2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658

Seeing a complete solar eclipse at the point of greatest totality is a peak experience. Getting there might be a challenge. But it’s worth it. I take you all the way through it in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Path To The Eclipse

We start about 40 miles south of Chicago, Illinois. Taking Illinois 1 all the way down to US 45. Then onto the Shawnee National Forest. Our target is a place called Makanda. This is the location for the longest point of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017. This is a town very close to the southern border of the Land Of Lincoln.

Little Town At The Edge Of Illinois

Lots of talk about about Carbondale, Illinois as the point of totality. Truth is, the longest period of totality at a little more than 2 minutes occurs in Makanda, a little town about twenty miles south of Carbondale. During Part 1 of the eclipse podcasts we talked with some locals and spectators. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658 we experience it.

A Peak Experience

With all the media these days it seems like people want to experience everything through media. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to actually go to an event and experience it in person. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Eclipse energy is a real thing

On the trip and at the event we saw people struggling with pre eclipse issues. We were pushing so hard to get everything perfect it made for a very stressful trip. At one point my friend Steve said, “We’re in the path of totality now, so it really doesn’t matter where we see it”. Twenty minutes later we found the perfect spot.

Hope To See Everyone Again

Especially relevant is the real feeling of camaraderie we experienced with all the people in this little town, who came to experience the total eclipse of the sun. I think it’s fair to say we all want to come back in 2024 for the next total solar eclipse. In April of 2024 the path of totality runs through Makanda, again. In 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658.

Sponsored by Brush Studio in The West End Saint Louis Park Minnesota

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 2-Podcast 658

 

 

 

Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654

After three years at the motorcycle rally at Sturgis, South Dakota it gets harder to find the story. Lots of engine revving and people partying. Been there. Done That. This time I found a slightly more reserved part of the Sturgis Rally, in Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Travel Advice

I get a lot of requests for travel advice. Been all over and through the USA more than once in Mobile Podcast Command. Up and down both coasts. One thing I’ve learned. Planning is good. Throwing the plan out the window is better. As in life though, it is easier said than done. In Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Let It Go and Enjoy The Ride

We’ve all heard the stories about the job someone took on a lark and it worked out great. Or the unexpected and unplanned move. The mail order bride who turned out to be ‘the one’. Floating down the river instead of swimming against the current. This has always been a difficult concept for me. It’s the core of Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Goal Setting & Objectives

I believe in goal setting. Objectives. Working toward those objectives. I believe if you want to enjoy travel, each trip has to have a purpose. An objective. I set goals and objectives for travel, and life. In many ways they are similar concepts. We ‘travel’ through life. It seems to me that if we just float along anything may happen.

Throw The Plan Away

Achieving something means deciding what you want and working toward that goal. Right? Often, travel has no respect for goals and objectives the traveler holds dear. Life is very much like travel in this respect. On this trip, once again I learn frustration with myself, with goals. THE PLAN evaporates when I just go with it. That is a good thing. In Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Camping At Sturgis

Especially relevant were my visions of a fantastic campground at Sturgis, surrounded by the party. That would have been possible with more planning and a lot more money, come to think of it. Thinking about coming out to South Dakota for Sturgis 2018? Start saving now. Motorcycling these days means putting your bikes in the back of an RV,or trailer, trucking them to Sturgis, or Keystone, or the Badlands National Park, and cycling to the Rally from your campsite. In Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Bring Your Piggy Bank

You can also spend close to a thousand dollars for a campsite at the rally for a week, with your RV and trailer. It seems a far cry from the bad old days in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Then again, everyone is having a great time. Sturgis is still a place where people passionate about motorcycles can spend as much time as they want riding, and talking about their motorcycles. Getting work done. Buying accessories or even a new bike.

Freedom and Passion

Sturgis is still about freedom and passion. The riders are often a little older, wiser, and better off financially. Isn’t that what America is all about? We’ll talk about it in Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654.

Sponsored by CIRO Motorcycle Products and Accessories

Sturgis 2017 Shows How We Go With The Flow-Podcast 654

 

Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653

Every now and then you run across a perfect stretch of road. Didn’t start out as a perfect road trip, but it’s been close. In Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653 talk of interstate free road tripping.

Eclipse Coming

Especially relevant are two eclipses approaching. A lunar eclipse on August 7th, 2017 and then a total solar eclipse on August 21st. Is this the calm before the storm? Is Sturgis the ultimate party before the Walking Dead Scenario?

Travel Advice? Take The Road Less Traveled

Over the last few road trips I have been concentrating on staying off the Interstate. What are the pro’s and con’s? People have asked me for travel advice recently. At the present moment I can think of two things. Have a goal. Stay off the Interstate. In Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653.

While there was a little political content in the last podcast of the EAA’s Osh Kosh AirVenture show, some have wondered if I will ever fully reengage in the political sphere. Your answer is in Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653. It’s kind of like staying off the Interstate, isn’t it?

End Of Summer In Upper Midwest Is The Best

Better to enjoy these last few weeks of summer. The corn is high. Night driving reveals combines echeloned in huge dark fields in South Dakota, harvesting. Already. Blue Skies. Sunshine. Cool night air. A few motorcycles dot the lanes miles ahead, and a few well behind. Happiness is a full tank of fuel and a clean windshield. In Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653.

Special thanks to CIRO3D for making 2017’s Sturgis Visit Possible

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Sturgis 2017 Road Trip-Interstate Free-Podcast 653