21 August 2017
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Twilight Tours' tour to view the long-anticipated "Great American Eclipse" of Monday, 21 August 2017, met with unqualified success in the town of Glendo, WY, as the eclipse was observed in pristine, clear skies, by everyone on the trip.
Over 250 die-hard eclipse aficionados from 26 states in the U.S. were joined by others from 6 foreign nations, all converging on Casper, Wyoming, to witness the first transcontinental U.S. total eclipse of the sun in 99 years.
Pre-eclipse briefing.
The group was housed in 3 separate hotels in Casper, and participated in a welcoming reception at the Ramkota Hotel the first night, attended a pre-eclipse briefing the afternoon prior to the eclipse event, and enjoyed a "celebration buffet" dinner the evening following their successful observation of the eclipse on the grounds of Thomas Memorial Airport, near the Glendo State Park and reservoir.As per usual, ample shade, chairs, cold beverages, and snacks were provided to all the attending tour members at the viewing site.
5 motor coaches transported the group early on the morning of August 21st the 77 mile commute down to Glendo, thereby avoiding the expected mass of visitors to the venue of 202 people.The initial estimate of potential tourists to the area was 10,000 people, but the final size of the crowd was determined to be 150,000 people in all.
The net effect of this massive, temporary increase in population in the area, was the closure of Interstate Highway 25 leading north from Denver at the Colorado/Wyoming state line the morning of the event, and a 12 hour-plus commute southbound back to Denver, following the conclusion of the eclipse that afternoon...
Totality lasted some 2 minutes and 29 seconds, with the sun displaying several lengthy equatorial coronal streamers and scattered prominences dotting the lunar circumference.
 Totality (J. Harris) |
 3rd Contact (J. Schroeder) |
The only drama occurring that day in conjunction with the eclipse was the unwanted apparition of a hot air balloon, just minutes prior to the start of the total phase of the eclipse. The interloping vehicle appeared to be on a direct line to block the sun from observers' view, but thankfully missed obscuring the eclipse at the last moment...
 Ground view video by Greg Buchwald |
Totality video by Greg Buchwald |
Photos and videos by Dave & Jean Kodama |
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