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

April 23rd, 2010
Capital City Multisport Club Annual Kick Off Party

It's time to start getting excited about the 2011 race season!!

Posted by kim 04/10/2011

Thailand is generally considered to be a safe country for travellers to visit, but if you plan a trip to Thailand it would be wise to avoid the island of Ko Tao. You wont find this in your Lonely Planet but many tourists who venture to Ko Tao never return. The island, considered to be one of the best places in Asia to get scuba certified, is packed with over 40 dive companies and the instructors and divers that go with it. All on an island small enough to walk across in an hour. Nearly everyone on the island is here to dive, and to party, and everyone does alot of both. If you're not familiar with the dive community, they are the most laid back, fun people you'll ever meet. By diving or enrolling in a course you immediatley make friends and get plugged into the local scene. The problem? The island drags you in. Countless many people have the same story; 'Yeah, I came here for a week long vacation and never left..' Within 6 hours of arriving it was plain that our original 1 week target was totally unrealistic.

Posted by nik 09/21/2008

Wow. What an incredible weekend. I don't even know where to begin... this entry cannot suffice!

I'll start out by saying that the Byron Bay area is by far my favorite part of Australia so far. My first time there will definitely not be my last... I'm going back someday soon, that's for sure. What an incredibly beautiful place! And the culture is so... Australian! At least how I pictured Australia to be: laid back, friendly, beachy, sunny... it's hard to describe really, but I knew from the first 30 seconds driving into town on the bus that this was exactly what I've been looking for!

As for the Blues Fest itself, what else can I say but INCREDIBLE. Music, bands, food, merchants, sun, happy people, music, music, music!

Happy! Ocean! Sun!

Here's some highlights of my weekend:

• G. Love; the highlight performance of the weekend for me. Just incredible.
• John Butler (Trio and solo); talk about pure TALENT on the guitar!
• dancing to Maceo Parker; everybody can get down to some funk!
• listening to all the tribal bands and feeling the beat in my chest
• playing in the ocean on the sand bar at low tide
• picnicing at the lake at Lennox Head with Brian Kelly and his family (great food! great company!)
• daily ice cream cones from Pink (great ice cream shop in downtown); double scoop of Coffee Crunch and M.C. Chip
• the amazing (while maybe not entirely legal) camping spot in the dunes on the beach; falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the ocean 100m away is not a bad way to go!
• hiking through beautiful subtropical rainforests of Nightcap National Park to Minyon Falls with the Kelly family and friends
• "hitchhiking" for a place to stay Sunday night when the tent and sleeping bags were locked away and inaccessible
• my new skirt that I bought in town; it's pretty and flowy and it makes me happy
• did I mention G. Love?? That was THE highlight of my weekend, Saturday night with G. Love.

Posted by Whitney 03/26/2008, revised 03/26/2008