August 21st, 2017
A trip one year in the works – flights and hotels were booked the moment it was possible to do so. We were getting excited as the event drew nearer. So time to check some logistics about 2 weeks out….. and what’d you know…. some one (that’d be me) forgot to book a rental car. Naturally there wasn’t a rental car to be had anymore, not counting the ones at $900 per day. Now what? Ok, road trip it would be. Not that straightforward as, for Stephen, taking extra days off work, was not that easy. To the rescue came our friends Cindy and Steve: they offered us a car and a place to stay! Hotel bookings were canceled, flights adjusted, and off we flew to Portland on Saturday August 19th. We met our friends at the airport, picked up Robert and Bogey, had lunch and drove to Sisters, OR, prime viewing area for the eclipse. The Sunday was spent meandering around Bend and in the afternoon we checked out possible viewing locations for the next day. Steve had done a terrific job scouting out locations the past month (quite possibly driving Cindy mad in the process) and came up with plans from A to F. We decided on plan B: Green Ridge. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and evening at Cindy & Steve’s place in Sisters; Stephen managed to get Game of Thrones on the tv, so Robert and I could watch it: ‘OMG, they’ve got a dragon!!!’.
The day of the eclipse we got up early, drove to Green Ridge, set up, did a ‘hobbit’ with 2nd breakfast, and got the champagne ready.
And then the magical spectacle began.
