Back in 2017, Nate, Garrett, and I traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to witness our first total solar eclipse.  My former team leader, Lisa Shuler, was kind enough to host us at her lovely home just on the outskirts of Columbia and very nearly on the center line of totality.

“The solar eclipse in August of [2017] swept across the United States. Prior to this event, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entire contiguous United States since June 8, 1918; not since the February 1979 eclipse had a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States. The path of totality touched 14 states, and the rest of the U.S. had a partial eclipse.

The boys and I road-tripped to South Carolina to the home of Lisa Shuler, who graciously hosted us for the event.  This is an edited version of the photo I took at totality. The only change was to add color to the corona, as that’s what most people expect.  However, the actual corona was pure white.”

At then end of the 2017 eclipse, Nate tells me that I said words to the effect of, “Next stop: 2024!”

It’s 2024 — just under seven years later — and Nate, Garrett, and I found ourselves at the Huron County Fairgrounds in Norwalk, Ohio, for the second once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse.  We picked Norwalk because like Lisa’s house, it was very nearly on the center line of totality.

We were not disappointed.

Here’s a photo gallery and some videos of the event as experienced in Norwalk in 2024. The real winner for best photo taken by the family was Nate’s photo of the totality taken with an iPhone through the lens of his telescope.  While the photo he took is incredible, it pales in comparison to looking through the lens on the telescope and seeing it for yourself.  While spectacular, Nate’s photo really doesn’t do the view through the telescope justice. 

According to CNN: ” The next total solar eclipse with a coast-to-coast path spanning the Lower 48 states will occur on August 12, 2045.”

Next stop: 2045!