A Whirlwind Tour!
Wassa Jr. watches the eclipse safely with eclipse glasses. There are eight leftovers now in the AQ marketplace! |
Of course, we made a few stops along the way.....
We hiked to a bigfoot trap in southern Oregon.
We stopped to visit Amanda's sister in Folsom, checking out her new home.
And we visited my mom in San Luis Obispo. As many of you know, she does hair professionally, and I decided to try something new and a bit out of my comfort zone and am now sporting blonde hair with a blue streak along one side (a racing stripe!) with an asymmetrical cut. I wasn't sure if I'd like it and I figured if I didn't, I'd shave it all off and start from scratch. =) But in the end, I found it acceptable and kept it. For now, at least. I'm not sure I exactly like it, but I do like the fact that it's so different. =)
They say blondes have more fun.... I think they're right! =) |
The next evening, Doublesaj and Old Blue hosted us at their place where we feasted on pizza.
And then it was the Big Day. Yeah, okay, Fantasy Island was pretty cool, but for me, the eclipse was the main event. That's the one thing that brought me down to California. This would be my fourth center-line eclipse (two total, two annular). It never gets old, and never have I had to travel so little to get to one! =)
So I planned a gathering of letterboxers at the letterboxing mecca of Northern California: Hog Heaven Plateau. Dozens of pig-themed letterboxes in honor of Funhog are hidden around the plateau. Amanda and I had found all of them in a past visit, but a dozen more had popped up since our last visit. (I stupidly thought I'd have time to find all the new boxes--turns out, I spent all my time admiring the eclipse and keeping my telescope pointed at it.)
Thunderbird took this multiple exposure shot of the eclipse from Hog Lake Plateau. Wow! |
Amanda and I stayed long after sunset with a few other hearty letterboxers at which point we pointed the telescope to a beautiful crescent Venus, a dull red blog named Mars, and a spectacular view of Saturn's rings. Definitely a good night for planets!
I'm on top of the concrete truck talking to the driver while we wait for help to arrive. |
The concrete truck we were following lost control and crashed. Amanda stopped the car and I jumped out to help. Amanda's cell phone wasn't getting a signal, so I told her to drive off to a location where she could call for help while I tried to see what I could do for the driver the truck. I could see the driver through the windshield, squished up against the passenger side door of the overturned truck. He was moving, but was definitely banged up a bit with blood on his face and shirt. I yelled over to Amanda to make sure they sent an ambulance along with whatever other rescue crews were on their way. I was also a little concerned about the liquid I saw spilling out from the underside of the truck. Fuel? Oh, please don't let that be fuel. Please don't let that catch on fire!
Amanda had just gotten the car turned around when another vehicle arrived--a woman with a cell phone that did get a signal--so she called 911. I asked the driver if his leg was stuck and he didn't really answer--more of a grunt really--but he managed to move around and stood up in the cab. That was good, he's moving on his own and it didn't appear to be stuck. Well, he was stuck in the cab--but he had full movement within the cab. He was also a very big man. Easily over 300 pounds. How the heck would he get out of there? I didn't think he could fit through the windshield.
The girl in front called 911 while the other truck driver is talking to the driver and using the radio in the truck to notify their employer. |
At this point, I didn't know what else to do except tell him that help was on its way. He said his back hurt, and we asked if that his back pain was normal. (No, it wasn't.) All things considered, I wasn't terribly worried about it being severe considering how much he was able to move around. He certainly wasn't paralyzed or anything. He even joked that he'd be back at work in a couple of hours. (I joked back that he should take the rest of the day off--he deserved it!)
A couple of minutes later, another driver of a concrete truck driving in the other direction came along the accident scene who pulled over to help--and he was an enormous relief to have around. He knew the driver, used the radio in the truck to contact their employer, and pulled out paperwork about what the truck was carrying for the emergency crews--none of which I thought to do. He went into the truck and kicked out the windshield to help get more air for the driver.
Another passing vehicle soon stopped to help. He had those orange cones in his car along with safety vests and a stop sign and started directing traffic around the wreck. Holy cow! Who carries that sort of stuff with them in the car?!
Well, my job here is done..... |
When he found out we actually witnessed the accident, he asked us a few questions about what happened which we answered, then he took down my contact information and said that was all he needed, and off we continued our journey to Burney Falls--after losing an hour at the wreck. As we were about to leave, a helicopter arrived--I guess they decided something faster than an ambulance was necessary and they sent a helicopter to evacuate the driver
Later, we learned that other letterboxers that morning at Hog Lake Plateau had seen all of the rescue vehicles headed to the wreck--unbeknownst to them where we were already at Ground Zero.
Love Burney Falls! You can even see the water pouring directly out as a sheet from the rock cliff face! |
The rest of the trip home was, thankfully, uneventful. All-in-all, we had a fantastic time! I hope someone puts together another Angel Island campout because there are a lot more letterboxes left I haven't gotten. Another eclipse event might not be in the cards for quite some time (the next centerline eclipse to hit the United States is in 2017), but I'm already looking forward to doing something for that as well! Perhaps somewhere near Kentucky where the eclipse lasts the longest....