Once we were back on the road to Nebraska we noticed that there was very little traffic at all. We did notice a few license plates from out of state including a Honda Element that we passed from Oklahoma. I bet Todd that they were headed to eclipse watch. We planned our first photo opp to be at the Nebraska state sign. Todd Google mapped the road ahead so we would know where it was and what it looked like. Just before Chester, Nebraska we found it.
Todd and I hopped out of the car and went live on Facebook. We took several selfies and other pics. While there, we saw the Honda Element drive by and also saw a pickup truck drive by and whip a u-turn. Two men and two boys got out of the truck and walked towards us near the sign. The driver, Richard Johnson, has a camera in hand and asked Todd if he’d take their picture. We all took photos and talked about the eclipse. They were headed to a scout camp near Grand Island. We exchanged information so that we could contact each other in case of bad weather.
As we journeyed into Nebraska I told Todd we were going to use the power of positive thinking to will that there would be clear skies during the eclipse. We confirmed those thoughts with the universe and made our way to Fairmont.
Once we reached Fairmont we stopped at the only gas station we had seen on the map and filled up with gas in case there was a mad rush the next day. We talked to some of the locals and found out that a few other chasers were already in town including people from Australia. We then made our way to the city park which we had seen while flying over on Google maps. It looked just like we had seen on the computer.
There were a few scattered cars parked around the perimeter of the park so we drove in and parked in the next available space. Can you guess who was parked next to us? It was the Honda Element we had seen twice on the highway. They couple that owned it were from Guthrie, Oklahoma!
The park was a huge empty square filled with grass. There was a large water tower in the northwest corner of the park with the name Fairmont painted on the side. Next to the water tower was a corn field. On the south side of the park was a railroad track and across from it was the downtown area.
A small crowd was gathering by the water tower listening to a group of men talk. As we made our way to the group we noticed they had some very large telescopes pointed to the darkening sky. The men were an astronomy group was from Chicago. They were allowing people to view the planets through the equipment. I looked through the telescope at Jupiter and could see the tiny bands on the planet.
The first question you’ll here when chasing an eclipse from everyone there is, “Where are you from?” We heard that many times and discovered there were people from all over the country with a heavy number of folks from Minnesota. I asked the head astronomer if he would pick up and move the next day of the weather was bad. He said they would stay put because all of his research said we were in the best spot to see the eclipse and getting stuck in traffic would be worse than staying put.
For Todd and I, that was the knowledge we needed to stay put no matter what they weather forecast was saying. Friendly townspeople were passing out coozies and telling us that the American Legion was open for business that night. Todd and I walked the couple of blocks to the Legion had a drink with the locals. They asked us lots of questions and we asked them just as many. We watched the weather on TV which was predicting heavy clouds and possible rain for eclipse day.
Todd and I made our way back to the BuzzMobile where we climbed in and got ready for the night. The weather could not have been better and with the windows down we were never bothered by a single bug. The only problem we encounter through the night was the loudest train I had ever heard. It made its way by the park at least three times during the night. It was so loud that the campers on the other side of us decided to switch locations so it would not keep them awake all night.
Leave a Comment