Daylight Goes Dark
Sometime in 2015, we received an email from a group of astronomers from Canada, wondering if they could rent the entire lodge for the Total Solar Eclipse coming in 2017. That was the first we’d heard of this wondrous event that would be taking place right above us. We booked them before we knew what was coming.
Soon, the buzz began and we realized what a huge deal this eclipse was really going to be…
… and how much we should have charged the Canadians.
Despite the fact that we could have booked the place for way more than we had and felt a little misled by the way things went down, we honored the price we first gave them. We heard of many other places like us who booked before they realized the impact coming, then later cancelled and rebooked for much higher rates. It was a little tempting, but one thing we do around here is stick to your word even when it hurts.
We were in the perfect location.
As we learned more, we realized we were in the path of Total Totality, which meant the whole thing would be taking place directly above our ranch, specifically the area around the lodge. A pretty huge deal for Eclipse Chasers.
As word got around our small town how many people were planning to come view this eclipse- there were AirBnB’s popping up everywhere, and a lot of people were trying to figure out how to take advantage of the surge of traffic that would ensue.
We were a little Skeptical
You hear about things happening a lot- fanatical people chasing their cause- but a lot of times it doesn’t live up to the hype. We’d already booked the lodge, so there wasn’t much more to do except get a pair of Eclipse Glasses and wait to see what happened.
Things really did start to get crazy, and at the last minute we rented our little family camping cabin out to a super cool photographer from Texas. He had booked a place in Nebraska- another perfect location- but in that last minute, clouds were in the forecast and tons of people rerouted to Wyoming, where skies were clear.
Turns out they were right
The eclipse blew us away, to be honest. We expected it to be cool, but the experience was truly amazing! So much better than we imagined! Our family decided to view the Eclipse together from a high point on the ranch, away from all of our guests.
We watched as airplanes tried to follow along, it was so crazy!
The coolest part to me, though, was how it really got dark- as though night were coming, only much faster. The eclipse took place just before noon, so it was crazy to experience such darkness at the brightest point in the day.
And it got cold! I couldn’t believe how it cooled down so much in such a short time.
It really was amazing!
Then came the aftermath
From where we viewed the Eclipse, we could see the interstate. We are very close to Glendo State Park, where there were presumed to be a crazy amount of people watching. During the Eclipse, there was not a car to be seen on the interstate, and as soon a Totality was over- the cars came flooding onto the road in epic proportion! Within minutes, the entire interstate was at a complete standstill. Pretty unbelievable considering our version of “Denver traffic” is when you see more than 10 cars on the road at the same time as you.
We headed back to check on our guests at the lodge, and start preparing dinner, when Brad got a phone call from our local Game Warden. He wanted to know if The Governor could take the shortcut through our property. Um, yes!
The Gov and his family had viewed the Eclipse from a boat on the lake- super cool- but were stuck in all that traffic. We’ve got private roads through our property that would make the perfect escape. We were happy when they stopped in at the lodge to say hi- what a fun surprise!
Have you ever been in the Path of Totality of a Total Solar Eclipse? It’s definitely worth getting in on it if you ever get the chance!
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Very cool story, Heather!!! All we had were clouds in MN & couldn’t see a thing!!?
Thanks, Aunt Judy! Bummed you guys didn’t get to see it! 🙁