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Living in the Moment: Carhenge and Clouds #MondayBlogs #Carhenge #clouds

Context: Two years ago my husband and I (well, mostly my husband) started planning a trip to see the Total Solar Eclipse. Not the Partial Solar Eclipse which would be and was visible in Tallahassee. No, the Total as in TOTAL. And the Solar Eclipse, not the car.

Originally we were going to go to Madras, Oregon, and because my husband would need to bring a lot of gear, we would have to drive. Ah, those were innocent days when we talked about driving all the way to Oregon, maybe staying at a B-and-B close by, taking time to visit friends in the state, maybe try to squeeze in a visit to the San Francisco Bay Area . . ..

Yeah, well, my husband and I always have big ideas when we don’t have to act on them.

About a year ago, my husband learned that the Astronomical League would hold its annual national convention in Casper, Wyoming, over a few days before the eclipse. Casper was in the path of totality. Why drive all the way to Madras when we could save time (and money) by going to Casper? This was probably one of the smartest decisions we (ever) made. My husband is a member of the Astronomical League and so he was able to obtain hotel accommodations at a discount. The main hotel was already booked solid, but we were able to get one of the last rooms in Evansville, just outside Casper.

I left my husband in charge of the remaining accommodations for our trip, along with the itinerary.

The first two days of driving were not much fun as it seemed to take forever to get out of the southeast. Two-lane interstates where semi-trucks played leapfrog with each other and automobile drivers with frayed nerves jockeyed to get around them. Our first stop was Olive Branch, Mississippi; the second was North Kansas City, Missouri. By the end of the second day, I was convinced that I was too old for this kind of traveling and that I would need a stockpile of anti-anxiety drugs if I was ever to do it again.

In an upside-down kind of good fortune, we woke to a thunderstorm on our third day. We still had to get through Kansas and a bit of Nebraska before we’d reach Wyoming. We watched the weather and studied our paper maps. In times like this, our map apps are essentially useless. We found a highway we could turn on to from the interstate. Highway 36 aka the Pony Express Highway. We would be driving right into the storm, but it was moving fast and with any luck, we wouldn’t be wet for long.

The good fortune was in us having a need to get off the interstate. Interstates are presumably designed for speed but often they are at best boring, at worst ugly as sin with miles of billboards blocking what little scenery there might be. And those are the well-maintained interstates.

By contrast highways have a slower speed limit and fewer amenities such as rest stops but you get to see the country, you drive through small towns that you wouldn’t otherwise know existed. In Kansas we saw rolling green hills, miles of cornfields, dairy farms, cows lazing in the grass: it looked just like north New York, where I spent my childhood. I had no idea that Kansas could be so lovely. And the sky . . . so much sky. The storm had left behind some amazing clouds in its wake. Another thing you can do on a highway that you can’t do on an interstate: pull over and take pictures.

Outside Fairview, Kansas:

A “roll cloud” … look it up.

During our drive, my husband reminisced about other cross-country trips he had taken and how unnerving it could be to see the Earth’s curvature. So when I turned around, away from the roll cloud and saw another cloud just barely visible at the horizon, I got a little queasy.

Cloud BELOW the horizon

Another advantage of driving highways is you can have side-trip adventures. Carhenge just happened to be on our way.

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Next stop North Platte, Nebraska and then on to Wyoming! And Happy Labor Day to all of you (including me) who are grateful to have the day off!

P.S. I’m back to writing an original once a week with occasional interludes. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Marie A Bailey

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19 responses to “Living in the Moment: Carhenge and Clouds #MondayBlogs #Carhenge #clouds”

    • I think road trips might have been more fun a couple of decades ago 😉 I drove cross-country three times, but the last time was in 1990. Still I don’t remember all the traffic and the semis that we encountered on this trip. Three straight days of driving is exhausting but we had a destination so no dawdling was allowed. And yet there is something compelling about just getting in the car and taking off … 🙂

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  2. Wow, Marie Ann! I don’t know where you started out, but that is one hellacious road-trip. No wonder you spend years planning it. I used to dream of getting a one way rental of an RV and traveling Route 66 to the “end of the trail.” However, I’m less and less ambitious with anything involving travel. I’m glad you had a great time, and that you’re letting us come along virtually. Hugs.

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    • lol … we started in Tallahassee, Florida, and definitely driving through Alabama and Mississippi was hellacious 🙂 I didn’t look forward to coming back that way, but it couldn’t be helped, especially since we had to keep Harvey to the south of us. My husband and I would probably just sell everything and travel if we could, but we have three cats. The little furry beasts are just like having children … except they don’t move out 😉

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  3. I’m glad it all worked out–and that you got to see the eclipse!
    I’m not a fan of long road trips (or short ones, for that matter). 🙂 I would love to have a Star Trek transporter to just zap me to wherever I want to go.

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    • I feel we were so fortunate on this trip: seeing the eclipse but also the ability to skirt bad weather and visit what is now my new dream city — Santa Fe, NM 😉 That said, I’d love to be able to just “beam” myself where I want to be. I wish the US invested more in train travel. That would be the next thing I’d like to do, if I can ever afford it 😉

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    • Thanks, Jeri! There will be more but I’m spreading out the posts. I go back to my day job tomorrow so it’s back to balancing between what I want to do and what I’m paid to do 😉

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  5. Love your photos, Marie. I love to look at clouds. I often get dizzy thinking about the earth’s curvature.
    I’m glad you took us along on this journey. Carhenge is hilarious!
    I know what you mean about trucks leapfrogging. Trips to Houston have been nerve wracking with all of the trucks.

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  6. I love road trips, but my wife gets car sick easily. 😦 So much great Americana out there. I have many great memories of long road trips with my parents to see my grandparents who lived a few states over.

    Looking forward to your regular posts!

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    • We really enjoyed Carhenge and I was surprised by how bucolic Kansas was. I’m grateful we made the trip and got to see so many beautiful places 🙂

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