Was seeing the eclipse worth the trip?

It seemed like more trouble than it could possibly be worth…miss school days and workdays, fly from San Francisco to Denver, , rent a car, drive 90 miles to Cheyenne, stock up on provisions at 1:00am just in case the widespread accounts of water and food shortages were true, then wake up at 5:30am to drive the remaining 100 miles to Glendo, Wyoming. Population 250.
Then, facing hours and hours of dead gridlock for hundreds of miles, turn around and repeat the trip in the same day knowing that we would be just a handful of the 600,000 people expected from the Denver area.
All that, for two and a half minutes of totality. Weeks of planning, hours of flying and driving all for an experience that lasts about as long as browning a piece of toast.
The planning paid off and our early start coupled with being 90 miles ahead of the majority of the Denver traffic got us into Glendo only about a half hour longer than if we had been traveling on normal day.
Glendo is nestled in a mix of plains and high desert bluffs with sage and cactus growing in abundance. The local law enforcement was on top of their game and handled the enormous human wave efficiently and kindly. We drove through the heart of town which consisted of a gas station, a bar, a couple restaurants and a post office, most of which had closed in favor of setting up tents selling food and drinks for their visitors.
The town itself stopped literally at the end of that road blocked by a gate which turned into a private driveway.
The land at the end of the road spanned many many acres and led to several plateaus overlooking the Glendo Reservoir. We left the car close to town and decided to just walk and check things out not knowing whether or not there would be room left and not wanting to chance giving up a prime parking spot in town.
We spotted highest bluff on the property and decided that would be just the spot to watch the big show. Scampering up the hill just minutes before the moon started its path across the sun, we could see the entire reservoir and miles of desert, bluffs, and grass in every direction.
None of us had experienced a total eclipse so we didn’t really know what to expect. We had done our research and read about animals acting strangely, the temperature dropping, stars and planets being clearly visible….but while those things all did happen, none of what we read could really capture the enormity of those few special minutes.
We put our glasses on the second the moon started taking bites out of the sun. Half covered, 80% covered, 90% covered and remarkably, very little difference could be discerned. The day was still bright although, not so bright as to need sunglasses, it was more the light of a cool winter sun.
At around 97%, with just a sliver of sun left, a small pack of deer ran by out of nowhere, but even then, the light was clearly still day although the temperature had cooled noticeably. We watched intently with our glasses on until the last pin prick of light disappeared from our lenses and then the magic really started.
Glasses off and there it was. Feathery white flares dancing around the edge of black disc, the deep pinks and blues of sunset in every direction as far as one could see, a handful of planets and stars teasing the sky. The tiniest speck of sunlight that had been powerful enough to keep the daylight in place was gone, replaced by the twinkling of our very own star.
There was something weirdly intimate about being able to just gaze at her, though veiled by the moon, we were free to just look up and stare with our naked eyes. And just as suddenly as the moon had immodestly revealed her, a defiant blast of light peaked around the top edge of the moon returning the day to the sky, painfully forcing us to shelter our eyes from her once again. And in that moment we all wanted nothing more than to be able to gaze upon her for just a little while longer, irrationally hoping for an encore, or for the moon to change its mind and stay a bit more.
But of course, that didn’t happen. The sun took back her day and the crowds in town cheered while we quickly turned to each other comparing photos and confirming that those two and a half minutes had definitely been worth all the effort.
