Eclipse

 

   I now understand why pre-science humans thought it was the end of the world when there was a solar eclipse. I drove up to St Johnsbury, VT to experience the totality of the eclipse. Quite honestly, it was a nightmare. 

   Traffic was bad on the way up. I had planned on going to northern NH but traffic was so bad I took I-89 into Vermont and then went north on I-91. I found a  grocery store that allowed people to park for free. They had food and restrooms. I bought some cooked wings and ribs which were delicious. 

   I watched the eclipse with my glasses that I had saved on my burrow since 2017. When totality came I got to watch it for two minutes. It was mostly dark and I saw two stars. I took about ten photos. It was over as quickly as it started. I must admit that the song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is accurate. It took all of my power not to make any puns or title this post Bonnie Tyler's song. My heart was racing and I was overcome with true awe. It took a few minutes for it to slow to normal.

   Then the misery began. If you read that traffic was a nightmare or saw it on the news, it was worse than you could ever image. Within fifteen minutes of totality I-91 was backed up with stopped traffic. I thought it would be smart to let it clear out for an hour which became two, which became three hours. Finally at 7 pm I tried to leave. I was immediately stuck in traffic so I drove through St Johnsbury only to find traffic as I passed the NH border. I drove another two hours moving maybe ten miles. The last straw was when my GPS told me there was an hour and forty seven minute back up going through Franconia Notch. So I did a U-turn on the interstate ( no one was going north ) and found a trailhead to lie down at.

   

Heavily cropped so you can see the red around
the sun

  From 10:30 until 3 am I tried to sleep. This would have been easier if I brought a blanket. I covered up with the three sweatshirts I had and dozed off a couple times. Finally at 3 am I left for home. I was again caught in traffic within ten minutes as I was funneled through Franconia Notch. Once south of Lincoln I finally got up to speed and made it home at 7 am. 

  The question I asked myself while I was stuck in traffic praying for the  end of the world to stop my misery is this...was it worth it? The simple answer is no. Two minutes of one of the coolest things I have ever seen was not worth the 22 hours of being on the road. I would not do it again...but I know this, I would have regretted not going up to see totality for the rest of my life if I didn't go. I could never have imagined traffic would take a full day to disperse. So while I am not glad I went, I am glad I have no regrets so I guess that's a win?