For the Great American Eclipse of 2017 we chose to head out to the Great American West
to one of sunniest and least populated states, Nebraska. Nebraska, your state sign looks like a beer can. Check out your neighbors for some better ideas.
We stayed overnight in Sidney, NE, population ~7,000. The Cheyenne County tourism board sponsored an all-you-can-eat waffle bar at our hotel.
Up bright and early for eclipse day, where even the waffles honored the sun
Even at 8 AM, it was blazing on the prairie
Fog from the North Platte river gave us a partial eclipse
Chimney Rock on the Oregon Trail. Quick press POW to hunt!
We thought that Scottsbluff on the Oregon Trail would be a good place to watch, but the site was not encouraging to visitors. Maybe they were worried about dysentery.
so we drove on to the Agate Fossil Beds in Sioux County, NE, population 1,311. With a large area for visitors and panoramic vistas, it was a perfect spot.
Not all fossil sites celebrate the dinosaurs. This one was founded on Miocene mammals from 20 million years ago, with ancestors of horses, bears, and rhinos.
Can't enjoy nature's wonders on an empty stomach
As the obscuration increased, the temperature dropped, but it didn't get noticeably darker until near totality
and then it happened
to our eyes it looked much closer
and then it was over, and even at 99% obscuration, it was day again
Heather took a call from work 5 minutes later
and then we were off to the Black Hills
We had a 2-hour playlist with sun, moon, and eclipse songs
Traffic jam at the start of the eclipse
Probably because our vistas were so wide, we saw a 360-degree sunset during totality
This is the entire eclipse. Totality starts around minute 5
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