I'm An Official Eclipse Chaser!

Whelp, I guess once you go chasing two different eclipses seven years apart you could be considered an eclipse chaser. A person who chases eclipses is known as a umbraphile, meaning shadow lover. Umbraphiles often travel for eclipses and use various tools to help view the sun including solar viewers also known as eclipse glasses, as well as telescopes.

I was totally oblivious to chasing an eclipse and what the zone of totality was until 2017. After I started reading about the stories people were having at totality I figured it would be a great adventure to experience myself.

With very little planning Todd and I hopped in my car and drove to Fairmont, Nebraska to sleep in the SUV, in a park. We were in awe of everything because we had no idea of what to expect. It was a very outdoorsy one-with-nature feeling.

I started planning the 2024 eclipse chase at least a year before it happened. The main objective was to drive to Grapevine, Texas and stay with my best friend and all watch it together. His house was in the zone of totality but not near the center. My original thought was to be as near to center as we could get.

I kept reminding everyone to plan for April 8, 2024 and ask off of work months ahead. The plan was for my wife and other best friend to all drive down to Grapevine. From there my plan was to drive east towards the center of totality.

Up until a couple of weeks I wasn’t sure where we’d be watching the eclipse from. As I researched cities in Texas I started to lean towards Terrell, TX. They seemed to be close to the center line on a highway with lots of activities happening.

-------> Read this section on the blog or listen to episode!