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My wife Amy loves new experiences. In 2017 she convinced our family that we needed to

travel five hours from Provo to

eastern Idaho to see the full solar eclipse in person. We got organized and took off driving to the nearest zone of totality, the ideal

place to observe a solar eclipse.

We drove in bumper-to-bumper traffic along what are usually empty roads.

We found what I'm sure was the last parking spot in all of Idaho, and then we heard the kids past revelers who looked like they'd

been camped there for days or even weeks. All I could think was, is this really

worth it? I could have watched this online.

We found a place to sit and we squinted through our overpriced cardboard glasses

as the partial eclipse began. Initially I have to admit I was pretty

underwhelmed but I watched and I waited. Suddenly the light around us began to change rapidly. The birds stopped chirping, the temperature

dropped, the laughter, the music, and the talking all around us quieted.

It's happening, people started to say out loud.

The darkness deepened.

We took off our cardboard glasses and we stared upward looking directly at the sun that wasn't

there.

Now it's hard to describe what we saw and even the most detailed pictures don't do it justice. What's more difficult

to express is how I felt. I got goosebumps and found myself getting choked up. I stood there in the quiet darkness with

...