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

Kim (and about 6,000 other athletes) participated in the Accenture Chicago Triathlon in August. She finished 103 of 6149 overall, 8th of 2078 women, and 2nd in her age group!

In June she competed in the 2007 USAT National Age Group Championship held in Oregon. Despite being out most of the past year rehabbing from a broken ankle, and this being only her second race ever at the Olympic distance, she finished an impressive 25th in the highly competive 25-29 age group! Here are some photos of her at the race.

Way to go, Kim!!

Posted by Dan 08/27/2007, revised 01/27/2008

Vang Vieng is a small town in Northern Laos which is unfortunately a stop on the backpackers beaten trail, destroying any charm it once had and turning it into a feeding frenzy for those looking to squeeze an easy buck from the ignorant travellers. We had to stop however because just outside Vang Vieng are incredible limestone cliffs and the only climbing sites in Laos. The weather was threatening to rain but we decided we couldn't risk missing the only chance we would have. We grabbed our shoes, rented the rope and harnesses we would need from a local shop and headed for the closest, driest site.

Eager to get some real climbing in

Posted by nik 11/15/2008, revised 11/15/2008

This past Sunday, I went on a day trip to go bouldering with the JCU rock climbing club. Bouldering is a type of rock climbing that generally involves shorter ascents - like on boulders instead of large rock faces. Ropes and harnesses are not used, just mats below the climber, so bouldering trips are much easier for the climbing club to organize - less hassle.

Grandma mentioned that she couldn't really picture what the activity and the terrain would look like, and I'm sure she's not the only one, so below is a picture of some of the climbing that was going on this trip. If it helps you understand what's going on a little better, we're focusing on tiny little features in the granite that we can get a foot (essentially a toe) or some fingers on. There were some great photo opportunities later in the day (and an incredibly beautiful GINORMOUS boulder), but my camera battery died early, and I foolishly left my spare at home.

Bouldering on granite boulders with the JCU climbing club

Posted by Whitney 03/17/2008