About a week out my mom began contacting campgrounds. All full. All of them. Then she happened upon this Eclipse in the Heartland event in itty-bitty Troy, KS, a location also in the line of totality. The 4H group was using the event as a fundraiser and renting out spots on the fairgrounds for $85, then a day later $110. It seemed like highway robbery, but without any other options and knowing the funds were going for a good cause, they "booked" it with a local dairy farmer in charge of reservations.
Friday before the event, mom and dad drove up to scope the place out and make sure it would be adequate for their giant rig. The fairgrounds were less than ideal, and earlier the farmer had mentioned he was renting out pieces of his yard for rigs, but there'd be no electricity hook up. They trekked out to the farm and made fast friends with Norman, the dairy farmer. The roads would be able to handle the rig, and the driveway was flat enough to park the rig.
We caravanned up to Troy Sunday after Dad got home from work and Bryson finished up his ballgames. I enjoyed the drive through rural Kansas and all of Doniphan County was beautiful rolling glacial hill after hill.
After the camper was set up and Red (Mom's polaris general) was unloaded, we drove back in to town to check out the hubbub. A great band was playing, there was a crowd of a few hundred hanging out on main street, and a local bar was serving up mountain oysters. Papa let the boys each eat one and THEN he told them what they were. The boys weren't sure what to believe. It's safe to say they wouldn't have tried them if they knew beforehand. Haha!
My kids danced their little booties off and ran. And ran. And ran. Until I made them stop running and then they danced some more before we set back for camp after dark.
Back at camp, Mom cranked on the generator (Amen for those!), so we could sleep with AC. It was HOT and so humid. Bryson and Gabe shared the loft, while Ellie and I shared the back bed in the garage and Barrett slept on a mat on the floor.
Monday morning people started moving around 7, and mom and dad took the kids over to the dairy operation to see the action. They bottle fed calves, watched the farmer milk the cows, and collected eggs. My kids are smell wimps and came back to the camper until they saw the farmer was introducing the horse to everyone, then they hightailed it back over.
After getting their fix of dairy farming, Mom made breakfast while the kids and I worked on pinhole projector boxes and taping protective barriers around their cardboard glasses. About the time we were all finished, and about the time the eclipse should have been starting the clouds began to roll in. Every once in a while we would catch a glimpse of the sun through passing clouds. The moment the boys discovered they could see the moon passing in front of the sun was so cool. The further it began to cover the fuller the clouds became and just before totality we had a thorough enough rain we went back in the camper. We had just about given up getting to see totality when a crowd of other people in the yard began to jump up and down, pointing at the sky. The boys, mom, and I jumped out of the camper with our glasses then raced down the road to the top of a hill to see the 360 degree sunset. It was dark, and quiet, and almost eerie, but not in a creepy way. Just still and so awesome. Then, just like that it moved over the sun, began to uncover, and the light returned. Back to the camper we went for grilled hamburgers and story telling with Norman who had worked his tail off all weekend for the big event in town and had finally returned to the farm.
A few miles down the road, after leaving, all three of mine were fast asleep. We hit about 20 miles of traffic where we moved anywhere from a standstill to 50 mph, but mostly traveled right at 30 mph. It was bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see backwards and forwards. We met daddy in Topeka for McAlister's quick and easy supper then drove home to get ready for the first day of school the next morning!
And then it stormed crazy all night long and I'm not sure Barrett got more than a few hours of sleep before his first day of kindergarten. Ugh.
Hanging out with the band on Main Street.
Our view of the dairy farm from our camper.
Rode "Red" to check out the dairy operation.
Gabe, Bryson, Barrett, and Ellie
Driving up to the hill where the
geographical center of totality would be.
The farmer and son painted this line,
following an eclipse app that told them it was the center.
Grami and the kids right on the line.
Bryson
Ellie
Barrett
Gabe
"Mommy, take my picture!"
Bryson scaled a 4 ft vertical ditch to get this photo.
Here you can see the moon partially eclipsing the brightest star,
the sun, while Earth looks on saying, "WOW!"
Barrett drew the sun, the moon, Earth, and Venus.
Ellie drew the moon in front of the sun.
That's what she told me. ;)
"Let's photobomb him!"
Bryson's very creative pinhole projector box.
You can see Earth and Venus on either side of the sun.
Parked to catch the eclipse, before the rain moved in.
Checking out the first sliver of eclipse. Eek!
Sunset view in the east!
This is much lighter than it actually was.
The kids thought the eclipse was so cool even
though we couldn't see much of totality on the sun
because of the clouds. The dark and stillness made it cool!
The dairy farm we stayed at is way down the road there,
and back to the left.
Getting some help on adjustment from Grami.
Fitting that his glasses said "Get mooned!"
He went through a mooning stage last fall.
At the moment of totality.
More of that 360 degree sunset
behind Gabe, which was due North.
Wiped out and gave me a quiet ride back!
I think the boys will be old enough to remember this, but Ellie probably won't. It was truly an awe-inspiring moment and I'm really glad we got to experience it together. I've discovered there will be another one on April 8, 2024, which will be Casey and my 18th wedding anniversary. Wonder how far in advanced I'll need to book a villa on the shores of South Carolina to see it. :D
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