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

It was a pleasure having Kim visiting for the weekend, back from Chicago to Northern California for a few days. She was here to take part in the Olympic distance Wildflower Triathlon.

The site for the Wildflower was Lake San Antonio reservoir, between King City and San Luis Obispo. With limited accomodations nearby, many of the 3000 participants and spectators camped out at the state park along the reservoir, so we joined Kim and the bustling city of tents and RVs Saturday night.

Kim ran another successful race, finishing 4th out of 300 in her age group! See here for photos.


Posted by Dan 05/16/2008

Nik enjoys motorcycling and rebuilding a 1970 Porsche 914.

In high school his interest in working on cars and motorcycles became an all-consuming passion, so he enrolled to study auto mechanics at UTI (Universal Technical Institute) in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from there in December, 2001.

Nik graduated from Ygnacio Valley High School in June 2000. He capped a stellar high school career with 10 varsity letters, including 3 in cross-country (all-BVAL, 1st-Team), 3 in soccer, and 4 in volleyball (all-BVAL, 2nd-Team). But up until 3 weeks before graduation, it was still unclear whether the administration would actually let him graduate -- they seemed to think he hadn't completed enough courses in Physical Education! He got a lesson in bureaucrats and their rules.

Nik finished his final high school cross-country season in remarkable fashion. A grueling schedule was loaded with invitational tournaments, in which they did quite well. In the Bay Valley Athletic League finals, Ygnacio Valley finished a close 2nd, placing an astonishing four runners in the first six in the league. Nik's 5th-place finish earned him 1st-Team All-League honors. In the North Coast Section Championships, Ygnacio Valley dominated the Division I final, placing four runners in the first nine and winning the Division I title easily. then it was off to respectable showings at the State Championships and Far Western Regionals, where Nik placed an impressive 25th place individually.

He also completed three years as goalkeeper for the varsity soccer team, and four years of high school volleyball, earning 2nd-Team All-League honors.

Posted by Dan 01/20/2003

I just purchased my 5-day pass to the Blues Fest in Byron Bay, and my round-trip plane ticket! That's QUITE a chunk of money leaving my possession, but I'm so excited! This is going to be an experience that cannot be valued by currency!

I'm just so excited that I'm actually going, that I had to tell all of you! I'll have quite a brigade of postings about the festival, I'm sure. And pictures! Lots of pictures!

If you want to see what this festival is all about, here's a link:
http://bluesfest.com.au/

Go check out the line-up! It'll blow your mind.
Posted by Whitney 03/11/2008