In 2013, my sister created a Facebook page and invited the family to a reunion for the summer of August 2017 to see the solar eclipse in its totality. We may have thought she was nuts for planning so far in advance…. but I’m so glad she did! She’s a middle school science teacher, so you can imagine what seeing this eclipse in totality meant to her. She even prepared a slide show presentation for the family on how and why we were going to see what we would see. Then, when she discovered there were campers near the lodge where we were staying, she invited all of them to participate. She spoke to a group of roughly 100 people and educated us, had us laughing and smiling, and created even more excitement for what we were to see the following day. 
Everything you read about experiencing an eclipse in its totality is true- except it’s so much better. The sky starts to slowly get darker in an almost eerie way. The temperature drops considerably- enough that we needed jackets and blankets well before totality occurred. Stars become visible, just like the night sky. Honestly, I’ve never experienced something like it! And just as quickly as it comes in, it rolls away. And the sun, even with just a sliver showing, shines so brightly that it lights up the sky immediately and the warmth starts to return.
Everyone clapped and cheered the second totality happened. Glasses were dropped as we stared straight at the sun and the moon all at once. And it felt amazing. What we were experiencing and seeing felt unreal, but we sat there seeing it and feeling it! And as quickly as it comes, it goes just as fast. Glasses are picked back up and the light returns. Something that you’ve anticipated for so long is over in just a few short moments. My cousin took a timelapse video of the area where we watched the eclipse. Click Here to check it out- it’s pretty cool!
The best part of this solar eclipse event was the people we got to experience it with. On our long drive home we asked our kids what the best part of the weekend was. As much as they loved the eclipse experience, they all placed it second to hanging out with their cousins. And that is the real reason we drove north for nine hours. 
*As a sidenote- there were all sorts of scares about what we might encounter in Eastern Idaho in regards to food and gas availability, traffic, etc. We had no trouble with food- the stores seemed deserted. Even the checkout guy at Albertson’s told us they were sending people home and had way too much inventory. Every gas station we stopped at didn’t even have a line. As far as traffic- we didn’t encounter anything out of the normal, but we waited until Tuesday morning to head for home. It was a successful trip and I’m so glad we decided to go! Ever heard someone say, “You’ll never regret taking the trip?” Totally true. Our kids had to miss three days of school for this eclipse/family reunion. It was worth every minute for all of us!
