To Arkansas for the Eclipse!

April 8, 2024, was the date of the total Eclipse across the United States. For this event I went with Lori, Eric, and my granddaughter, Ellie to Mountain Home, Arkansas. We stayed at the River House of my brother, Ray Stahl and viewed the eclipse at 100% from Ray and Edie’s farm. This is a “short” blog of our trip! What an super experience!

A full day of travel in 4 states, NC, TN, MO, AR, until we reached the White River in Norfork, AR. Eric’s brother, Jason, nephew, Paxton, and Dad, Jim, met us in Mountain Home for this adventure.

Crossing the Mississippi into boot of Missouri then across the state of Arkansas to our final destination.

Sunday morning the river welcomed us with sunshine and pleasant sounds of nature and the river.

Sunday morning on our way to church, we were greeted with sunshine and a beautiful butterfly on the phlox. This is going to be a great weekend.

Three restful nights, beautiful sunsets and pleasant mornings by the River helped to make this a wonderful vacation and once in a lifetime experience.

Monday dawned bright and clear for a perfect day for the eclipse. We were in the path of 100% totality. Nephews, Aaron and Brian Stahl and their family and friends along with the NC, TN and GA family met on Ray’s front yard to share in this experience with us.

Before and after the event, family had time to enjoy the farm and to visit!

Ellen’s task was to set up and capture as much of the actual eclipse as possible. I needed extra help setting up and holding my camera steady as the sun was almost directly overhead. It is surprising how fast the sun moves across the sky. Set-up required several changes in location. It is a good thing that the moon was able to catch-up to the fast moving the sun!

I used my Nikon with a special super dense filter for photos of the stages of the eclipse. Totality was without a filter. I used my iPhone for the others shots of the event.

Everything changes when the eclipse is in totality.

The sky and animals go into evening mode during the totality of the eclipse. We heard the owls begin to hoot and the evening insects began to swarm. But the 360 degree sunset on my iPhone was amazing.

Everyone was careful to use their solar glasses

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The Main Event began around 12:40 pm CDT in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Over the next hour we watched as the moon moved across the sun. Watching this through my camera with a super dark filter was amazing.

Individual Stages of the Eclipse

Viewing totality without glasses. Ellie was awe struck with the sight!

After the diamond ring photo, the filter went back on quickly to capture the moon as it went on it way. I only took a few pictures on it journey away from the sun but it was a glorious event for everyone.

Now it was time to eat, visit and to enjoy the remainder of Monday. Hikes, riding into the woods on the gator and an exciting games of “Spoons” completed our day!

This was a great opportunity for cousins to spend time on the farm.

Thanks so much to Ray, Edie, Brian and Aaron for sharing this special events with family from North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia!