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Aug 21, 2017 on the TransAm

Hello everybody! In the Lord’s kind providence we were able to catch a ride today with a group from the Sebree, KY church going south to see the eclipse. In the group with us were Bob and Violet, Doug and Martha, Steve, Linda, Norma, Betty, and Darlene. We drove an hour south to Hopkinsville, KY where the duration of the totality was 2:39–only 2 seconds less than the best spot in the US, Carbondale, IL–which we biked through on Friday. 

I remember seeing a poster advertising the eclipse when we were passing through Oregon. I took a picture of the path of totality going across the country and thought to myself, “I wonder where we’ll be on Aug 21st.” I figured we’d be in MO or KY but there was no way of knowing if we’d be anywhere near the path and able to see it. We are so thankful that God worked it out so that we not only saw it but from so great a spot as Hopkinsville, KY and with such great Christian brethren as we traveled with today. We got there about 10:00. The eclipse started just before noon and we packed up and left just before 2:00. With a stop for ice cream at Dairy Queen we got back to the church around 4:00. 

Bob knew the pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Hopkinsville and had arranged for us to camp out in his church parking lot along with well over 100 other people. It was nice to see so many people travel from so far to see something so wonderful. Everyone was so nice and kind. There was a mutual excitement and joy in the air. The pastor of the church walked around greeting the visitors and sharing the gospel of Jesus wherever he could. The church opened their doors so we could use the restroom and they offered free water, coffee, and donuts. Please pray that the seeds planted and watered will come to fruition in saving faith. The scientific wonder we saw today was none other than the work of our God. The heavens declared His glory and the sky proclaimed His handiwork today. May we give Him praise. 

One man who set up a tripod with high powered binoculars with a solar filter kindly let anyone who asked to come and look through it. I stood by him and his wife (Mamba Jamba and Kimm) and not only enjoyed many great views of the sun being eclipsed but also was able to take pictures through the binoculars using my iPhone. Some of the pictures are a bit fuzzy but I never would’ve gotten such great shots by just putting the eclipse glasses on my phone’s camera. 

So I want to thank Mamba Jamba for giving me such free use of his binoculars and I want to share some of these great photos with you. 

Forrest, Martha, Bob, and Rocky are playing cards as we wait for the eclipse to start and Doug is sitting in the background.
From the front left: Betty, Raymond (a man from Ohio who joined our “group”), Norma, Doug, Darlene, Violet, and Linda

In the center: David, the pastor of the church there

Kimm and Mamba Jamba, a Papua New Guinea couple who traveled down from Illinois where they now live. I took my pictures using his binoculars.






Notice the crescent shaped shadows as the sun was being eclipsed.

I took this photo during the eclipse by simply using the zoom on my iPhone

And then I took this one through the binoculars

This was what the horizon looked like during the eclipse. The crickets were sounding off in the church yard as well 😀

A group photo of all of us who went down to Hopkinsville for the eclipse. Like Martha said, we can all mark that off our bucket list now 😀

Tonight we’re having dinner with Pastor Tony, the pastor of the church here, and Lord willing we’ll be on the road early heading for Falls of Rough, KY 75 miles away. 

PS. I finally heard from Karolina. She had so many troubles with her bike that a bike shop in KS gifted her with a new bike and she’s back on the road. She left Golden City, MO this morning, which we left on the 11th. She keeps sending me pictures of our signatures in the cycling log books along the way 🙂 So please keep praying for her.

Thanks for praying and thanks for following.

Until next time… 🙂