(Credit: my mother-in-law)
We have been planning to see the Eclipse since late last year. My mother-in-law (MIL) got our hotel rooms in March, ordered our glasses then, and we were lucky because when my sister-in-law (SIL) wanted to join us there were no more rooms!
Our hotel was very basic, and we discovered a roach the first night. I was all ‘eh’ because roaches are a real pain, and anywhere people are prone to leaving food about you get them, or at least that’s my experience. So I squished it and flushed it for good measure.
What I was really worried about was bed bugs… and a search didn’t find any, and we had no bites. So huzzah!
We drove down Sunday, picking my SIL up in Omaha on the way. Nice drive, from Prairie du Chien, WI to Rock Port, Missouri with the detour in Omaha, so about 8 hours. Dinner at the hotel was actually very good – we ate at the restaurant attached to the gas station. There were TONS of people, and the hotel was full up. The restaurant closed, and people just ignored the sign and sat themselves down.
The manager was a saint and just served them without arguing. Dear Super 8/Gas station – you have THE BEST manager!
The next morning was cloudy, and we drove west about an hour to Philie (sp?) and sat at the baseball diamond there. It was kind of a gamble… do we drive and hope it clears up? Or do we stay where the clouds are thin and hope it doesn’t get worse?
I was in a ton of pain from the car ride, and I immediately voted STAY. The first night was rough, but the next day I hurt so much it was ridiculous. We did stay though, and it was a good call because the clouds stayed thin.
Let’s take a moment here to point out that my in-laws are the SWEETEST, MOST PATIENT people ever. I was grumpy and snarling and barely walking. Everything made me angry and I mean EVERYTHING. But they were totally sweet about it and tried to make sure I had a good time anyway.
I won the In-Law lottery. I’m not kidding. WON IT.
But anyway, I napped while it drizzled, and then we watched the eclipse! It was a lot longer of build up than I expected, but seeing the totality was so brief it flashed by in just a few moments. All around us on the horizon you could see light, but where we were was dark, and the temperature dropped during the whole thing so it was chilly too and windy.
Our cameras were terrible, but here’s a look:
This first one and the title one are my MIL’s phone shots, and she got the only really good ones.
This one is my sad camera trying it’s best! It could only make it out when it zoomed, and so all of them were horridly blurry. And it didn’t help that we were watching it through thin cloud cover. Was worth a try though!
It was much more… intense? than I expected. I teared up watching it, and it was very surreal!
Afterwards became the Trek To Find Food which involved three towns, HORRID traffic, and a lot of wondering what on earth my father-in-law (FIL) was doing.
I was Not Happy, and when he decided to walk us around Wilbur looking for food, I had just about had it. I had to pee, I could talk myself into moving because it hurt, and walking around was making it worse.
I was not pleasant to be around.
But we did eventually find food! And it was amazing. We stopped at this little BBQ place, and they smoke their meats first and you put on your own sauces… so they were safe for my husband!!! Everyone got to eat! I was in a much better mood after.
So, if you’re ever in the Tecumseh, Missouri area, I HIGHLY endorse them. They can be found here online if you want to check them out!
My in-laws wanted us to stay longer, but we headed out that night for a rainy, dark drive back because I realized I would need more than the one day of recovery allotted to be able to work.
Just short of Des Moines, IA, on I-80 we got caught up in traffic. Neither of us have smart phones, so I frantically texted my MIL, and she told us what she could see of blockages, and we went south around the city to avoid them. Otherwise, uneventful drive. I’m beginning to think a smart phone would be useful…
Yesterday I slept. That’s all. Seriously, we picked up the dog from the Vet and then I went right back to bed. I moved from bed to couch and was only awake for maybe an hour total.
Today my alarm went off and I had to take the morning off too. My work knew I might, so no one was upset, but it was embarrassing to come in at 11.
I just am not quite recovered, and today was hard.
But you know what?
It was TOTALLY WORTH IT!
Did you get to see the eclipse? What did you think? Did you get any good pictures? What do you think of smart phones? Inquiring minds want to know! *smile*
