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

In Fall 2000 Kim studied in London for a semester before returning to Willamette. With London as her base, she made the most of her semester abroad and explored many other parts of Europe.

Always one to try new things, Kim managed to squeeze a 2-week bartending course into 4 days while in San Francisco just before returning to Willamette! At the end of high school she became fascinated with belly dancing, and now is an accomplished belly dancer and trained bartender, to boot!

Meanwhile, Whitney is in her freshman year at College Park High School, where she plays high school volleyball and soccer. She also continues to play Class-I club soccer. After two successful years with the Lamorinda Wild Things Class-I team, she now plays with the Bay Oaks Blasters U-15 team.

Posted by 02/02/2001

Well we managed to extricate ourselves from Koh Tao last week. The trick is to do it fast and with no warning. We went down to check on tickets to Chiang Mai and found that it was either leave the next day or wait another week for availability, so we booked it and got the next boat off.

Goodells Rule!

Posted by nik 10/21/2008, revised 11/05/2008

I'm wearing down. I've got a decent head cold going, and I just find myself exhausted and ready for bed by 8pm every night. The quick-paced, short-flame travel lifestyle is not the way I want to travel in the future. I'm beat after one week, and I feel like I'd much rather spend longer in a place, take my time, and not feel like every day has to be a "big day."

I've down about 8 cups of tea on the day. My head is still clogged and my body is tired. BUT! I had a great morning. I did the Canyon Swing in Queenstown this morning. It's 109 meters above the canyon floor, 60 meter freefall, and a big fat arcing swing through gorgeous rock walls and water below. It's much smoother than bungy jumping, there is no jolting or jarring. It's reeeally really cool, and you can go off the ledge any number of ways. And I did! I went 3 times, because extra jumps are only $10 each for the month of May (rather than the normal $50!). So I went 3 times, and did their 3 scariest-rated "dismounts": falling backwards, hanging upside-down and being cut away, and "Staff Choice"... they put a big plastic bucket over my head and pushed me off. Haha. That was a riot. Anyway, a great time, and a great adrenaline rush.

Then I got a Fergburger for lunch - the infamous buger joint in town that truly is AMAZING. After that, I was back on the roadside, hitching the 7 hours back to Christchurch. I found a straight ride pretty quickly, so that was awesome. Easy commute, saved $50 (and several hours) on a bus.

Gah! I'm running out of internet time. I really dislike paying for internet by the minute/hour. It's so frustrating.

Anyway, I'm in Christchurch for the next day and a half, taking it easy. I'm excited to get back to warm Townsville!
Posted by Whitney 05/02/2008