The sky was beautifully clear, which boded well, and we could see Venus, Orion's Belt and many other stars. After the small town of Carey, we came to the Craters of the Moon, where many people were planning to watch the eclipse. The dawn happened very slowly and, as it became light, we were very hopeful that we would have good conditions for the eclipse.
After 108 miles, we reached Arco, where we turned left for Moore. We arrived in Moore (population 164) at about 7.30am.
When we got out of the cars, we realised how cold it was! We wrapped ourselves in coats and blankets and went to look around.
Huddling together for warmth!
There was very little going on, but we found one small general store open and we went inside to get warm.
There was coffee and hot chocolate on sale and the very pleasant lady working there was unfazed by 16 people invading the shop at once and ordering many variations of drinks and snacks. Fortunately, there were also 2 toilets available, so all our needs were taken care of. As the sun rose, it became fairly warm and the family began to emerge from the cars to enjoy the early morning and to appreciate that we had all arrived at our destination with time to spare.
Some of the boys threw a football and a frisbee and the dogs joined in.
Soon, a few other cars started to arrive and a young boy and his father played ball with Daniel and Ethan. We discovered an area of grass and a children's playground, where Isla-May spent a short time playing with another couple of children.
Matthew and Edward also tried out the drones they had brought with them.
We still had quite a while to wait before the eclipse was due to start at around 10.30, so Matthew and Edward drove a little farther north to find a better site for us all to park and watch events unfold. They returned and told us to follow them, so we all got back into our cars to drive another 5 minutes or so north on to a dirt road running through the farmland. Unfortunately, when Tim tried to start our car, the battery was flat! After a jump-start using Daniel's Suburban and much finger-crossing, we were on our way.
We moved to our chosen spot to view the eclipse and were pleased to find there was nobody else there.
We thought it would be safe to stop there, although we had seen signs saying there was no parking allowed by the roadside.
We parked in a line and continued to wait, as this drone shot shows.
The children and dogs amused themselves while we handed out eclipse glasses for everyone to put on at the first sign of the moon beginning to pass over the sun.
Passing the time with an American football.
Trying out the eclipse glasses.
Recording the event.
Exercising the dogs.
Posing.
Concentration.
Reflections.
Not long to go!
Getting prepared.
One or two people stayed in their cars to catch up on lost sleep.
Before long, we realised that the transit of the moon was about to begin and we woke up those who were having a rest and told everybody to get prepared with their eclipse glasses. At 10.14am, we could just see a tiny section of the sun where there was a slight indentation, meaning the moon was starting to cross in front of it. Very quickly, we could see a "bite" out of the right side of the sun. We could soon see a real change in the shape of the sun and we took photos and videos as the excitement mounted. We saw a car parked a short distance away on the road back towards Moore, but otherwise we were totally on our own, which was surprising after all the gloomy warnings we had heard from the media.
Excitement mounting!
We continued to watch the progress of the eclipse and marvelled at the shape of the sun which became like a crescent moon.
Matthew wore his Evel Knievel t-shirt to commemorate the man who attempted to cross the Snake River gorge near Twin Falls in a steam-powered "rocket" in 1974. Sadly, the parachute deployed after take-off and before he could reach the other side, the prevailing winds brought him back towards the side of the canyon from where he had launched. He was very fortunate to escape with minor injuries. Had he landed in the river, Evel Knievel would have drowned as he was unable to get out of the vehicle unaided.
Amazingly, when there was only a tiny segment of the sun visible, it was still very light all around us. Matthew and Karin FaceTimed Joel, who was at home in Ditchling, so that he could share our excitement. At 11.30 and 46 seconds, totality began and it was suddenly dark and became much colder.
A wonderful sight!
Ethan's incredible photo of totality taken with his iPhone. If you look closely at the moon's disc you can see the moon's 'seas'.
It was then safe to take off our eclipse glasses and we were all
awestruck at the sight of the black sun with the corona all around it.
It was incredibly beautiful and many of us felt quite emotional at what
we were witnessing, and also because it was the perfect outcome to all
the effort of bringing the family so far to see this
phenomenon. It had long been an ambition of Tim's to see a total solar
eclipse in perfect conditions and we were all delighted that his wish
had been granted.
At 11.32 and 52 seconds, the sun began slowly to emerge. and we all put
our glasses back on after 2 minutes and 6 seconds of totality. The whole
family agreed they had experienced something they would never forget.
We all had plenty of time to gaze in wonder and also take photos and
videos. I wanted just to look and remember it, but gave in and took a
couple of pictures. At the end of totality the first rays of the sun appeared, creating the diamond ring effect.
The diamond ring.
Matthew and Ed also used the drones, which produced some excellent photos.
Celebrating an unforgettable experience.
We carried on looking from time to time as the sun emerged from behind the moon, then we put out the picnic table and opened the Champagne and juice, which we had with tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole and other snacks. We toasted Tim for his vision and organisation in bringing us all to such a perfect place to witness one of life's greatest spectacles.
Relieved and happy.
We all gradually packed everything and everyone back into the cars to make our way towards Twin Falls. We still couldn't believe our luck in seeking out the perfect spot to view the eclipse and we thank the boys for finding it when they drove north of Moore. We were also incredibly fortunate to have clear skies giving us a marvellous sighting. Many areas in the region were blighted by forest fires, but we weren't affected by them.
We hit some heavy traffic around Arco and decided to go into the Craters of the Moon National Park to escape the jams for a while.
Inside the park.
As we went in, there was such a line of cars driving through that we were not allowed to stop. The park rangers kept waving us on, so we turned round and went out again on to much clearer roads. Once more, we were delighted to find that most of the pessimistic predictions about traffic jams and chaos proved unfounded, at least in this part of Idaho.
We arrived back at our hotel tired but thrilled at the wonderful day we had experienced.
We discussed having an early dinner as we had been up since 4am, but all the restaurants we chose were fully booked. We had been offered a table for 8.30pm at our first choice, Elevation 486 overlooking the Snake River, but we thought it was too late for everyone. To our surprise, they all wanted to go there, so we had showers and rested a little until it was time to drive to the restaurant. Isla-May had a sleep, so she was raring to go! Unfortunately, David didn't feel well so, in the end, there were only 15 of us.
They gave us a separate room on our own with a horseshoe-shaped table. Before we sat down to dinner, we had drinks on the terrace and admired the spectacular view.
Snake River Gorge.
Four happy girls waiting for dinner.
All the girls from 4 to 17 years old.
Six out of seven grandchildren.
Waiting on the terrace.
Dinner was excellent and the service was reasonably quick, considering how busy they were.
The family surprised us by settling the bill as a thank you to us both. We all returned to the hotel ready for a good night's sleep after such an amazing day.