a modest proposal

Ian W sent out an interesting message, a meandering memorandum, sharing his initial thoughts on an eclipse trip.

He got to thinking, after a recent astronomy talk, about the 2017 solar eclipse which would travel over North America. He wanted to see it. But he didn't necessarily want to do package vacation, like many of the past RASC-organised trips; rather, he was very interested in doing a road trip.

Driving out and back, camping, "tents and telescopes," roughing it. Enjoying the dark skies. Getting into the lee of the mountains where the weather prospects would be better. Maybe using a farmer's field as home base. His idea of "five-star top-shelf" travel is a country campground, lots of space, campfires and BBQs, clear skies, few neighbours, etc.

He wondered if the Nebraska Star Party would be planned around eclipse time. It's held at Merritt Reservoir State Park near Valentine, Nebraska, a place he always wanted to visit.

I was very intrigued. Could be my first total solar eclipse! It would be a lot of fun to travel (slowly) to the eclipse centreline and share the experience with close friends. The proposed style I could afford.

25 months out...

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Katrina reminded Ian to reach out to Greg in Denver, an astronomer they had met and become friends with at OzSky.