The Coats' Spot: Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017

On Monday, August 21, 2017, western Kentucky was in the path of totality to see an awe-inspiring sight by God...a total solar eclipse. Hopkinsville, KY had the longest span of totality (2 minutes, 40 seconds), so people traveled from everywhere to see this awesome even take place. As we headed to Dawson Springs to watch with family, we saw vehicles with license plates from Ontario, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern/eastern KY, Texas, etc. We were so excited to get to witness this and experience it in our area of the world. We had our solar glasses ready! The partial phase began at 11:55 am as the moon covered the upper right portion of the sun. The boys said it looked like Cookie Monster was taking bites out of the sun! Starting at 1:23 pm, we had 2 minutes and 31 seconds duration of totality, where we were able to remove our glasses. Just prior to the totality phase, we saw crescent shadows on the concrete in the driveway. The air temperature was much cooler as it was getting darker, and we heard the chirp of the crickets. It was the coolest experience!

The traffic on the way to Dawson Springs was not too bad because people trickled into the area over a few days. However, once it was over, it took two hours just for the main road in Dawson Springs to clear out (because many went to Pennyrile State Park to observe the event). Hours after the event while we were traveling home (around 7 pm), we noticed the Pennyrile Parkway from Hopkinsville was still in a complete traffic jam with cars barely moving. Many of the smaller roads and gas stations in Muhlenberg County were also clogged up because the travelers' GPS systems were taking them on alternate routes, which ended up being on tiny 2-lane roads. I was thankful we were only backed up for about 5-10 minutes on our way home.