Someone here must have seen totality in Oregon? We had about 75%. I went to the Chabot Observatory. They have two theatres where they were showing NASA feed, but I went up to the top where the observation deck is to try for the sun. Kept telling myself I wasn’t really high up, although I was – not good with heights. The observation deck was pretty full, but not packed, and we shivered while waiting for the sun. Like most folks I had dressed for August, not for mountains, and I was cold as ice. Chabot Observatory is high up alone on a hill and the sky was grey and white and cloudy. Thick fog. Normally it burns off by 9 AM but with only partial sun, it wasn’t burning and we were worried we might not see anything. Around 9, no sign of the sun behind the clouds, so I ducked into the dome to thaw a bit and watch NASA feed, which was also on my phone. I wish NASA had just concentrated on eclipse and not talking heads. You talk too much, guys! Around the time Oregon first reached totality, we began to have glimpses of the crescent sun, peeking out briefly from the fog, then retreating. Every time we caught a glimpse of the sun, everyone spontaneously and loudly cheered. Then after totality we saw the other side of the sun slowly emerging from the dark side of the moon. Again, loud cheers for every sighting. The eclipse glasses were no use as they are designed for full sun. With the clouds and fog we could just peek, although as the sun emerged from totality I needed dark glasses. The best view was when the sun was maybe 80% returned, and backlit the moon so we could see the full outline of the moon against the “missing” piece of the sun. A number of people were heard to say “it’s beautiful”. So after all the hype, the commercialization and general stupidity: People of various ethnicities, ages, clothing styles, multiple languages, cheered, not for a sports team, or a candidate, or a country, but for the sun. Afterwards I was quite amazingly cheerful, and also quite amazingly hungry. Not sure why eclipse watching would whet the appetite, but it did. Maybe all the stairs I climbed, or 4 1/2 hours dancing in the dark trying not to freeze? Found a local Italian restaurant for crostini, frittata, and chocolate panna cotta, along with two pots of hot tea. Midway through the meal, noticed out the window the day was suddenly bright. Here comes the sun, again, familiar, no longer eclipsed by the moon. After the awesomeness across the universe, there was no way I could spend the evening watching a mean, petty, vicious, vindictive excuse for a man on TV.
I feel like an idiot for not trying to get just a little south of Portland to experience totality. I have friends living in the path of totality in 2024 and plan to make that one.
Have to agree with you, Wookee. I have witnessed a couple of partial eclipses in the past. Compared to being able to experience totality, every thing else is a tease. Now I get it why someone would make the effort. To think that had I not by chance been in the mid valley, able to walk out to the back yard and see it, I may never have seen this in my lifetime.
I was a bit foolish. I was thinking 97% totality would be pretty close to 100% and didn't think maneuvering through traffic would be worth it. My eclipse Vs people a little further north.
lol, totaled eclipse vs total eclipse Man, to be able to view that thing for almost two minuets without glasses was unexpected.
You caught the word play! I'm definitely regretting not heading into the totality zone. But, life is still good!
April 8 2024 will be a good time to visit friends in the mid west. They're gonna have almost 4 minutes of totality in 2024. Children in Carbondale, Ill are going to grow up thinking total eclipses are not a big deal.
I had thought of going to Oregon for totality, I'm sure it was awesome, but logistics just too much. I can no longer do the drive in one day so I'd have to find two places to stay, not an easy task even without eclipse complications. I enjoyed what I did see. For some reason (because it was Oakland?) the San Francisco Chronicle ran a really negative story about "pushing and shoving" at the Observatory and someone's cereal box got crushed. I had noticed that unlike most crowds no one was acting like an asshole. A lot of bumping because of the crowd but not shoving. I can see how a dropped cereal box could be inadvertently stepped on. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson babbled that Trump looking at eclipse without glasses was the most amazing thing any president has ever done. Other presidents only led the Revolutionary War against the British crown, wrote the Declaration of Independence, wrote the Constitution, established the country's banking system, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, extended the U.S. boundaries from coast to coast, coordinated a world war against fascism and launched the space program, but Trump looked at an eclipse! Showed that rules don't apply to him and he knows more than all the experts. Amazing, indeed.
