Aurora to Eclipse 2024

Planning for the 2024 Great American Solar Eclipse began more than a year before April 8. Although the path of totality would pass over my brother's house near Buffalo, NY, I opted to travel to Texas in hopes of clear skies. The importance of a clear sky cannot be overemphasized when discussing the observation of totality. Eclipse chasers try to get close to the center line of the path of totality to maximize the duration of totality. And Those Who Know ... know that the difference between 99.9% totality and actual totality (100%) cannot be expressed in words.

My friend and fellow retired physics teacher, Dan Burns, was looking at North Waco as an option. I refreshed hotel reservation sites regularly hoping for availability. I expanded the search area and found a Hyatt east of Dallas that had opened their availability for the April 6-9 window. It seems they didn't know what they had. While other lodging options in the path of totality were harvesting dollars as best they could, tripling their normal rates, Hyatt was asking $105/night. Dan and I jumped on the deal.

We both made road trips of the journey to Dallas. Mine started in Bozeman and stopped by the Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs) en route to Dallas. I made a slow journey back to Bozeman via red rock country. Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Vermilion Cliffs, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, and Flaming Gorge were among the "detours."

A month later, the aurora filled the skies over North America. Montana was "in the zone." I found some dark skies near Bozeman, but the northern lights were blazing nicely over the city, too. From The Headwaters of the Missouri State Park, you felt like you were under an umbrella of aurora. We had additional decent shows in August and October.

Here's the HTML export from my Keynote slideshow of all this stuff. You show be able to advance it easily enough in your browser. It behaves nicely for me in Safari and Firefox. And decently on my iPad (once I updated to iPadOS 18.2.1). HTML exports from Keynote can sometimes be a little laggy on advancing. I use the forward arrow key to advance things on my computer and just tap the screen on my iPad.

Aurora to Eclipse 2024 [HTML export from Keynote]

If you cannot get the HTML version to play nicely, here's a movie export posted to YouTube. It plays on its own; you can pause and unpause as needed.

Aurora to Eclipse 2024 [Movie export from Keynote]

Ex-Genesis guitarist, Steve Hackett was playing a concert in Dallas two days before the eclipse, so I was able to see that.

In the video capture of our "Eclipse Party" in the Hyatt's back yard, Dan was just off the left side of the screen. The enthusiastic gentleman on the right of the screen turns out to be the brother of a teacher colleague I worked with at Rio. He texted his brother once we figured out our random connection, and his brother complimented me with a colorful characterization.

Our sense of euphoric relief cannot be overstated. We thought we might get completely blocked from totality. And we had planned long in advance and traveled great distances to be there. Dan had several family members with him. Whew!

2024 04 Great American Eclipse in Dallas Photo Album

2024 04 Eclipse Road Trip Diversions Photo Album

2024 04 Eclipse Trip iPhone Photo Album

Moab to Monument with Mom 2017

For Spring Break 2017, Jean and Dean headed to Red Rock Country. Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point State Park, Fisher Towers, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods, and Capitol Reef were visited.

2017 04 Moab to Monument with Mom

One of my photographs is now a textbook cover

My solo sojourn through southeast Utah's red rock country in spring of 2004 yielded a bounty of photos taken with my then-new Canon EOS 10D DSLR.

On my way out of the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park, an afternoon rainbow arched across the anti-solar horizon. I pulled off to the side of the road and did my best to capture an image. It was raining, and there was occasional motor traffic. And I wasn't keen to soak my expensive camera. So … challenges.

Years later, Conceptual Physical Science co-author, John Suchocki, saw a potential textbook cover in one of the images. He made it work, and the author team approved. So here it is, the cover of Conceptual Physical Science, 6th Edition, by Paul G. Hewitt, John Suchocki, and Leslie A. Hewitt: © 2017 by Pearson Higher Ed. ISBN 978-0-13-406049-1.

Red Rock Whirlwind: Nevada/Utah 2012

At the end of TAM2012, I had a fever. And the only prescription was Red Rock. So I booked a night at Zion and a night at Bryce. I rolled through the Valley of Fire and Red Canyon while in transit. I hiked much of Bryce’s Peek-a-boo loop, sinking deep into the mud of a rain-soaked section of trail. And I explored Zion’s Canyon Overlook trail early enough to have it all to myself (except for a few mountain goats).

2012 07 Fire Kolob Bryce Zion Finalists Photo Album

Nevada and Utah with the Family 2010

Jean, Heather, Tyler, Bryce, Mary, and I converged in Las Vegas and motored to Zion National Park. But not without a stop at The Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada (where Captain Kirk died in Star Trek:Generations). 

Some of us made it to Zion’s Scouts Lookout, and some braved Angels Landing. Some of us tromped up the Virgin Narrows before we motored over to Bryce Canyon. 

We were lucky enough to have some monsoon weather during our stay, so there was some drama in the sky. Some of us made it into the hoodoos along the Navajo Loop and The Queen’s Garden trail.

I caught a few keepers and a star trails shot before we headed back to Vegas and departed to our various homes.

2010 08 Fire Zion and Bryce Photo Album

Spring Break Southeast Utah 2008

I traded in the Toyota Sienna (too soon) for a Nissan Frontier 4WD Nismo so that Spring Break 2008 could include navigation of some 4x4 trails in southeast Utah. 

My buddy, Rick, came out from Grand Rapids to help me christen the truck with some red rock mud. We made the run from Moab to Monument and feared-not the unsmooth tracks or river-fords along the way. 

The Nismo performed flawlessly, and I drove back to Sacramento with a solid coat of mud to show off, despite Rick’s desire to keep the new truck clean. Tomayto-tomahto, as is always the case with Rick and me. He put up with my snoring and I put up with his TV addiction. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

2008 03 Southeast Utah Photo Album
Bonus videoclip: Rick and Dean's 4WD Adventures

Red Rocks with Chris 2006 (it kinda rhymes)

My buddy, Chris, and I explored the wilds of southeast Utah during Spring Break.

Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley, Goosenecks of the San Juan, Valley of the Gods, Goblin Valley, and Capitol Reef. Late-season Sierra snow encouraged a southern route, so we went via Las Vegas instead of Salt Lake City.

We found some new photo-ops and came away with a decent haul of keepers during “Dean’s Boot Camp.” Chris was given an appreciation for why I maintain my packing list on an Excel spreadsheet, hilarious as it seemed.

2006 04 Southeast Utah with Chris Photo Album

Red Rocks with Rick 2005

My buddy, Rick (best buds since 1969), joined me for this year’s Spring Break sojourn to the red rocks. We met up in Salt Lake City and headed down to Zion National Park.

At the Kolob Canyons entrance, we learned a critical lesson about off-roading in a minivan. In Zion (proper), we explored the East Mesa area, especially The Zion Pine. We also discovered the best restaurant in Springdale.

Next we headed up the hill to Bryce Canyon. There we learned an important lesson about the seasons and elevation. While spring had sprung at Zion (6000 ft), it was still very much winter at Bryce (8000 ft). We tramped in the snow for a bit, then headed to Red Canyon (6500 ft = Spring) and Kodachrome Basin (5000 ft = Summer) for more hiking and landscape photography.

Anyway, toolin’ around with Rick in the red rocks was awesome! Time at Ruby's outside Bryce was spent watching the premier of the US version of The Office and a Rocky movie marathon.

2005 03 Southeast Utah with Rick Photo Album

Spring Break Utah! 2004

For Spring Break I was off to Southeast Utah to revisit Arches National Park, Wilson Arch, and Monument Valley, and to get acquainted with Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Valley of the Gods, Capitol Reef, Newspaper Rock, and the Goosenecks of the San Juan. And I brought my camera along for the ride.

2004 04 Southeast Utah

Super Summer Sojourn 2003

Arches National Park
Jean and I arrived in the early afternoon and decided to proceed directly to Devil’s Garden for baking-hot hike out to Landscape Arch and environs. I returned in the evening to get the required sunset shots at Delicate Arch. The next day we toured Balanced Rock, The Windows Section, Skyline Arch, and Park Avenue before motoring on to

Durango
We met up with Heather and Tyler. We rode the D&SNGRR train to Silverton. Caught some excellent scenery and a cinder for both eyes. It was the 4th of July, so we got a fireworks show as well. From there, we proceeded the short distance to

Mesa Verde National Park
I took an afternoon tour of Balcony House; we all took a whole-day tour of the park, ending with a hands-on tour of Cliff Palace. Ten days after we left, lightning strikes started fires in the Park that caused an evacuation and closure. But for the moment, we were off to

Grand Canyon National Park
to enjoy the sights from the rim. I also managed to sneak in a few hikes below the rim. Jean arranged for us to take a float trip along the Colorado River through the twists, turns, cold water and hot air of Glenn Canyon. Next we headed northeast to

Monument Valley
and Goulding’s Lodge. Jean and I snuck into the Tribal Park before closing and got some sunset shots of the monuments. The next day we got a full tour of the park with a Navajo guide. Then it was back to Durango where Heather and Tyler headed back to Michigan. Jean and I motored south to

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
It’s 17 miles of dirt road into and out of the park. The Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan) ruins are amazing, though. On our way to Bryce Canyon we stopped off for a quick tour of the

Antelope Canyon Slot Canyons
Spectacular erosional sandstone geology. Extremely difficult to photograph. A quick photo op at

Red Rock Canyon before entering Bryce Canyon
We hiked the rim and drove to the distant viewpoints. Then it was off to

Zion National Park
Zion Canyon is a desert swamp with more varieties of plant life than can be found in Hawaii. Red rock scale model of Yosemite? After a scary stopover in Tonopah, NV (don’t ever go there), we landed in Lee Vining, CA for another installment of the

Mono Lake/Bodie
pilgrimage before heading into

Yosemite National Park
The sky had been uncooperative since Bryce Canyon. But now it was getting plain nasty. Our attempts at morning and evening shots at Mono were closed down by cloudy skies or outright electrical storms. We got more of the same in Yosemite. We shot what we could while we were there. That’s all you can ever do!