By Melanie Speicher

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RUSSIA — In 2017 Dale Armstrong and his wife, Doris, traveled to Kentucky to see the total eclipse of the sun. On Monday, April 8, the Armstrongs will watch another total eclipse from their backyard in Russia.

“My wife’s birthday was that day,” said Armstrong of the Aug. 21, 2017, eclipse. “The full eclipse was in Kentucky so they were in the center of it.”

Armstrong said the couple traveled to Kentucky the night before the eclipse and spent the night. The next day, they met up with Terry and Marie Daughtery, and their daughter, Morgan, in Louisville, Kentucky, to travel to Jefferson Davis Park to watch to eclipse.

“It cost us $20 to park,” he said. “We had sandwiches and drinks and we watched the eclipse. It was fantastic.

“The sun was super bright that day,” said Armstrong. “As the eclipse started, we watched it through those glasses. You could see the moon move over the sun.”

He said the total darkness lasted for 3-4 minutes. As they left the park, the sky was still dark and drivers had to have the headlights of their vehicles on.

After the eclipse was over, they were greeted with a traffic jam as other drivers were trying to get home. Morgan Daughtery guided them through the backroads via GPS to miss the traffic jams.

“We got back to Louisville and we grabbed a hotel for the night,” said Armstrong. The Daughtery family continued their journey back to Russia.

When Monday rolls around, Armstrong said he’s staying home to watch the eclipse. He shared that Daughtery, who is his cousin, said he might travel 2-3 hours to see the eclipse if it’s overcast in Russia.

“I hope we get to see something this time like what we saw a few years ago,” said Armstrong.