David's Tangled Thoughts

My first choice to see the eclipse was in Alliance, Nebraska. The weather forecast wasn't looking ideal so the second choice of Douglas, Wyoming became the number one choice and that's where I was heading when I broke camp at two in the morning. I was heading out on unknown roads in the dark and I couldn't see much beyond the road markings. Aside for the fuck ton of deer, I was alone on the road which was fine with me. I did make a stop and looked out at this dome of stars. Gibran didn't seem to care but I took it in. We stoped in Lusk, Wyoming to fill up on gas. By now, we had been joined with other people traveling on the road. As we headed out, we could see people now camped out on the road turnouts. When we got to I-25, they were all packed. Although Douglass was where I was headed, I decided to push on to Casper because I knew there was one place that I knew we had a good chance of getting a place to park. We arrived in Casper just before sunrise and joined

Our first real stop on this trip was going to be Wall Drug. Unfortunately, Gibran was asleep for the usual road signs leading up to it so he couldn't be hyped up as much as I hoped. As the sun came up we witnessed some beautiful scenery. Fields of sunflowers blanked stretches of visible land in yellow. We took an opportunity to use a turn out to view out over the land and stretch our legs. Remember, you can always click on the pictures to enlarge. Even though he actually bought stuff, I don't see him coming back here any time soon. The next stop was the South Dakota Air and Space Museum just outside Ellsworth Air Force Base. Much to my surprise, I think Gibran liked it here. He spent a good amount of time looking over the exhibits. Meanwhile I was looking over the security gates, wondering at what could have been if I decided to make a different choice. It was lunch time when we headed out to Rapid City. We ended up at Golden Corral. I'm not a huge fan of it but

I wasn't able to get any sleep because I was excited about taking off on this trip out west to see the eclipse. I have been waiting many years for this and it is finally here! My mom was kind enough to give me a ride to the car rental place. I had to wait a while as they weren't expectying me until noon and my vehicle wasn't ready. While I was there waiting, about half the people there were also picking up for the eclipse. One guy was going to Tennessee, another was going to Kentucky. The lady at the counter asked where I was going for her records and I told her that it depends on the weather. "Okay, from Indiana to the eclipse." I went back home, loaded up the SUV with the equipment and left to pick up Gibran. Before leaving, Gibran and I went to Walmart for some more last minute supplies: snacks. There was one last stop at Kraig's so I could borrow his 5 gallon gas tank. (Always be prepared!) Our trip took us to I-94 up to Chicago, Milwaukee, and then

In less than a week, I am headed off out west to see the Great American Eclipse. I've got my fancy solar eclipse glasses. My car and camping reservations are done. My friend Kraig is lending me a five gallon gas tank-just in case.  The tent that I ordered will be delivered on Wednesday. Yup, I'm pretty much set. I just have to hope for good weather and a little bit of luck.