Solar Eclipse 2024: Day 1 - The Leap

Driving, driving, sandwich, astronomy, driving, driving, sleep!

Every road trip begins with the leap.
The long drive. The straight shot. The great escape.
Your mission is simple; get as far as you can as quickly as you can.

Well, not always.

Sometimes it begins with a scramble to finish things last minute. Throwing all of the things into the car, scanning the apartment for sundry items or things that you figure you might need (but probably wont), and trying your best to compel the cat to come anywhere near you so that you can betray them in a dramatic twist by slipping them into the upright pet carrier when they least expect it.

Sylvester, the tuxedo cat of whom I am roommates with, has been initiated to the ritual, and so… under the bed is where they reside at the first signs of packing. I cant tell if I was lucky this time, or he had accepted his fate to sit in a comfy box with toys and treats for an hour while I drive him to the house of the parental unit so he can be well tended for. Sorry. I meant “sublease” with another person for a week.

Also, my sister just returned from her Florida trip, and in an olympic torch handoff, taking her from the airport to her home was the actual beginning of the trip.

From that point, I became a creature of transitory existence. An apparition consisting of speed, dried mangoes, and boomer road-trip Spotify songs.

Goodbye Minnesota. Hello Wisconsi… sorry… goodbye Wisconsin. Hello Illinois.

Indeed, the one true stop in the land of cheese and trees was to the town of Janesville for an opportunity to sit and eat something that didn’t come from a bag. There, a local down-to-earth sandwich joint resided. I ordered a meatball sub with house-made mozzi, and had a fanciful conversation with the server about eclipses, and geekery.

An astronomy major herself, she was also a witness of the full solar from 7 years ago, and while having a different disposition about what images it inspired at the moment of the totality, had no less amazing memories.

This time around, she hadn’t even thought about going to see it. Rather, she admitted she was terrible at planning, in which I exchanged a clear signal of unity as a fellow ADHD adult. Also, she talked about how she fell away from anything astronomical after leaving school; another experience shared, as I originally went in for music performance as a singer, and did little with it except for the times I’m sitting at a bon fire one or two drinks in, and someone managed to bring a guitar.

I wrapped up, bought a gin bottle that was on clearance, and departed. While I was in Janesville, I did check out a store called Carousel Consignment that caught my eye with a rainbow of colors eluding to a circus theme, which ended being more of an antique shop.

Nothing jumped out to me, except for a self-improvement / start-a-business bundle from the mid 2010’s that was meant for aspiring authors with unique skills. It came with a workbook, a video read-along guide, and a DVD.

I very much intend to entertain myself with the interesting parts, and then burn the rest in a camp-fire later in my trip. Except for the DVD. I’ll probably have fun tossing it at things before I throw it away.

Finally, the trip was near over. Starving Rock State Park in Illinois, a place of historical legends, beautiful bluffs, and expensive lodges and cabins with already occupied campsite.

Which I should mention; with everything being reserve-in-advance, it makes it extremely difficult to embody the “go with the wind” spirit of the occasion.

Decisions. Find a campsite that has a vacancy? All full. Find a nature preserve to set up tent? The sun is already down and the temperature sucks. Find an Econo Suite and crash in a two-star hotel for the evening? … Yeeeah.

…

So there is where I ended the first day.

The second will be the actual start of the vacation; the part where I get to see interesting things, take photos, do some video for content creation, and begin enjoying things.

See you next post!