Road-Trippin' Eclipse 2017 Ashford, WA

Hello Steemit! This is my first attempt at blogging and I liked to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I love traveling and would like to share a few details and pictures of a recent road trip I took in beautiful Washington state.

I left my home near Seattle WA at about 3:30pm on Sunday, the day before the eclipse. This was going to be a mini adventure, less than 24 hours, since I had to be back at work at 2:30 pm on Monday. You would think this event could of been scheduled on a 3 day holiday weekend instead of a workday, who do I speak to about this?!

My dear friend @gregquixote, (world traveler and soon to be famous author, and blogger) agreed to accompany me. He did the monotonous chore of driving and my job was to be the navigator with the help of google maps. Does anyone remember how we survived before we all started carrying a hand held device with all the knowledge known at this time to mankind?!

We were headed to Ashford WA, which sits about 6 miles outside of Rainier Nation Park. The population of this quaint town is 217 according to Wikipedia. I enjoyed my view of the scenic backroads and Mt Rainier from the passenger seat of my friend's truck.

Thanks to social media I learn about this celestial event only 3 weeks before it happened. I was lucky to find a vacant cabin to rent and Amazon delivered the much needed eye protection to my doorstep. Life is good!![IMG_2996.JPG]
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Just putting this out on the grapevine...the rental company is called Three Bears Lodge and I stayed in The Little Bear Cabin. I give it 4 1/2 stars. The accommodations were clean and well maintained. The hot tub divine and the bed was very comfortable. Taking a half star off for the shower. If you stay there, remove the shower head from the bracket and adjust the temperature before allowing the scolding hot or the glacier freezing cold water to hit your naked body!

The big event finally arrived.This is a screenshot from accuweather.com

The eclipse was only 95% and just 2% more than what I would of seen from my own front door. However, it was a great excuse to leave the city and take a short break from my busy summer work schedule. Had I not known this was taking place, I can not guarantee I would of realized it was even happening.

It felt like late afternoon. The temperature dropped and the shadows became very long.
Do you notice the eclipse shape in the shadows?
Here's another pic using my iPhone 7. Notice the reflection of the sun to the left.

After seeing videos from a friend who chased the totality, I have decided to put it on my bucket list. 95% sounds good but I want to experience 100%. Do places even take reservations for 2024 yet?

This was my first attempt at blogging. My fingers are crossed that it turns out when I push the POST button. I would gladly except help on how to navigate this exciting, new to me technology.

Journey safe!