Eclipse 2017

Here is our eclipse photo from Monday, the day of the Great American Eclipse.  We returned from Sun Valley, Idaho on Wednesday where we viewed the eclipse and it turned out to be a great location because there was no crowd at all and it was a wonderful vacation.

We've made the drive many times so it wasn't a big deal for us to drive there.  Usually, it is 8 hours to Boise and then another 2-1/2 hours to Sun Valley but we weren't sure how much traffic there would be with everyone heading to view the eclipse so we left on Saturday at 5:30 a.m.  We went with our friends, Eric and Sheryl and their adult daughter, who had rented a VRBO condo right next to Dollar Mountain Lodge.  They left on Friday night and drove as far as Hermiston, Oregon.  We were texting to each other much of the trip, keeping tabs of each's progress.  We've known this family since Lauren was in preschool and their oldest daughter is still friends with Lauren.  So, our history goes way back.  We were all thrilled to be able to share this lifetime experience together.  And it was truly a wonderful experience.  The day of the eclipse was very low key since there was not the large crowds that everyone was predicting.  We just walked over to the lodge from our condo with our folding chairs and got real comfortable.  As you can see, there weren't that many people.

Eric has a nice camera and equipment and took the above photo of the sun's corona.  He was taking photos every 5 minutes of the eclipse.    

It was so exciting to see the eclipse. Sun Valley had totality for about 1 minute and 10 seconds and it got really dark.    

The drop in temperature was at least 20 degrees where we were.  It was in the 80's in Sun Valley so when the temperature started to drop if felt very refreshing at first. 

Then it started to get down right cold! The whole experience was so thrilling.

Once the sun was totally blocked, the lodge rang a bell which meant we could take off our eclipse glasses and look at the sun's corona.  Then everyone who was there clapped and cheered.  It had finally happened!  

As we looked around at the darkness, we could see the sunset surrounding the mountains.  It was so beautiful and serene.  We could see one lone star, Venus, shinning brightly along with the sun's corona.  It was the longest 1 minute and 10 seconds I've ever experienced because we were trying to take it all in as much as we could.   We were so glad that we decided to do this because with all the news reports of hordes of people and traffic congestion, we almost decided not to go.    I'm glad we are adventurous and went because apparently all the hordes of people were scared off.  The highway going up to Sun Valley was wide open. 

Before the road up to Sun Valley, our drive was all interstate and we made our usual time with no traffic backups. In fact, we got to Sun Valley so much earlier than expected that Sheryl and I were texting back and forth about what to do for dinner.   We thought we'd be eating on the road because of the delay of getting there with projected traffic.   We decided to stop at Whole Foods in Boise and pick up some hamburger patties and buns to barbecue at the condo, so that's what we did.  We both arrived at the rented condo in Sun Valley at the same time, around 4:40 pm.  We were so excited to start exploring but we unpacked and fixed dinner of barbecued hamburgers and corn-on-the-cob and ate on our lovely deck with a view of aspen trees.  We were all starving because we hadn't really stopped for lunch during our road trip since we had so many snacks in the car.  As we ate our dinner, we heard music that sounded like an outdoor concert.  We realized that the sign we had noticed driving into town was the concert of Huey Lewis and the News and it was going on right now.  So after we ate, we postponed cleaning up the dinner dishes and immediately headed out to explore on foot.  We couldn't believe how close we were to the Sun Valley Lodge,  

the infamous ice arena

and the Pavilion where the concert was going on. 

We didn't have tickets to the concert but you could hear the music perfectly.  We walked around and then near the end of the concert they opened the gates for anybody to walk in.  We were able to be there for their encore and join in on some of their most popular songs.  It was so exciting.

We had forgotten how dark it gets at night when you're not in the city and luckily we had our cell phones to light up our way back home because it was pitch black walking back to the condo!  The next morning we walked over to Dollar Mountain to check out where we would watch the eclipse and it was basically a few steps away from our front door.  

We determined it was a perfect spot so the decision was made.  We didn't want to be over by the Pavilion where there was an organized gathering for the eclipse. This turned out to be a perfect place.

Bruce decided to go golfing that day and the rest of us decided to take the Roundhouse Gondola for some more scenic views.  

Again, no crowds and after we bought our tickets, we just walked onto the gondola.

It was a gorgeous ride and we ended up being midway up Bald Mountain on the River Run side.   We exited the gondola just in time to have lunch at the Roundhouse, a historic, rustic lodge with sit-down, white tablecloth dinning.  We opted to sit outside on the large deck overseeing the views.  The food was incredible.  We ordered some truffle fries to munch on along with our lunch.  

I ordered the Mezze Platter which was hummus, house yogurt, falafel, feta cheese and some pickled peppers with warm pita bread.  It was the perfect lunch. 

You can't go wrong eating in Sun Valley.  The food everywhere is top quality.  Since it wasn't crowded, we made reservations to eat at Gretchen's in the Sun Valley Lodge on our last evening in town, Monday night.  We were seated outside right in front on the ice arena and even watched some skaters practicing. It was just lovely.   

We started with drinks and I ordered a Pimm's Cup since I don't see them offered very often.  I like how they fixed them with raspberries, an idea I might try next time.

They used a lot of foods in season like fresh corn and berries in the menu selections.  Bruce and I both ordered the Crab Tagliatelle pasta, house-made with blue crab and sweet corn in a lemon, parmigiano-reggiano, prosecco and lobster butter sauce.  We both loved it!  The lumps of crab were huge.

We all ordered dessert, too.  We ordered three of their desserts to share; the Key Lime pie, panna cotta, and their popular chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream with little chocolate crunchies sprinkled over it all.    

It was a fantastic meal and we were so happy to be able to make this our grand finale in  Sun Valley.  We really felt like we were having a vacation after all the stress of anticipating the eclipse and unknown situation with traffic and crowds.  Sheryl and I had brought enough food for a week so we really did not need to go out but it's still fun to have a special evening out in beautiful Sun Valley.  Bruce and I took our bikes and did some riding around the area which was fun and it was also nice to just walk around the Sun Valley Lodge.  There is so much history there.

It turned out to be a lovely vacation that just happened to have a day where a total eclipse occurred. The universe has spoken.  

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