"Eclipse Day!"

Lunch and Snack wanted to see the sun rise through their special glasses.

There was a noticeable buzz in Solartown as the big event came nearer. Everyone was breaking out their telescopes and filtered cameras.

"Holy smokes, Snack! There are more optics here than at a photographers convention!"

And thankfully, the skies were clear of smoke and clouds.

"Wow Snack! I can see a bite missing!"

The excitment was building as the eclipse got underway, first as a partial as the moon began to pass in front of the sun.

When more and more of the sun became covered, shadows took on crisp edges, a condition only possible with a small light source.

As totality neared, the skies began to darken. Everyone was devoting their attention to the marvel of the moon passing in front of the sun.

Moments before darkeness, the shadow of the moon swept across the Oregon high desert, chilling the air and thrilling eclipse viewers.

And there it was! Totality! The sun's corona became visible and the planet Venus appeared in the darkened sky.

An eerie glow encircled the darkness, creating a sunset near the horizon in all directions.

And in two minutes, it was over and the light returned. But with the moon still blocking most of the sun, the light passing through a small hole in a potato ship cast an image on the ground of a partial eclipse.

The elation set in as everyone recalled and related what they had just witnessed.

"Moooo! That was amazing!"

As the event came to a close, many eclipse enthusiasts took to the road, clogging traffic for hours in and around Madras.

"Well Snack, I think we're going to wait a few hours before trying to leave Solartown."

With the eclipse behind them, it was time to bid farewell to Madras and begin the journey north. Along the way, the cows encountered a fiberglass dinosaur at a filling station in Sisters, Ore.

The figure was adorned with eclipse glasses and a face mask, homage to the celestial event and to nearby wildfires that cast a pall of smoke over the community.

"Gosh Lunch. This smoke is awful. Let's get out of here."

A flight of tasters at Heathen Brewing's Feral Public House in Vancouver, Wash., was a fitting way to celebrate escaping wildfire smoke and surviving crosstown Portland traffic.

The next day, the bovines stopped at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash. It was a place they tried to visit the previous year, but it was closed for the weekend.

The fort was built for the Hudson's Bay Company as a trading outpost near the Columbia River.

"What an interesting perspective on the fort."

The cannons were purely decorative, having never been fired in anger. Since its original construction in 1824, the fort never came under attack by hostile forces.

In a repeat of a journey the year before, Lunch and Snack went on a side trip to Mount St. Helens National Monument in southern Washington State. This was their second trip to the Johnston Ridge Observatory and visitor center.

"You know Snack, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this view."

"I think you're right."