Tina's Sarpy County GeoTrail Geocoin

To commemorate the Great American Eclipse Road Trip taken with my beautiful daughters Nodpodamus and Catio.

The adventure hit the planning stages a year ago when I first heard about "The Great American Eclipse" crossing the U.S. on 8/21/2017.  By the time we hit the road, a simple run down to meet the sun and moon in Kentucky had developed into a grand plan to head to Nebraska instead.  The Sarpy County geotrail was one major factor in that decision, and it did not disappoint!

We started out In Caro, Michigan, where we left our annual family reunion campout.  We wandered down to Metro Detroit and then over to stand on the shores of Lake Michigan before playing in Chicago by night.  Then it was up to Milwaukee for a Wisconsin find and a webcam, west through Iowa, and on to Omaha.  We started out trying #13 just a dusk hit, but could not crack the code by flashlight.  Having failed at this first attempt, we decided to forego the trail and just cache the next day.  We headed to a rest area to park and sleep, which was a luxury we were all lacking by this time.  There we were treated to the most glorious lightning show that surrounded us and filled the sky, with only a few periods of rain in our location all night.  It was magnificent!  During that time, I planned out our morning caching adventure, beginning with the Holy Family Shrine just across the freeway.  That place is beyond words it is so magical and beautiful!  As we were leaving, I happened to notice the cache and thought, "What the heck, let's give it a try!"  We solved it quickly and had fun with it, so we decided to give a couple more a go.  Soon we were on a roll, and ran across some other cachers at one location who helped us out with the dreaded #13, so we were able to finish the trail!

We picked up our awesome coins in a rush to get to the selected spot for our rendevous with the disappearing sun.  The eclipse was indescribably beautiful. Those few moments were mystical in their thrilling grandeur!  No description or pictures could ever rival experiencing it firsthand.  Even visiting Mingo was anti-climatic after our experiences in Nebraska. This coin will always be a treasured memento of an epic, life enhancing road trip!