Eclipse Day!

Series of 8/21/17 eclipse photos in Philomath - credit cousin Kamal

I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Up with first light, Rob already had coffee brewing, quickly followed by blueberry pancakes and a crust-less spinach quiche. I don't know if I mentioned it, but we are eating too well.

We were a little concerned by some early morning haze and clouds. No worries - it quickly burned off and we were greeted with blue skies and clear air.

Outfitted with certified eclipse glasses, we settled in on the deck, on the grounds and in the quince orchard for the big event.

Just in case anyone missed the 1,247,595 warnings about staring at the sun that saturated the media in prior weeks...

 ... everyone received warning alerts on our smart-phones from the emergency broadcast network as the eclipse began.

This was my second total eclipse. The first was 26 years earlier during a holiday in Costa Rica. I remember it as a magical experience then, and that sense was not diminished by the experience today. Totality only lasts a couple minutes, but it is simply a wonder to behold.

We had a couple of real photographers (brother Harlan and cousin Kamal)  loaded for bear with quality equipment and mad skills in our eclipse watching party.

These are the best eclipse photos for each of  us. See if you can identify which is the one I shot (hover over photos for credit):

It was over all too soon. We basked in the afterglow of the celestial event, compared notes, impressions, thoughts and wondered why anything that passes so quickly can seem so important. It just is. Was it worth it? Yes. And the evidence is the first question we googled after it was all over: "When and where is the next total solar eclipse?"  [It's Chile on July 2,2019].

The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed a burger and hot dog barbecue,visited with more extended friends and family, took a walk in the Oregon countryside, sorted and shared pictures, posted on social media and...

... enjoyed yet another wonderful dinner of grilled salmon.

By the end of the day we were full, in every sense of the word.

West Coast Eclipse Adventure - Day 3 on the Oregon Coast

With a long day ahead of us, we were up (relatively) early, prepared a hearty breakfast of bacon & eggs in the yurt, said our fond farewells to our "Otter Space" BNB hosts - Peter, Joe, Wendy & crew...

...and set off for the Northern California County of Oregon.

We were only a few miles down the road in Klamath when we we were distracted by the Yurok Tribe Salmon Festival and again ran into Peter & Joe.

 Joe had a booth selling his hand crafted obsidian knives, and I could not resist. After enjoying a bit of the local culture,  tri-tips and venison stew...

... we were again on the road. Transcript of actual road dialog::

Rachel: "J - what was the name of the tribe in Klamath?" 

Jonah: "Yurok, mom." 

Rachel: "Well I think you rock too Jonah...  but what was the name ...."

But I digress. The media was filled with warnings about expected traffic nightmares as millions of Californians stampeded North into the hinterlands of Oregon to view the eclipse.

Here’s an update on the solar eclipse traffic nightmare in Oregon

"Could we really see 1,000,000 people coming to Oregon for the solar eclipse? It’s starting to look that way as Oregon is already experiencing a serious eclipse-related traffic jam. A narrow stretch U.S. Highway 26 had a line of 20 to 30 miles of nightmare traffic on Thursday for a single eclipse event, and Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) spokesperson Dave Thompson recently told TIME magazine."

We did experience traffic along the coastal route, but due to road construction from slides and accidents. We found no eclipse "traffic nightmares" on our route.

Lots of slides along the way

...and occasional accident delays.

It was a long but pleasant drive and too brief an opportunity to be introduced to the beautiful Oregon coast.  Some pics along the way...

Dinner of Oregon oysters and goulash at the only Seafood / German fusion restaurant on the coast. 

The trip over the mountains inland took lees time than we expected. Arrived in Philomath around 9:00.  We are in the path of totality. Now all we need is clear skies.

Corvallis Cousin Quincidence

membrillo

I spent last weekend visiting family in the Northern California county of Oregon.  I'm not sure why this is the case, but I've got more cousins per capita in Oregon than anywhere outside of Chicagoland. On the maternal side of the family my Aunt Betty and Uncle Don migrated to the Corvallis area from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan via Wisconsin.

Uncle Don and many, many cousins.

This branch of the family favors micro-brews, home brews, and chair throwing barroom brawls.

The infamous Yooper home brews -  Big Shag Big Stout and Escanaba Pail Ale were made with the brewing expertise from these Corvallis cousins and supplied by cousin Joel's  Corvallis Brewing Supply:
 

Coincidentally, cousins from the paternal side of the family also migrated to Corvallis from Chicago via San Francisco and Santiago, Chile.  So I also had the opportunity to spend time with Aunt Gloria and cousins Rob and Paula.

Rob's a retired educator and for a second act, he and Paula have embarked on a gourmet entrepreneurial venture - a quince orchard and Quince Essentials:

They sent me home with a jar of their organic quince spread aka "Membrillo" and instructions on how to enjoy the South American delicacy. Their recommendation: serve it with manchego or white cheddar cheese on water crackers or crusty bread. Last night we enjoyed it on the side with Sigrid's split pea soup.

Really good. While enjoying the gourmet treat, I am thinking to myself - "I've had this before."  Then I remembered. Another cousin. Another retired educator. And to complete the circle - back to the U.P.  a couple of years ago:

Shag Lake - Fall 2009

And another good reason to blog. The blog has a better memory than me.