Total Eclipse Roadtrip

 April 8 2024 has been on my calendar since I missed the last eclipse in 2017.

So we loaded up RV and headed to Southern Illinois.

We got a late start on Friday night and stopped overnight at a cute campground in East Peoria, Illinois right along the Illinois River called Carl Spindler Campground.

Our space had a view of the marina.

It was another 4 hours to our next camp spot, Gun Creek Campground.

Wow did we have a nice spot on the lake.

Enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Chicken enjoying the view from camp.

The next morning I enjoyed knitting on my "eclipse" sock.

We only had one night here so we loaded up and moved to another campground on the same lake about 10 miles away. South Marcum Campground. Another Army Corps of Engineers campground. They have really nice facilities at their parks and for a reasonable price. This was a full hookup site for $26.

We got set up in time to have a nice campfire with more knitting.

The next day was all about THE eclipse.

From 1pm-3pm I was in my hammock enjoying the show.

The shadows from the moon covering the sun were really neat too.

Day turned to dusk in totality.

We had just over four minutes of looking directly at the full eclipse and it was breath taking.

We packed up after the eclipse was over and headed north for about 3 hours to break up our drive home. Another really cute campground on Sangchris Lake called Hickory Point Campground. We got there just before it got dark.

It was a perfect night for a campfire by the lake.

I got to wake up with a view of the lake from my bedroom window.

Chicken's last view before rolling back to DeKalb.

The next total solar eclipse is August 12, 2026. Next time we are thinking of traveling to Spain. Maybe combining walking the Camino with seeing another eclipse!