Eclipse bits and pieces

Kin Mun has given an account of the eclipse - with pics that my camera can only dream of.  So here are the extra bits.

We got up at 3:40am, fell into the bus together with our breakfast boxes, and drove to Madras.  This took an hour (note the time), and there were cars on the road but nothing to hold us up.  TravelQuest had arranged for us to use the Jefferson County Middle School oval, and the school facilities as well as there being a fundraising "concession" (selling tea/coffee, drinks, packet food) to raise money for the school.

I took the chance to see inside a US school. The only US schools I had seen before were on TV reports when there had been a mass shooting.  We were able to use the canteen, with pics of past students, flags of various countries, and messages of inclusion etc around the walls.  It was a generous space, plain and functional. This is the canteen.

I had a nap in the canteen, and later got talking to this lady who was cleaning the tables.  It turned out she was a "math" teacher, she taught 150 Year 8 students over the day, and one advanced maths class, that had 50 students.  It was a small community school, with students from 3 towns as well as a nearby "reservation".

The school had also been made available to a group of Japanese eclipse chasers, some of whom were camped out the back of the school..

By then the moon was beginning to cross the sun, so I went out to join the party. This is Mt Jefferson (I think) as totality approached.

Looking as totality approaches.

And the TravelQuest banner.

Taken with my "point and shoot" in the partial phase.

And at totality.

After the party, there is also the hangover!

Coming back to our hotel, we met traffic.  The journey was now THREE hours. Pic from Kin Mun.

Our unflagging driver, Larry, took as many detours as he could, including over over a rough and dusty dirt road.  The country is dry, and the backyards of farms (mainly agriculture) are just like any backyard of farms anywhere!  For us, it was such a wonderful opportunity.  You would not see any of this unless you were local.

BTW, you can buy cannabis legally in Oregon.  This is a "dispensary".  Not sure of the price.

So that was eclipse 2017!  This trip has turned into a "mystery tour".  We have not seen any of this part of the USA, we have done no research and have no expectations,so everything has been a bonus!  And the weather for the eclipse was perfect.  No doubt Deryn arranged that!