We awoke to a beautiful morning.
A wonderful sunrise to kick-off Day Two of The Hilly Hundred.

Even the official “starting line” banner looked pretty inviting with the sunrise making a fun silhouette.

This morning’s sunrise was speckled with clouds.
So many colors mixed together in a random, haphazard pattern.
Kinda like a calico cat.

Clouds over the city. Dark.

Clouds over the lake. Scattered with dark colors.

A low line of clouds with tranquil reflection over Belmont Harbor.

With a big sky “event” this morning, you know I “had to” go out to see it & and take photos.
But who knew it would last so long???

I assumed the Lunar Eclipse would do its thing in a matter of minutes. Much like a sunrise or sunset can change & finish in minutes. Wrong. This Lunar Eclipse lasted well over an hour!!! Who knew?!!!

Here are the “early” photos of that shadowed dot in the sky when it was still VERY dark out.

And if you turn your back and look the other way… this is the beginning of today’s sunrise.
Okay, I must admit… for awhile I was looking out this way for the moon & eclipse.
Didn’t see it… wondered if it was already “eclipse-covered” and I would see it when the shadow passed??? Or maybe I would see it better if I turned around and faced the right direction like I should?… look West!!!  duh.

So… as the morning progressed, the sun continued to rise and the eclipse seemed to linger.
A lot longer than I thought it would. Good thing I jumped out of bed and raced out earlier than normal to catch it, huh?!!!

Meanwhile… again… if you turned back around and diverted your attention from the Lunar Eclipse that seemed to be lasting forever, the sunrise wasn’t too shabby either.

About 15 minutes into my rise, it began to lighten up… but the clouds were still there.

I made it downtown and we were still surrounded in clouds.

Luckily, that little “sliver of color” that we saw early on was still there…
a small window of opportunity for the sun to find its way out. And it did…

And then the pink began… like a harbinger of sunrise!

Meanwhile, a quick glance behind as the skyline begins to reflect & the clouds dissipate.

Okay, back to the gorgeous sunrise…

And all too soon… the sun was back behind the clouds once again.
A beautiful, albeit a fleeting sunrise…

Lots of clouds. Lots of drama.
Not many people out this morning. It’s like I have the whole beach to myself?!

At some point the sun was “struggling” to break through the clouds. Splashing a little color on the clouds here & there. And I LOVE when the sunbeams come streaming through.