Written By: Scott Krycia
Nothing is more exciting than standing in a field with a few hundred people waiting for the sun to go down in the middle of the day. Or standing in a parking lot, feeling the night chill as you wait for the moon to go dark.
Solar and lunar eclipses are magical wonders of the sky. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow, which causes the moon to be darkened. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, obscuring the view of the sun from a small part of Earth, which can be totally or partially.
There will be some lunar and solar activity in 2025 including: March 14, a total lunar eclipse, March 29, a partial solar eclipse, and September ,7 a total lunar eclipse. Viewing depends on your area. The next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States will be on August 22, 2044.
The solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, was going to be a show in the skies. This event with totality only happens every few years, last one being in 2017, which I also photographed.
Much planning went into what camera equipment to take, what silly t-shirt to wear and where to go to photograph this special event.
We decided on the Adirondacks, an area we are already familiar with. We set out the day before, van packed and excited for the adventure ahead. Since we were driving there was no limit on the gear we could bring with us.
Seemed it was going to be a restful night until we looked at the weather forecast. What was originally going to be clear skies in the Adirondacks was now forecast to be cloudy. What to do at 6pm at night? Why we drive to Vermont of course.
The drive took a little longer than expected as we kept checking the weather apps and trying to figure out if mother nature would cooperate. We decided on Newport Vermont, which was in the path of totality. A truck stop was the perfect spot to get some sleep for the night.
The big day was filled with anticipation, excitement, and the search for the perfect spot. We drove around for a bit and decided on the hilly area by a local big-box store. To our surprise, hundreds of other folks had the same idea. The parking lot was full of eclipse tailgaters. A fun atmosphere for sure as we readied our cameras to get the shot.
As usual, we had to field some motorhome questions, since people are always interested in our ride.
The eclipse was magical. At one point I forgot to remove the protective filter from the camera, I was so caught up in viewing the sky’s spectacle. Then came the drive home.
The nice thing about travelling in a motorhome is that driving duties can be shared. We started the trek home in a slowwww crawl which continued for about 13 hours. It was a memorable experience, and we are already planning for the next one.