Weekend Wrap-Up: Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse Road Trip

{Welder's goggles covered in Pop-Tart wrappers to shield the eyes}

This weekend Kevin and I decided to take a Sunday cruise up the Pacific Coast Highway in order to get a beach side, firsthand look at the Ring of Fire solar eclipse.

The tools: a pair of welders goggles covered in Pop-Tart wrappers (the internets said it was wise), a few roast beef and avocado wraps, hummus and peppers, watermelon, a six pack of Sam Adam's Summer Ale, and some sort of makeshift mechanism to protect the camera phone from the rays fashioned out of the top of a cigarette box and some more Pop-Tart wrappers.

The plan: to head north of Santa Barbara to some state beach, picnic and watch the Ring of Fire solar eclipse.

What really happened: As we reached Santa Barbara, the fog was rolling in thickly. We decided to turn around and head back to just north of Malibu to the southern tip of the Naval Base. We sat on a log and watched the eclipse that took about an hour.

Check this one off of the bucket list! Aside from being able to enjoy the lovely weather, I had my own lovely mash-up of Total Eclipse of the Heart/ Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash edition) stuck in my head all day. I had forgotten just how gorgeous the PCH was on a sunny day, and Malibu for some reason never ceases to amaze me.

{Pacific Coast Highway in the sunshine}

{Point Mugu Beach}

{A silk scarf from Hamburg to hide my Pale Ale (and keep me from getting in trouble with the law)}

{Curious Kevin the engineer}

{Shielding my eyes from the sun's harmful rays - even with the goggles you couldn't look for too long without feeling the consequences}

{We created a pinhole camera (on Kevin's adorable grandpa hands) in order to watch the eclipse (and to photograph it!)}

{Kevin and the Ring of Fire - at this point the sun was almost completely shielded by the moon; the camera wasn't able to process the strength of the rays}