tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post438556350875066619..comments2024-03-11T04:40:23.756-07:00Comments on The Blog of Phyz: Total Eclipse of the Sun - Part 4Dean Bairdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17681829220589441713noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-50041181334202949222017-08-28T20:52:24.274-07:002017-08-28T20:52:24.274-07:00Hi Dan. My wife Jane and I were about 5 miles nort...Hi Dan. My wife Jane and I were about 5 miles north of Madras on Highway 97. We decided to come down Highway 26 to 216 to 195 to 97 that morning from near Mount Hood because we found that the desert area there was flat and pretty empty. It also gave us a few more seconds of totality. <br /><br />There were many turn offs along the road where groups of anywhere from 10 to 15 cars were parked. So, we found one almost right on the maximum totality line, but the main reason we were there because it had an expansive, sweeping view in both directions. It was very flat until the mountains ring the horizon in the far background. This allowed us to get a really good glimpse of the approaching shadows and we were able to see the buildup of shadows coming, as well as red skies in the far distance on either side of the shadows as light was revealed outside of our eclipse zone. So that was an interesting sight. During the eclipse, we saw many of the things that you mentioned in your report so I won't go into great detail. <br /><br />However, since we were north of Madras and had to go south, the traffic jam getting through Madras and out was even worse than your experience. We left about 30 minutes after the total eclipse finished. About five minutes after the eclipse we saw a massive number of cars heading on the highway, while during the eclipse of course there have been none. We did use Waze to navigate around as much as we could but it was a good 3+ hours until we could get clear of Madras and even through Bend there was bad stoppages. Going through Weed was also terrible. What should've taken about 10 hours ended up taking 15 hours. With short stops along the way we got home at 2:00am Tuesday morning. Since we had gotten up at 2 in the morning that Monday to scope out and reach our site, we had a 24-hour day. I was determined to teach on Tuesday (mainly because I had neglected to get a sub) and with the adrenaline pumped I was able to complete that quite well and come home and fall sleep at a regular hour the next night. But it was worth it: an amazing experience and one that I will not forget. <br /><br />Bob Bessin Woodside Priory Schoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10787373853547604496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-20677592772778045752017-08-27T16:09:33.307-07:002017-08-27T16:09:33.307-07:00Hi Dan. My wife Jane and I were about 5 miles nort...Hi Dan. My wife Jane and I were about 5 miles north of Madras on Highway 97. We decided to come down Highway 26 to 216 to 195 to 97 that morning from near Mount Hood because we found that the desert area there was flat and pretty empty. It also gave us a few more seconds of totality. <br /><br />There were many turn offs along the road where groups of anywhere from 10 to 15 cars were parked. So, we found one almost right on the maximum totality line, but the main reason we were there because it had an expansive, sweeping view in both directions. It was very flat until the mountains ring the horizon in the far background. This allowed us to get a really good glimpse of the approaching shadows and we were able to see the buildup of shadows coming, as well as red skies in the far distance on either side of the shadows as light was revealed outside of our eclipse zone. So that was an interesting sight. During the eclipse, we saw many of the things that you mentioned in your report so I won't go into great detail. <br /><br />However, since we were north of Madras and had to go south, the traffic jam getting through Madras and out was even worse than your experience. We left about 30 minutes after the total eclipse finished. About five minutes after the eclipse we saw a massive number of cars heading on the highway, while during the eclipse of course there have been none. We did use Waze to navigate around as much as we could but it was a good 3+ hours until we could get clear of Madras and even through Bend there was bad stoppages. Going through Weed was also terrible. What should've taken about 10 hours ended up taking 15 hours. With short stops along the way we got home at 2:00am Tuesday morning. Since we had gotten up at 2 in the morning that Monday to scope out and reach our site, we had a 24-hour day. I was determined to teach on Tuesday (mainly because I had neglected to get a sub) and with the adrenaline pumped I was able to complete that quite well and come home and fall sleep at a regular hour the next night. But it was worth it: an amazing experience and one that I will not forget. <br />Bob Bessin Woodside Priory Schoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10787373853547604496noreply@blogger.com