Boonville woman describes totality experience in southern Missouri

BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boonville woman encourages everyone to see a total solar eclipse at some time in their life after she and her husband experienced totality Monday in Van Buren, Missouri.

Janice Poole and her husband made the trip to southern Missouri this weekend to view Monday's solar eclipse.

"It's hard to describe. All of a sudden it looks so tiny and you're looking through those glasses and it just beams out at you," Poole said. "I tell everyone in their lifetime, try to go see a total eclipse at some point."

Poole is an amateur photographer and set up her camera at Big Spring, part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. She said the darkness lasted longer and was more noticeable at the park than in 2017 when she was viewing the eclipse in Columbia.

She said there were clear skies with temperatures in the high 70s at their location before temperatures dipped into the 60s during the eclipse.

"It was dramatic," Poole said. "We were all like, 'Wow, can you feel that? This feels good.' and then the minute the sun popped out though, just like that, it got bright so fast, like switching a light on almost."

Poole said there were a few hundred people at Big Spring, but it wasn't too crowded.

She said she was happy with the photos she got and is glad she and her husband made the trip.

"It was worth it to see it," Poole said. "I may not see another one in my lifetime."

She said traffic Monday morning wasn't bad at all, but got a little more congested Monday afternoon on Highway 60.

Poole had been planning for Monday's eclipse for six months. When she looked in October, most campsites and hotels were full or too expensive, so she and her husband opted to stay in Willow Springs and drive east from there.