The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Today's New Years Eve 100x 100m swim brought my total swim distance to a record-setting* 403 miles for the year 2019.

And yes, I've actually counted.

In fact, I've kept track of my swim laps for over a decade now, starting with the 134 miles I completed in 2006, the same year that Coach Liz planted the seed of the 365 Club in my brain. That club is exclusively for anyone who can average a mile of swimming per day, for a year. That goal seemed a bit absurd at the time, so I settled for the scaled version, the much less impressive sounding 182.5 Club -- just half a mile per day. Even that was a little too ambitious for me at first, but after six years of steadily increasing my swim volume, I finally surpassed the goal, breaking 200 miles in 2012.

A happy side effect of moving up to the triathlon pro ranks was a significant jump in swim, bike and run volume, and suddenly I found myself hovering dangerously close to that elusive 365 mark. On December 31st, 2017, I hit mile 365 for the first time, coming in just under the wire before the clock reset on 2018. I'm not even sure when I reached 365 the next two years -- perhaps early December -- but I blew past it and just kept on swimming.




Posted by Kimberly 12/31/2019

After packing some camping gear on his bicycle and hitching a ride to British Columbia, Nik spent part of this summer riding his bicycle from Canada to California.

Nik still lives in Santa Cruz, where he spends time playing beach volleyball and going to school at Cabrillo College.
Posted by Dan 08/15/2007

When you are new in a country or area or city, there are always the locations/ attractions that people ask you, "Have you seen this yet? Have you done that yet? Have you gone there?" Well I have finally gone to one such place that I've been hearing about since my arrival in Quito. Mindo is a beautiful escape for those who love the natural world. It is located in the cloud forests of Ecuador, about 3 hours outside of Quito. These are high-elevation forests that are fed by the rains that precipitate out of clouds rising up the flanks of the Andes. With hundreds of species of birds, flowers of every color of the rainbow, and crisp, clean, refreshing rivers, it is quite a weekend treat.

I got to see a toucan! I took this photo with my friend Heather's SLR camera... and now I'm hooked.

It should be noted that due to this trip, I am now resigned to the fact that my next earned income will be going towards a nice SLR camera and lenses with which to capture the incredible and colorful life of the world around me! But for now, I just make do with the camera I have, and capture the wildlife that comes close enough for the capability of my lens.

Have a peek at some of the birds my lens and I saw!
(the pictures at the beginning of this album are not from Mindo)

Photo album: Birds and flowers and smiles in Mindo
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2349064&id=19700757&l=d016e16106

Posted by Whitney 04/07/2011, revised 04/07/2011