We left home (La Pine) Wednesday morning and began our journey to the Mitchell, Oregon area to setup our site for the CATE Solar Eclipse Experiment in conjunction with the National Solar Observatory.
We thought we had left early enough...
We didn't.
Just outside of Prineville, Oregon the traffic came to a complete halt. Apparently there is a huge outdoor concert that is being held from Wednesday through the day of the total solar eclipse just 15 miles east of Prineville with over 30,000 people trying to get there on time.
AND in addition the Oregon Star Party (which is on the same access road part of the way) is also kicking into gear at the same time and likely well over 600 people are expected at it (it sold out a while back!)
So everyone had the same great idea: beat the crowds... and it didn't really work!
So it took us well over 30 minutes to travel just 4 miles to Prineville... and then it was stop and go all the way through town.
Once we got out of town and past the exit road to both major events there was nearly NO ONE on the road to Mitchell / John Day!
We pulled into Mitchell hoping to get the great burgers and fries from the Lone Pine Cafe (where we ate just a month+ earlier) only to find it CLOSED and up for sale! BUMMER!
But we found the only other small cafe open (The Bridge Creek Cafe) and was very pleased with the food and service there (wifi too!)
Then we headed north to our location for the Citizen CATE Experiment, which is right next to the John Day River. Though it was hot the occasional breeze made it bearable and the evening cooled us off.
The stars were phenomenal ! No city lights here!
We hit the sack about 10:30 pm and woke in the morning of the 17th to clear skies and non-smokey, too!
I set up the CATE equipment and did a practice run on the procedure because the solar sunspot group known as AR 2671 was looking mighty fine! Though I had some difficulty establishing polar alignment to my satisfaction, the sunspot group was an awesome capture!
Here's to hoping that it will go CME (coronal mass ejection) on the day of totality, as it is said that it harbors X class flare possibilities!
We thought we had left early enough...
We didn't.
Just outside of Prineville, Oregon the traffic came to a complete halt. Apparently there is a huge outdoor concert that is being held from Wednesday through the day of the total solar eclipse just 15 miles east of Prineville with over 30,000 people trying to get there on time.
AND in addition the Oregon Star Party (which is on the same access road part of the way) is also kicking into gear at the same time and likely well over 600 people are expected at it (it sold out a while back!)
So everyone had the same great idea: beat the crowds... and it didn't really work!
So it took us well over 30 minutes to travel just 4 miles to Prineville... and then it was stop and go all the way through town.
Once we got out of town and past the exit road to both major events there was nearly NO ONE on the road to Mitchell / John Day!
We pulled into Mitchell hoping to get the great burgers and fries from the Lone Pine Cafe (where we ate just a month+ earlier) only to find it CLOSED and up for sale! BUMMER!
But we found the only other small cafe open (The Bridge Creek Cafe) and was very pleased with the food and service there (wifi too!)
Then we headed north to our location for the Citizen CATE Experiment, which is right next to the John Day River. Though it was hot the occasional breeze made it bearable and the evening cooled us off.
The stars were phenomenal ! No city lights here!
We hit the sack about 10:30 pm and woke in the morning of the 17th to clear skies and non-smokey, too!
I set up the CATE equipment and did a practice run on the procedure because the solar sunspot group known as AR 2671 was looking mighty fine! Though I had some difficulty establishing polar alignment to my satisfaction, the sunspot group was an awesome capture!
Here's to hoping that it will go CME (coronal mass ejection) on the day of totality, as it is said that it harbors X class flare possibilities!
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