2017 Eclipse T-6 Days

In February of 1998, I went to United States Virgin Islands for two weeks.  The excuse for going was a total solar eclipse in the Caribbean on the 26th of that month.  St. Johns was just outside of totality, at around 92%, but it was still a good reason to go camp on the beach for a while.  The wild donkeys were amusing and I definitely met some crazy characters on the small island.  It was a great trip, but the eclipse itself was somewhat anticlimactic.  Even at 92%, the tropical sky really didn't get that dark.  And while looking at the crescent remnant of the sun was interesting, it was far from unique.  Since we were camping, photography equipment was minimal for the trip, and this was before the days of cheap whiz-bang digital cameras.  There were many pictures taken during the trip, yet there were only a few showing the effect of the eclipse, illustrating the crescent shaped shadows of the eclipse through the trees.

Pan Am went belly up during this same two week time span, creating a lot of uncertainty for the trip home.  But once back a home, a coworker and I were looking at when future eclipses would be and where.  While solar eclipses are only somewhat rare, happening less than one per year on average, having them hit major parts of the contiguous 48 states is even rarer.  When we saw that a total solar eclipse would cross the entire continent on August 21, 2017, we sent our department Admin a vacation request for that date.  She was confused and assumed we meant later that same year, but we told her that, no, we meant we were putting in for vacation in 19 years.  So yes, in a very real way, I've been preparing for this upcoming eclipse for nearly 20 years.  Surprisingly, we both still work for the same company, although the calendar systems have changed many times since then, and we've both moved jobs a few times.  Still, we both will be on vacation to view the eclipse.

I've seen a few other partial eclipses that I can recall.  The first was on February 26, 1979.  I was in grade school and all the classes paraded down to the Junior High section of the school to view the partial eclipse.  The seventh grade science teacher was using a binocular to project the shape of the partially obscured sun onto a white piece of paper on the floor.  At that age, I didn't get it and wondered why we couldn't just look through the binoculars at whatever was happening.  The big kid part of the school was always a little scary.
The next one that I remember was May 10, 1994.  I was working as a mechanic at the time and an annular eclipse was traversing just south of where I was.  We all went outside and saw the near annularity.  The shop was in a really bad part of town and some of the local denizens were wondering why we were all outside staring up at the sun looking through welders glasses and helmets.  My boss tried to show a few of them, but their reaction was similar to my young reaction from 1979.  The most dramatic thing I witnessed during that eclipse was how eerie the sky looked - it is hard to describe, sort of how the sky looks with an imminent thunderstorm, before it actually happens.  During the period of low light, one of my coworkers yelled out, "Now everybody do as I say or I won't bring it back!"  This made us all laugh.
On June 10, 2002, I drove up the road to a farm pull-out with a good view to the west and viewed the partial eclipse of the setting sun.  I had made a pinhole camera to view it.  I wasn't the only person there and the older couple next to me were viewing directly through a pinhole they made in a 3"x5" card.  That is a good way to damage one's vision.  However, given the late hour of the day, the risk was probably relatively low.  Hopefully for them anyway.

This brings me to August 2017.  Looking at the long sloping path of totality, I wanted to be in an area where the sky is big.  I also knew weather would be important, so I wanted to be in an area with high potential for clear conditions.  I chose Western Nebraska since it fulfilled both of these requirements; I also really love the Sand Hills area.
My more concrete preparation for this trip began over a year ago.  I made hotel reservations just outside of totality under the logic that if my immediate area ends up with significant clouds, being just outside would allow easier transport to a clearer area.  I didn't think much about it until several months ago when I started seeing news stories on the upcoming eclipse.  Since then, I've been shocked at the level of interest this astronomical even has generated.  People from around the globe are positioning themselves to see the eclipse.  Nebraska, with high potential for good weather is one of the better locations to potentially view it.  Regardless of weather, 100s of thousands of people are making plans to be in the path of totality.

As I heard more and more about the level of planning and people this eclipse will draw, I realized that traveling a few hundred miles on the morning of the eclipse was probably not realistic.  Far better to choose a location in totality and then be fluid if it is safe and feasible to do so.  The worst case scenario would be stuck in traffic somewhere outside of totality.  Thankfully, there is family in Alliance, Nebraska, so plans were made to stay there.  This was going to be an event.  Even if things happen to not allow viewing of the eclipse, I might be able to see something almost as rare - major traffic problems in rural Nebraska.  On cancelling my original hotel reservations, I suspect I made someone desperate for a room very happy - and maybe the hotel as well since I'm sure the rate charged for the only room within a few miles of totality was probably much higher than my rate.

Starting at about the three week mark, I started paying attention to the long range weather forecasts from Accuweather and the Climate Prediction Center of NOAA.  I tried not to get too excited or frightened, as forecasts at that range are notoriously fickle.  I tried ... not always successfully.  The best weather would be bright clear skies - I can see the eclipse.  The second best would be complete cloud cover over a wide area - I won't be able to see it, but at least I'd be part of the sad event.  The absolute worst weather would be 75% cloud cover as I would anticipate some people doing anything and everything to get in an area to see the sun at the last minute - if this happens, I predict it will get very ugly.

Forecasts ten days out are subject to a lot of refinement, but it is at a point where the models can start to converge on likely weather patterns.  The ten-day forecast forecast looks OK.  Not great, but at least hopeful.

Partly cloudy is hopeful, but I wish it looked like this.

Actually, it should really look like this!

In addition to obsessing over the weather and location, other preparations have been in progress over the last few weeks.  The Gold Wing got a good going over ready for the adventure.  Things were prepped for a few thousand miles on the motorcycle.  All the usual motorcycle specifics have been packed in preparation along with a few other things.  I've got a tripod for my camera along with a solar filter for it and some eclipse glasses to safely view partiality.
These preparations helped not only because anticipation is such a big part of any trip, but it also helped put the eclipse in a bit of perspective.  I'm getting excited for the trip itself; this is yet another chance to motor through the country for whatever reason.  Any reason.  And if I get to be a witness to totality, all the better.  If not, I'll still be part of a coast to coast cultural phenomenon - but it is just one part of what I'm sure will be a great adventure.

2017 Lake Erie Fishing

I had thought about taking a mini-adventure (and I use the term loosely) to an agritourism farm, but was quite resistant to do that since it looked so kid-oriented.  Still, I was due for something - maybe anything...
I had previously fished with a similar group in 2013 and enjoyed it, but also wasn't completely sure it was going to be something I'd want to do again.  But when Dave sent out a note that they had a last-minute slot left for walleye fishing on Lake Erie, I jumped at the opportunity.  The previous trip was fun, but the large group meant someone was always complaining at least a little bit and there were some personality conflicts.  This trip was only 6 people, with me being the sixth.  One of the guys fishing, Tony's son had a conflict opening up the spot.

My weekend progressed normally, thankfully getting the very long grass mowed on Saturday and a few other things done to allow me to head over to Dave's house mid-Sunday.  Dave and I chatted a few moments before Dave drove over to Nick's house to rendezvous for the drive up to Lake Erie.  Once at Nick's, Chris showed up, with one other participant planning on driving up himself.  As it turned out, Tony had a family emergency and was almost certainly not going to be going at all, making it five for fishing.
With only four making the trip up to Northern Ohio, we all piled into Nick's Toyota Highlander.  Everything fit and there was enough room, but the rear seats where I was sitting were definitely on the uncomfortable side.  The trip north (and later south), proved to be something of a sciatic adventure in discomfort.
But the trip north passed enjoyably enough, with lots of talk of past and future adventures.  I don't really know Dave all that well, and Nick and Chris even less well - so it was fun talking with them.
In short order, we were up at our Condo rental at Bay's Edge.  Bay's Edge was much nicer than the place I stayed at in 2013 and was cleaner with a functioning air conditioner.  It is a full service location offering just about everything fishing for Lake Erie.  While we were checking in, a fisherman came in with a bucket of perch that could only be described as "an absolute mess of perch."  I was surprised to see so many perch, but was hoping it would be a good sign for our fishing.

At the condo a back deck looked out onto an overfished pond which did appear to have a good number of bass and bluegill.  We did a bit of fishing with artificial lures before turning to the only bait we could find - beef fat from our ribeye steaks.  We weren't able to entice any bass with the cow, but apparently bluegills like beef.  There were signs about the "trophy bass and bluegill."  I'm not sure if we caught any "trophy" bluegill, but a couple were pretty good size.  The lake is 100% catch and release, meaning the fish numbers were probably relatively high.

Todd came in as dinner was underway, just back from a family vacation in Utah.

About the time it was time to start cooking dinner, a small but intense rain squall moved it.  Torrential rain came down along with a little bit of relatively large hail.  It didn't last long, and we were soon able to cook up the ribeyes, corn, potatoes and some really good sauteed mushrooms.  Some apple pie for dessert, and I was ready for bed.

I tried to sleep in from my normal awake time, but was up very early.  I took a shower and poked around for some coffee.  Finding none, I wished I had that lone can of energy drink I got for free which was in my home fridge.  I'm not sure I'll ever drink it, so this may have been the one opportunity.
Soon enough everyone was moving.  We packed up the condo and headed out to meet Ned, our fishing guide.

Ned took a few minutes to get ready before we boarded the Emily K and headed out.  Fishing had been sporadic prior to our charter, but enough fish were being caught in Ohio that we were not going to be fishing in Canada.

It didn't take long to reach our first fishing spot near Kelly's Island and we started hooking into fish.  In a way, it was probably advantageous that Tony couldn't make it since having six on the boat would have made quite cramped.
My first fish was a fairly decent walleye - definitely legal to keep for eating.

Weather started out cool by July standards and cloudy.  Conditions improved through the day with clearing skies and warm, but not hot, temperatures.  The lack of precipitation was nice and while it got warm, it never got painfully hot.  The lake was calm, with only minimal chop.  It was a great day to be on the water.

We continued fishing, drifting through pockets of fish and pockets that might as well have been the Sahara.  Ned ran a pretty good boat, keeping up on netting fish.  Terminal tackle was mostly Erie Dearie lures and mayfly rigs.
The fishing was pretty good.  Walleye are not the most entertaining fish to catch as they really don't fight.  At all.  Bringing up a big walleye is not too different from bringing up a big snag.  Luckily there were other fish to be caught, even if they were considered trash.
Altogether we caught seven or eight species throughout the day:  walleye, drum (sheephead), catfish, yellow perch, white perch, gobie, and one smallmouth.
A few notable events through the day included a massive catfish caught by Ned that took a considerable amount of time to bring in.

And when Dave caught a double gobie on a trailing hook that he took a bit of flack for using.  Yes, the picture below was actually CAUGHT on that lure; it is not the bait.  Gobie must be very ambitious!

We had a slow spot through the middle of the day before ending up in a bay at the end of the afternoon.  While the fish were a little smaller in the bay, action was really good - although a nearby Mennonite family in a small boat seemed to be doing MUCH better than we were.

"One final cast," I said as Ned was getting ready to bring us back in.  I've never had this happen before, but on that final cast I managed to bring in one last legal walleye!  Total catch for the group was somewhere around 20 walleye along with a few perch and other keepers.  So it wasn't a stupendous limit-in-2-hours day, but it was still quite respectable.  More importantly, it was a great day on the water.

Once back on shore, we unpacked the boat before piling in cars.  We had the "executive" charter which included fish cleaning.  Fish cleaning is somewhat unpleasant.  I don't envy those jobs, but I guess people get used to everything.  Since the charter owned the fish cleaning business, Ned was able to bump up our cleaning in the queue.  Todd headed back south while Nick, Chris, Dave and I went for a quick McDonald's bite before picking up our fish.

The trip south was uneventful with the exception of some brief rain near Dayton.  Once back at Nick's we transferred stuff quickly before heading out.  I ended up getting home much later than I anticipated.  Tuesday morning work was to come quickly.

I enjoyed my second Erie adventure.  The smaller group worked a little better and was less chaotic than a group of 18 had been.
Clearly, walleye fishing was the better option compared to a kiddie adventure at a farm.

2017 South Carolina Day 5

Hardeeville, South Carolina to Home:  694.8 Miles

The weather forecast was predicting lots of rain closer to home with the potential for severe weather as well, it was best to give us time in case things got ugly.

I was able to see my cousin briefly as she dropped off  her son Brandon to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Brandon was a little apprehensive, but once it was explained that we were second cousin's, he seemed OK with it.  Until he did the math after we told him that he didn't have any first cousins.  So he decided that we must be first cousins.  The eight-year-old logic was hard to argue with.

After a breakfast of peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins - almost like eating cake for breakfast - we started to pack up the bike.  Brandon walked out into the garage and stopped on seeing the motorcycle, "Whoa!"

We had had a great adventure so far, but it was time to head home.  And we left around 8:00 into the steamy Southeast morning.  Unlike the trip south, we couldn't dither, so it was mostly going to be a day on the interstate.
Traffic was surprisingly light and the temperature was extremely nice, if a little humid.  We worked our way north and west.  The only place traffic really seemed to pick up was briefly in North Carolina.
Temperatures stayed nice with mixed clouds through the morning.  It was good that even with the potential for rain, we didn't feel rushed.  As we gained elevation from the coastal United States, and the day progressed, it started to get hot - very hot for late April.  Most of the afternoon was near the 90's which is not what we were expecting.

Getting off the interstate for a while, we went around Knoxville.  I'm not sure why, but I've always disliked that stretch of I-40/I-640.

And through the tunnel at the Cumberland Gap.

As we got closer to home, SO kept and eye on the radar and saw all the rain was west.  Temperatures were still tolerable and neither one of us really felt like ponying up for (and staying in) another hotel.  So we slogged it on home.  As we got closer to home, we saw evidence of very heavy rain with driveways washed out and some areas with huge puddles and flooding.  Whatever deluge happened, I was glad it did earlier in the day.
Suffice to say, given forecasts, what we enjoyed and what we missed, we hit the weather lottery on this motorcycle (and fishing) adventure.

We got home well before dark.  It was a slog of a day, but with decent weather and tolerable traffic it wasn't too bad.
Overall, it was a short, but fun-filled adventure.  We had an amazing day of riding on the way south, getting to catch up with family for a few days and had some great fishing.  And had a good long ride home.
Uncle Dave was wondering if this could be an annual trip - that would be fun, but reality is that there is only so much vacation time.  Yet, I know we'll have to do this again.

2017 South Carolina Day 4

After an early morning breakfast of waffles, we were out the door shortly after 6:00 for our fishing charter out of Hilton Head.  In addition to Uncle D, SO and myself, Uncle D's friend Chris was joining us.  Traffic was light and we found the dock and our captain waiting for us.

First up was sea trout, which I had never fished for before.  Action was tolerable, but slow.  We tried a variety of fishing setups, using lures, minnows and flies.  We caught several sea trout and SO caught a large lady fish - which will make an appearance later.

We tried several more places for various fish in the sound and open ocean.  Action wasn't too hot, but there was at least some bites everywhere we went.  Eventually our captain cut up the lady fish and set out two very large hooks which hunks of it as bait right on the bottom.  Soon enough, one of the rods started bouncing and I reeled in a nice, if a bit small shark.  I had always wanted to catch a shark, so I was really happy.

Shortly after that, Chris started to bring in another fish from the bottom - much bigger than my shark.  It took out tons of line before leaping from the water a couple times and snapping the steel leader.  We were able to see that it was a very large spinner shark.  We may not have had the right tackle for something that large, unless we would have had tons of time to play the line.

Bottom action slowed down and the seas were getting very rough, so we headed to another spot to put more lady fish chunks out.  This time Uncle D was able to bring in a decent sized shark.  Throughout the bottom fishing, we had several more sharks on the line, but were unable to bring any of them in.

We decided to extend our charter by an hour and went into the flats to go after reds.  This was probably a lot more fun than the early trout fishing and we caught several reds.  

We also managed to bring in a few flounders.  I've always heard they taste good, but flounders are very ugly.

We were about fished out and had landed an incredible variety of fish, so we headed back to the dock.  On the way into the dock, "Shorty" stopped by to visit.  It was pretty neat seeing a great blue heron so up close in person - er, bird.

Our captain helped us clean the few sea trout that we kept - also keeping the roe sacks from the females.  I've never had them before, but when in Rome...

We all headed back and told lies, looked at pictures and rested for a while.  It never ceases to surprise me how much just being out in the sun all day can sap so much energy.

We all tried the roe during a dinner of fresh sea trout.  I was apprehensive, but it was surprisingly good.  Delicate flavor, with an unusual, but not bad, texture.

After dinner, Uncle D and I went out to wet a line a few more times.  We hooked into a couple small bass, before tearing it up on the crappie.  At one point, after reeling in a smaller crappie, the fish got very energetic and nearly bent the rod over.  Reeling it in to the bank, I saw it was a massive large mouth bass - by far the largest I've ever hooked.  I fought with it for a while and told Uncle D to come over.  After fighting, the bass got off the line.  Looking down, I saw a crappie still attached to my hook.  The bass had taken the crappie as I reeled it in.  I was a bit bummed I didn't land the bass, but it was sure an interesting fishing story.  And a true one.

With potential severe weather building to the northwest, we turned in for the night, ready to bike home.

2017 South Carolina Day 3

Monroe, North Carolina to Hardeeville, South Carolina:  233.3 Miles

After some rather unusual hotel waffles - the normal better was runny so I made them with oatmeal and strawberry batter - we were out the door to another early, slightly foggy morning.
The goal was again to mostly avoid the interstates so after getting turned around in Monroe, we worked our way south.  There was more traffic than I assumed there would be, and the schools take dropping the kids off very seriously, with many cops directing traffic, etc.  Tuck and roll kids!

Once out of the school zones, we found some nice roads to take south.  Outside of the small towns, there was almost no traffic and ample passing zones making the morning zip by.

Once into the low country, the terrain turned very familiar with lots of Cyprus bogs and boggy swamps.  This was hog country!  I love it.

The Garmin GPS was getting quite irritated, until we finally got on the interstate south of Yemassee, South Carolina.  I-95 isn't my favorite, but it did move us quickly down to Uncle D and Aunt R's house.  We found their house easily enough in a new and gorgeous development.  Uncle D gave us the tour of their new house - very nice.

After lunch, we headed out to Savannah.  We parked near the ferry and took it over to Savannah.  This was a pretty neat way to get there and it runs continuously.  It is also probably a win for the city since it greatly decreases congestion.

The ferry also gave a nice way to see the skyline of Savannah.

Once docked, we spent some time touring Savannah.

The city was an odd mix of historic squares and newer businesses and chains.  Joe's Crab Shack next to monuments to the 1700's.  Still it was a neat city.  Lots of steep historic steps and well worn cobblestones.  The history that these roads have seen...

Savannah was a nice change for us.  We usually avoid the big cities with difficult parking, angry congestion and cost, so taking the ferry and spending some time seeing Savannah was a treat.

After a while we headed back to the ferry and back to the house.
After a nice dinner of grilled chicken, Uncle D and I headed out for some pre-fishing fishing.  The house is surrounded by any number of ponds that hold bass, bluegill, crappie, alligators and any other manner of critters.  We were just after the fish...
In the short amount of time we were out, we hooked into many fish.  For about a half an hour, we were in a school of aggressive crappie that were very good in size.  I even caught a fish I've never seen before - to me it looked like a bass/bluegill hybrid.

Yes, some of the big ones got away.

At dark we headed back to the house and talked about our various adventures for a while before turning in.  It was going to be an early morning for ocean fishing!

2017 South Carolina Day 2

Paris, Kentucky to Monroe, North Carolina:  444.6 miles

We woke up to a cool but comfortable morning and were on the road at first light.  As is usually the case, we had the early road to ourselves.  The temperatures rose and dipped with the road, as we generally headed south and east in Kentucky horse country.  Early morning on vacation is amazing.

Horse country eventually began to shift to coal country.  Large farm estates disappeared and much hillier terrain pushed the road into sinuous ribbons.  At times, the fog was quite thick - not so thick that we had to slow down, but there was enough fog that things got wet as the temperature dropped.

Coal country may have a reputation of being grungy, and in a minority of places it may be.  Most of the area is simply gorgeous, with miles of trees just starting to bud and very little in the way of traffic.  Some of the towns seem quite nice, while others appear to be in the midst of the death rattle.  But the areas in between are some of the best motorcycle roads in the East.

We wound our way around eventually passing into Virginia for a short spell before heading south into Tennessee.  As we spent a lot of the late morning at higher elevations, it really didn't get warm until afternoon.
Lunch was at the small and simple Whiteway Grill in Roan Mountain, Tennessee.  Food was extra good and the people were very friendly.  I think we were the only non-locals there.  One kind gentleman even thanked us for stopping in before he left.  He might have been the owner - it was all a bit ambiguous.

The area around the Tennessee and North Carolina border is absolutely silly with wonderfully empty roads and rhododendrons. I suspect if we were a week or three later, they could be in bloom which would be an amazing site to see.  But even seeing them on this late April day, their waxy leaves were magnificent next to the just-budding trees.

We briefly got on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I've heard people say that they absolutely loved it and that it was a terror, filled with trundling cars and gawking people.  We saw very few other cars on it, but we were only on it for a few miles.  I'm not sure I would plan a vacation around it, and it goes in an awkward direction - NE to SW - for most of our trips.

After the Blue Ridge Parkway, we continued heading south and east.  Weather warmed with gorgeous blue skies and perfect temperatures.  I think the day ranks as one of my top 5 motorcycle days east of the Mississippi.

We got near Charlotte and headed around it, "enjoying" just a bit of traffic before stopping in Monroe.  Frustratingly, we could not get into our hotel room with the keys we were given.  The nice lady at the desk, working alone, tried helping several times.  We thought about just getting a refund, but there weren't too many more reasonable hotel rooms available around Monroe, and the next place on our route was about two hours away.  After calling the maintenance man (he apparently had had problems with that door as well), the clerk got permission to give us a cut key for the room.  I'm quite sure this is actually the cut key for the whole hotel.  That is something to think about...

Dinner that night was at Logans.  Not bad, but not great.  The night was completed with some ice cream from the gas station.  I've learned from the past and have my own travel spoon now.

2017 South Carolina Day 1

I heard Robert Pirsig died this morning.
I first read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in 2004.  Since my boss (now my boss' boss) gave me a copy of it about five years ago, I've read it a few more times.  It is not an easy read, but every time I got more out of it.  It is an epic about life, mental illness, family and friends, motorcycles, quality, and melds Eastern and Western philosophy.
It would seem appropriate if on the day of Pirsig's death this were the beginning of a motorcycle trip out West, but this one is headed southeast.
Phaedrus rests.

The company I work for made a change in how the previous years vacation can be used; before this year it needed to be consumed by the end of April.  Even though I have more time to use it, I guess I'm indoctrinated at this point to need to take at least a short trip in April.
My Uncle and Aunt recently moved to southern South Carolina.  I'm not sure if they invited us down or if we invited ourselves down.  But we're headed down to spend a couple days with them and hopefully do some coastal fishing.

SO had training for work in the morning and subsequently headed home to take care of the dogs and get the house cleaned up before leaving.  Jackson is getting to be a very old 16 years and I worry about putting him in the kennel.  Considering I thought he was down to a few weeks near the end of 2016, he is still chugging along well enough.  Spring can be a dicey time to travel on two wheels weather-wise, but at least the first few days look good.

After packing everything up and double checking the house, we headed out for a short ride.  I hate sitting at home once the dogs are kenneled, so I'm willing to coin up for a hotel a couple hours away.
It was a bit of a slog to do this after work, but the weather was splendid.  Sunny with a few puffy clouds and temperatures in the mid 70's.

Day 1:  120.2 miles

We headed out before 3:30, getting us around Cincinnati before any rush hour mayhem.  Once a little ways south, traffic thinned.  Just north of Lexington we headed east.  The hills rolled in Kentucky green although it almost looked less green than at home.  This was horse country.  This was Bourbon County.

We arrived in Paris, Kentucky.  For all the jokes I've heard over the years of Paris, Kentucky vs. Paris, France, I think the Kentucky version is prettier.  Having been in the France version a few times, I don't think that the reputation of rudeness is totally deserving, but I'll also suggest that Kentucky is a little friendlier.

We checked into our hotel and got unpacked before heading to the Huddle House to eat.  Fine French dining it may not have been, but it was tasty, filling and inexpensive.  A to-go turtle shake rounded out the evening.