Many nomads have been taking giant road trips directly into the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse. That could have been fun, but outside factors prevented us from making it there in time, so we didn’t stress over it. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t get an eclipse at all. The path of totality ran from Texas to Maine, but here in southern Nevada, the sun was still 50% covered by the moon. You can see that in the top picture.
Having not gotten the special eclipse viewing glasses and not wanting to go blind from looking directly at the sun, I found a card kicking around my junk drawer and stuck a pin through it to make a round hole. Then, I held it up to project the sun’s image onto the blank white side of my van. The card became a pinhole camera, and the crescent of the partly obscured sun was clearly visible, though upside down, because the pinhole flips the light as it goes through it.
After last week’s excitement and a week of putting down miles ahead, we’ve taken a little time off to run a few errands and just plain enjoy being where we are on the side of Lake Mead. Melissa really wanted to see a show in Las Vegas and took herself Saturday night while I hung out at camp. While she was gone, a friendly ranger stopped by to make sure I was aware of the 15-day limit to my stay here. I’d only been here a week and planned to leave in a matter of days, long before the limit, so there were no problems there. Unlike the ranger in Pahrump, he didn’t check my ID, but I did hear him tell his partner to take down my license plate number. That way, they can check up and make sure I’m not still here in two weeks. They’re just doing their job, and I’m glad to see them out here.
Yesterday, we picked up a few supplies in nearby Henderson. Melissa found a Trader Joe’s, which supplied nearly all of my food needs with much better quality food (and beer) than I can normally find. I’m quite familiar with them from my time living near them in Massachusetts, but it’s been years since I’ve been able to get to one. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the view across Lake Mead and talking about everything and anything. We tried to use the last of our firewood, but it didn’t burn very well at all, likely from that time it got rained on one of those nights with a 0% chance of rain.
Today, in addition to the eclipse, is a working and packing day. I edited and wrote a few articles. I also filed my taxes, which I’d been waiting to do since I’m mostly self-employed and owe money. I need to reconfigure the trailer into travel mode, including strapping the bike down, and do the same inside the van as much as I can.
Tomorrow we begin a fast (for me) blast to our next destination: Melissa’s place in Arkansas. I had no plans to go back east for a while, but then she fell into my life. She’ll be taking care of a few things there for a little while, and I want to go along. Arkansas is one of only five states in the lower 48 that I haven’t been to yet, which is another part of the draw for me. I’m also told that motorcycling in the Ozark Mountains is absolutely amazing, and she lives not far from the Pig Trail, which is supposed to be right up there with the Smoky Mountains and Sturgis areas as far as motorcycling goes.
While parked somewhere without a hard time limit, I can get some projects done — in the van, in the trailer, on the bike (I definitely need a new tire before I ride too far in the Ozarks), and with my work. Not traveling for a while will help save some money, too. I’m not sure how long we’ll be in Arkansas, but our next fixed point in time is this year’s Rocky Mtn Roll in Montana in August. In fact, one of my work projects I’ll be tackling is editing The Motorcycle Camp Cookbook for Amanda Zito, who hosts the Rocky Mtn Roll. There’s a lot of territory between Arkansas and Montana that we can explore at our own pace once we’re ready.
Smokey Da Van 