'A Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity': Viewing The Aug. 21 Eclipse From Monmouth, Oregon

As the eclipse darkened the sky over Monmouth, Oregon — a small college community roughly 16 miles west of Salem — a roar of screams, shouts, and cheers erupted across the field where for four days people from around the world had camped out waiting for 10:15 a.m. Aug. 21. With my back to the eclipse's full totality, I shot a series of photographs of Elizabeth Newby's group from Tigard — six families with more than 20 kids between them, all decked out in their eclipse-viewing safety glasses.

On a whim, Newby and her crew traveled 55 miles south the night before, Sunday, Aug. 20. Within an hour's notice, "We packed up and caravanned down," she told me. "We're all pretty excited."

"We want to provide our kids once-in-a-lifetime opportunities," explained Cassidy Nelson, a member of Newby's group. "It's all about the memories."

They weren't alone. Over the weekend, somewhere between 200 and 400 people had voluntarily slept under the stars in a field on the Westside of Western Oregon University. On campus, WOU Facilities Schedule Manager Don Boderman said all the university's dormitories had been rented for the event as well, bringing the total number of people there for the eclipse to around 2,000. And on the morning of, hundreds more people arrived to watch the moment of full totality.

They came from Switzerland, the U.K., Japan, Australia, and Mexico, as well as from about 15 states and every province in Canada, Boderman said. All of us had traveled to Monmouth for this moment.

Knowing I only had roughly two minutes to experience the eclipse myself, I quickly took my pictures, made a glance at the sky, and then ran 400 feet back to my campsite — where my wife was also staring upward in awe. Approaching her quickly, I leaned over and kissed her under the same blueish-black hue that had fallen across a vast swath of the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. I thought the moment romantic, in a way.

"No one has ever kissed me under an eclipse before," she said joshingly.

"And no one ever will again," I responded, knowing the next full eclipses over Oregon won't occur until 2108 and 2169.

The screaming and shouting continued for the full duration of the eclipse — roughly two minutes. It was a peculiar experience, really, seeing so many people looking up with their alien-like reflective safety glasses. For all our recent national turmoil, the idea of hundreds of thousands of humans across the country all staring at the sky at nearly the exact same moment created for me a sense of oneness. We were all witness to the same celestial event — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as Cassidy Nelson had keenly pointed out — and it reminded me just how small we really are in the grand scheme of things, and how precious our short time together can be.

As the eclipse passed and the warmth of the sun returned to the field, some people continued looking up while others made a mad scramble to their cars — hoping, I presumed, to beat the inevitable traffic that would accumulate on Monmouth's few roads out of town.

Before I made any moves to leave, however, I checked in with several of the campers I'd met over the weekend to see if their eclipse experience was worth all they endured to see it.

Danny and Isabella Rhoades, and Herlinda Castilla — Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Danny and Herlinda remember seeing the Mexico eclipse in July 1991; Danny saw it from Mexico City while in his early teens, he said, and Herlinda, who was a young child at the time, only remembered her grandmother making her and all her cousins come indoors as the sky went dark over Oaxaca. Now, with their 9-year-old daughter Isabella, Danny and Herlinda traveled from Puerto Vallarta to Monmouth hoping to give her something she'd remember for the rest of her life.

"I hadn't had a chance to see another (eclipse)," said Danny, who splits his time working as a kite surfing instructor in Hood River and San Francisco. "When I learned it would be here, I was like, 'We're going.'"

Minutes before the eclipse fully began I asked Isabella if she was excited. With a wide, toothy grin across her face, her eyes beaming, she nodded excitedly.

Tom McDermott — Oakland, California

Oakland, California, resident Tom McDermott, 30, planned his trip a year in advance, renting expensive camera equipment specifically so he could get quality photographs of the eclipse. Having never experienced an eclipse, however, Tom said he was more interested in seeing it than anything else. Tom originally planned to stay in the Columbia River gorge, he said, until he learned of the WOU event in a newspaper. In the days leading up to the eclipse, Tom spent hours working with his rented gear, MacGuyvering different lens filters onto his camera using electrical tape. After the eclipse passed, I asked Tom if he got anything good. This is what he sent me:

Kenji, Grace, Michelle, and Anabelle Imasaki — Seattle

The Imasaki's decided to make the trip last minute, Kenji said. Grace, Kenji's wife, admitted it wasn't her first choice.

"I didn't want to come," she said candidly. "When I was a kid I thought it was very boring… but daddy said it's important."

Grace was witness to the solar eclipse over Shanghai in September 1987, she said. Kenji had never seen one before and wanted to give his two girls, 8 and 3 years old, a "once in a lifetime memory," he said.

Hayley Waterman, Rachel King, Eliza Ives, and Ben Graeff — Seattle

About four weeks ago, Eliza "did some Googling" about the eclipse, she said, ultimately deciding to make the trip to Monmouth "by the seat of my pants." Her father, she explained, is big into astronomy, and his influence had clearly rubbed off. Friends through a bookclub, Eliza invited Rachel and her wife Hayley to the event so they could all experience it together.

Roger Luo and family — Seattle

Though they don't know each other, Roger saw the same eclipse over China in 1987 as Grace Imasaki. This time, however, he was able to share the experience with his wife and two boys. Though they watched the eclipse from Monmouth, they were forced to stay in Springfield, Oregon, because all the nearby hotels had already sold out by the time Roger looked into booking a room, he said.

Using a drone over the camp, Roger shared with me several of his photos:

Art Fool, Julie and baby — Mendocino, California

"We were told to come here by a random person (in Emerald City, Oregon) this morning," Art Fool told me Sunday night, the evening before the eclipse. "I'd never heard of this place."

A traveling artist by trade, Art Fool arrived in Independence, Oregon — neighbor to Monmouth — by way of Washington, he said. He and his family make a living traveling the country and selling his amazing paintings from his similarly painted trailer, The Light Ship. Julie also works as a wedding photographer, he said. His shirt, trailer, and paintings are all eclipse inspired, he explained.

"I watched an eclipse five years ago without glasses," Art Fool said. "I was on peyote and mushrooms at the time, but I see better now. You should try it." (Editor's note: No you shouldn't.)

Geoff, Brendan, and Scott Phoenix — Newberg, Oregon

As a new teacher in McMinnville, Oregon, Scott Phoenix, 67, got to see the eclipse over Oregon in February 1979.

"It just got real quiet. It was a cool experience," he said, noting how that morning the school had pulled all the kids into their classrooms and shut the windows and blinds to prevent them from looking at the eclipse. "I guess they didn't want the kids to burn out their eyes."

Now, nearly 40 years later, Scott was able to enjoy another eclipse — this time with his sons Geoff, 32, and Brendan, 27. The three of them made the short trip from their homes in Newberg, Oregon, early Monday morning, they said. Geoff, an amateur astronomer, was particularly excited.

"Look at this sky!" he exclaimed, pointing to the cloudless blue over Monmouth. "We're just incredibly lucky."

Justin Low and Willard Ma — Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Eclipse hunters and hobbyist astronomers Justin Low and Willard Ma traveled from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for the eclipse over Monmouth. A property manager and chemist by trade, respectively, Low and Ma said they witnessed the annular eclipse on May 20, 2012, and the Transit of Venus in Las Vegas on June 4, 2012.

"This is the beauty of nature," Ma said.

"It's the experience," Low continued. "I love looking at celestial events."

Eclipse Cat, Sharon Henry, and Jina and Kevin Skey — Folsom, California and Winchendon, Massachusetts

Arriving Monday morning in an SUV covered in eclipse-centric scrawling, Eclipse Cat (aka Christine Henry), her spouse Sharon Henry, and Jina and Kevin Skey traveled to Monmouth from Sweet Cheeks winery in Eugene, Oregon. The Skeys flew from Winchendon, Massachusetts, they said, in order to meet up with the Henrys in Folsom, California, and road trip north to Oregon to witness the eclipse. With messages like 'Totality For All' and 'Totality Beats Partiality' written on the windows of their vehicle, it was apparent how much the moment meant to them.

"We love the planet and we love the moon and we love nature," Jina explained. "And (Oregon) is the only blue state the eclipse is going through."

As for Eclipse Cat: "We probably wouldn't have come if it weren't for them," she said.

Solar Eclipse 2017 Moment Of Totality

Top Photo: Travis Loose, Patch News