Oxnard Shores, CA.
Spent the first night on a random street in Oxnard Shores about 5 blocks from my Dad's house, shown below. He bought it in 1968 for around $35K.
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Dad passed on March 17th. After driving past the house, I went to the mortuary to pick up his remains. We took our last road trip together and he was laid to rest on May 13th in South Bend, IN., next to Mom.
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RIP Dad. I love you.
Empty lot next to a Love's Truck Stop somewhere outside Kingman, AZ.
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This is the 2nd of 6 consecutive one-nighters. Beelining to the Solar Eclipse in Arkasas.
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Totality or bust.
Another Truck Stop, this one in Moriarty, NM
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Really windy and cold. Thankful for the propane fueled forced air heater in the Airstream Basecamp 20.
Bridgeport, OK.
Hanging out with the big guys.
KOA in Sallisaw, AR.
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This place is about 1 hour west of where totality was to begin. I wasn't sure what traffic would be like so decided to just leave in the morning, find a good spot to pull over and just wait ...
Rest Stop on Interstate 40 outside Russellville, AR.
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Arrived about 2 hours before the eclipse was to start. This thing WAY exceeded my expectations, I hardly have the words to describe it.
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At about 50% coverage there's still a certain amount of light - even at 99.9% coverage there's still a good amount of light then, at 100%, boom, dramatic change. The difference between the 99.9% and 100% is like 10 times the difference between 50% and 99.9%.
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It was shocking, it took my breath away and it happens instantly. No kidding, I almost cried.
Needless to say, the light was constantly changing, and "full auto" mode just wasn't giving good shots. This is my best one of totality. Shutter priority with auto ISO gave:
shutter speed 1/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO-100. Focal length 350mm (APS-C format).
Visitor's Center in West Memphis, AK.
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Interstate 40, after the eclipse, was a parking lot. Google maps took us on a crazy back road route to here. The signs at at visitor's center said "No Overnight Parking" but, hey, I ain't got time for that.
Cages Bend Recreation Area, Nashville, TN.
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Beeline done, this is the first muti-night stop. The first shot, below, is of the lake at he campground the remaining shots are of Andrew Jackson's Hermitage, home of the 7th President.
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Lewisburg, WV.
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My brother still has his lunch box from grammar school, circa 1969.
Greenbelt Campground, Silver Spring, MD.
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​Spent some time with my son and went into DC and also went to Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington, 1st President of the United States.
View of the Potomac from George's front yard.
Phillidelphia, PN.
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Constitution Hall, Liberty Bell, ...
Benjamin Franklin buried here.
Cape May, NJ., Lighthouse
Skyline RV Camp, NYC.
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An absolutely amazing RV campground. It's in Brooklyn right on the East River. An astounding view of the Manhattan Skyline. The first few pictures, below, are taken from right outside our camper's door.
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View of the Statue of Liberty from the Brooklyn Bridge
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"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Amazing all the way around but I think they are probably most famous for their collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Some of the stuff is like 4,000 years old!! I wonder what the Manhattan Skyline will look like in 4,000 years.
This one really caught my eye. Marble relief carved by American Charles Calverley in 1881.
Fishermen's Memorial State Park, Newport, RI.
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A lot of money in this town, both now and in the past. The Two Vanderbilt Mansions from the gilded age are here.
"This place is called "The Breakers". They only stayed here a few weeks out of the year. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
Vanderbilt bathtub carved from a single piece of marbel. Had to fill it 3 times before you could take a bath because the marble would suck all the heat from the water.
The Vestibule, over the top.
The Marble House, just down the street from The Breakers belonged to Cornelius' brother, William. It contains 500,000 cubic feet of marble.
Sun Retreats CapeCod, MA.
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Land's End
Nobska Lighthouse. Martha's Vinyard just off the coast from here.
Four Mile Creek State Park. Youngstown, NY.
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Located on the coast of Lake Erie with a view of Toronto.
Lake Erie next to the campground
Most of these pictures of Niagra Falls are taken on the Canadian side of the Falls. There are several tunnels that you can go down to get some spectaular views from below, and even behind the falls. Pretty awesome.
South Bend, Indiana.
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Parked at a friend's house for a few days and had a great time catching up.
The Midwest has great clouds.
Chicago, Illinois.
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Parked in a friend's driveway for a few days.
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, I recommend it.
Marquette, Michigan.
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"I wasn't born in the UP, but I got there as soon as I could."
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Got some great shots of Lake Superior which holds more water that the other four Great Lakes combined!
North Platte, Nebraska.
Union Pacific Railroad’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska,
is the largest railroad classification yard in the world.
Silver Summit, Utah.
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Drove from here straight through to San Luis Obispo. Whew!