Taken in our RV site, where we have about "98% of total" (and not having to fight crowds)...
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And now, the rest of the story:
The traffic was a bit crazy leaving Asheville...
Joan did a fine job of navigating, and kept me informed about expected slow-downs ahead...
An hour or so down the road, and we were in the clear...
Apparently, there is an eclipse or something today. ^^
A short drive today, only 100 miles or so. With all the craziness surrounding the eclipse, we just wanted to get somewhere down the road, with a decent RV park...
We passed by the Bush (as in: beans!) factory and Visitors Center...
We didn't stop today, but I think we'll swing back by there tomorrow. We rolled into Pigeon Forge and our stop for the night. I was concerned we might not find a place, but this park (nicer than the last one) is large and has plenty of sites available. It is a warm (90ยบ+) and humid day - I got the electricity plugged in right away, then we set up the rest of our hookups. Little Izzy got to explore (on her leash, of course) while we worked...
Programming for the local cable channels, it is "Eclipse Fever" on all the local channels. We are about 30 miles from the path of totality, and that is fine for us. The nice lady at the office suggested that a park next door would be a good place for viewing... we decided our RV site would work just fine.
Checking the timing for the eclipse here...
On the local TV coverage (further west)...
Joan with our "safety viewer"...
And, here it comes...
Trying our small tripod...
Holding the viewer over her phone (yes, that works)...
The bokeh (light filtering through the leaves) on the ground - check out the shape...
Almost there...
The peak in our area...
That's what 98% looks like (and no safety filter).
While the sun was behind the moon, it looked like sunset all around us, and the crickets started chirping, the birds were squawking... kinda cool.
Getting to the other side...
And... it was over. About a minute and a half where the sun was mostly covered. A LOT of hype for the time involved. We heard that places 30 miles from us (in "the path") that were packed, over-charging, and terrible traffic and crowds.
Isabella came inside before we did...
She said, "It is hot out there - you people are crazy." She may have a point... she also didn't need any special viewer, because cats are smart enough to not look directly at the sun. ;-)
We came inside shortly after. The TV newscasters are trying to find stuff to talk about: "Well, the eclipse is over, but there are still a lot of people here..." (maybe because it is bumper to bumper traffic?).
I am delighted that we were able to experience it "in our own back yard."
:-)
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