2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657

Seeing a full solar eclipse is an amazing experience. This was not an easy trip. It was not a short trip. There will be two parts to the eclipse podcast. The night before. The Day Of. We’ll start with the night before the solar eclipse in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Long Wait For This One

A long time ago my best friend Steve and I set up telescopes and special projection devices in his back yard for an annular solar eclipse. We decided to recreate that experience in 2017 for this very nearly one-of-kind eclipse. Traveling down Illinois 1 all the way south to the Carbondale, Illinois area.

Searching For Totality

We’d heard this was the point of totality. That is, a line across the US where the eclipse would be total. We didn’t realize how lucky we were until we discovered we had landed in Makanda, Illinois. Find out why this is important in 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Sometimes You Luck Out

Two guys in an ambulance. Not really an RV. Primitive sleeping arrangements. A tent for Steve. Hammock inside Mobile Podcast Command for me. We rolled into a camping area. Asked some questions. Learned it was a specific place, which cost a lot more than what we thought initially.

Travel and Adventure Means Meeting Great Random People

Traveling you meet random people. Sometimes it’s good. In this case we meet Bud, who arranged for this park, in this town, for this eclipse. He turns out to be an historian, a businessman and a good guy. He joins us for 2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657.

Part II On The Way

Heading back to the Chicago area as I write this. Part II will be up as soon as possible. As a teaser to that podcast I will simply say I have heard a lot of people say, “I’ll watch the eclipse on TV”. With all my equipment and all of Steve’s telescopes and cameras, ham radios and special glasses, this is something you just have to experience. It was amazing. More on that later.

See You in 2024

The good news? Another eclipse goes right through Makanda in 2024.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

2017 Solar Eclipse Point of Totality Part 1-Podcast 657

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

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

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Dad Dog And Son Road Trip Meet Up-Podcast 635

Dad Dog And Son Road Trip Meet Up-Podcast 635

Father and Son have taken many trips together over the years. We’ve crisscrossed the nation. Taken the train to ski out west. Gone to China and hit the highways out east. Father is storm chasing in North Eastern Oklahoma. Son is heading North East from California to New York, hauling an oversized U-Haul trailer with a little jeep. There’s a dog in the story too. In Dad Dog And Son Road Trip Meet Up-Podcast 635.

Two Different Road Trips Meet Up In Kansas

Used to ‘red balling’ it from the campaign trail, it’s a hop, skip and a jump from Miami, Oklahoma to Wichita Kansas. Taking a run across highway 133 all the way to 35 North, onto the Kansas left exit rest stops. I spent the night at Belle Plaine service plaza. Later in the day we figured out my son was emerging onto 35 from Kansas 400, about twenty miles north.

Meeting Up Ain’t So Easy

No problem! Back on the highway. Hauling ass for the next service area, north of Wichita. Towanda! This is where we met up in Dad Dog And Son Road Trip Meet Up-Podcast 635. Obviously when father and son get together there will be a podcast involved. And a dog. And some fast food.

Relaxed and Calm On The Road

Don’t worry I’m not missing any storms. Blue skies and sunshine out here in Kansas. Not a cloud in the sky. Being On The Road for any length of time changes my energy. I am much more relaxed and calm. More at home out here on the highways and interstates than when at home. A little bit of an energy mis-match between Andrew Davis and his father Bob Davis.

Lots of Content in This Podcast

Yes, he wants to talk about politics. We cover traveling with a dog that weighs about as much as me, and a giant U-Haul full of other people’s stuff. China’s history also comes up. The desire people seem to have these days to tear it all down. Andrew has concerns about losing our stability. That’s all it takes for dad to engage. And we’re off!

Son and Father Enjoy A Deep Connection

Discussions between us have always been this way, since he was a little kid. My favorite moment is when I ask him, “So you’ve traveled from California to Kansas and all you noticed is there are more trees?!”. We also talk about rural America’s trials and tribulations, how geographically large the United States actually is, and a lot more.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars.

Dad Dog And Son Road Trip Meet Up-Podcast 635

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