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| View from the park~ |
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| A busy place! |
At the Park's suggestion, we purchased our day passes on-line. On the drive down, there was probably the most traffic we'd ever seen on I-29. At the park entrance, we were surprised to see all the volunteers, very well organized & just a short line of cars. We handed over our pass & were looking for that perfect spot within minutes!
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| Cassidy, Courtney & Mason |
With the most people I've ever seen at the park, everyone was courteous, friendly & the atmosphere was one of subdued excitement. The cloud cover was heavy, but the clouds parted off & on while we watched. Each time, the crowd would cheer & we could see a larger & larger chunk being taken out of the sun! The photo above was just a few seconds before total - which lasted just under 2.5 minutes.
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| "Sunset" |
I think we all expected it to get darker earlier in the eclipse, but once it started - it came on Fast! Seeing the Sunset - was the most beautiful part for me! It never did rain & was the coolest day of our Summer!
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| At the Cave~ |
We packed up & headed over to show the kids the caves & have a tail-gate picnic lunch. By then, the sun had burned through most of the cloud cover & once we'd parked, we again got out our glasses to watch as the Moon's shadow left the Sun.
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| Petroglyphs |
Here too - there were many visitors from as far away as Canada, Texas etc. all enjoying the unusual day.
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| Portion of the cliff face above the caves~ |
A little too crowded for us, we went on down to the river - so the kids could say they'd been on the banks of the Missouri!
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| Mighty Missouri River~ |
Soon, we were on the road for home & that's where we sat in a very long line of traffic. There had been a big fender bender at the intersection before Brownsville. We took a gravel cut-off & once back on I-29 traffic was about normal for the area - i.e. none! :-)
It was great to have the opportunity to see the eclipse with the kids & experience a couple minutes of total darkness!