it’s a little ridiculous to check the weather forecast a year in advance, but you can check what the average cloud cover is along the path of totality.  

My aunt and uncle live in or near the path in New York, but I’m not going there, even though it would seem the obvious choice. I read that the chance of cloud cover on April 8 is historically about 50%. That’s too much risk for me.

Our plan is to head for Texas, and I’m ready to be flexible if the forecast indicates cloud cover. I hope you start making your plans now.