Who has travel plans for the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse?

[Streydog]

I manage a sporting goods store. We must have had 100 phone calls today looking for eclipse glasses.

 

[tomcatbubba]

I'll be in St Louis for work. Going to bring the good camera and try to take a few shots through the LCD so I don't hurt my eyes.

I didn't realize how big a deal it was for people to travel until I tried to book a room Sunday night. Not one to be had.....

 

[JohnN]

I have the luxury of being in 99.5% coverage. The early traffic reports make it sound like the 21st will be an epic s**tshow.

I'm watching the partial from my deck and drinking Kih Royals and Bloody Mary's

 

[DandyDon]

They say motel rooms, normally $100. / night are going for over a grand!

Yeah, there was a lot of scamming like that. First come first rents at fair prices is fair. I'm glad we were at Yellowstone where they couldn't cancel us and sell higher. Some who booked early got shafted. I saw some similar offers on camping & parking offers on the road.

I have the luxury of being in 99.5% coverage. The early traffic reports make it sound like the 21st will be an epic s**tshow.

I'm watching the partial from my deck and drinking Kih Royals and Bloody Mary's

It's just not the same as Total. Sorry you didn't go for it.

I just got home. I was so worried about all the things that could go wrong, but we worked thru them all. Our first flight from Lubbock to Denver was delayed for weather, after I dodged storms getting to the airport during the wee hours that morning, so we go to Denver late - but our connecting flight pushed on time, before we could get on. It was then delayed for some reason and my daughter talked them into reopening the gate for us. I was amazed.

Enterprise was slow getting our van ready even tho we'd booked for that hour months ago, but they finally got it to us, and we made the rounds over the days: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devils Tower (as seen in the movie), Little Bighorn, nights in Hulette and Billings - then we finally went over a 10,950 foot pass at Silver Gate. So many switchbacks that we met ourselves twice. Lots of snow still melting. Then we did our 4 nights at Old Faithful Lodge cabins, toured much of the park, learned to hate RVs after competing with so many all over the park, rafting and horseback riding at Gardiner - all in all a great trip with high priced food.

We got up at 5am and left at 6am this morning. We met one couple who said they were leaving at 4am, but we couldn't get ourselves to do that. We stopped in West Yellowstone to top off the gas tank and pickup food - boxes lunches we had ordered the day before and pastries for the road. Google said we could be from Old Faithful to Idaho Falls in 2.5 hours so I allowed twice that much, then we hit the road to see. We did hit some slow traffic pretty soon, but that was caused by a wreck. Then we got to Rexburg...

I thought Thornton would be the best spot on that road, but that little town has no parks, so we started checking Rebburg. Some were paying $20 to park near the highway, but we went into town checking the parks, and the third one wasn't overly crowded. They had porta potties and trashcans out, and it was really a pretty nice to view along with a few hundred others. Lots of cheering when it finally went Total at 11:33am. Loved it.

One of my daughter's friends traveled from Lubbock to Kansas City to view and got totally rained out, but we had great weather.

The hordes arrived at different times but we all left shortly after the end of Totality, so just getting out of town was challenging, as were several other areas along hiway 20. Google maps gave us good warnings on the worst areas somehow, I was surprised that they knew, and we got routed around some - but we made it to the airport 3 hours early!

At first our departing flight showed delayed by incoming aircraft and we were worried about connecting in Denver again, but they got us out on time somehow, connected ok, and home ok.

Can't wait for the Annular in 2023 and the Total in 2024. Hope I live that long...

 

[DeputyDan]

Great time for a nap.
There will be pics on the internet for years!

 

[DandyDon]

It was then delayed for some reason and my daughter talked them into reopening the gate for us. I was amazed.

I was amazed that my daughter could get them to reopen the gate & plane for us, then blown away in Rapid City when all of our bags arrived on time.

Today is my actual birthday and it would have been nice for the trip to overlap that, but the vice principal and the kids had to get to school even tho they got to skip several days of it. I AM SO EXHAUSTED.

 

[bcaderunr]

I was amazed that my daughter could get them to reopen the gate & plane for us, then blown away in Rapid City when all of our bags arrived on time.

Today is my actual birthday and it would have been nice for the trip to overlap that, but the vice principal and the kids had to get to school even tho they got to skip several days of it. I AM SO EXHAUSTED.

Glad to hear it all went according to plan for you. Wife and I drove up to Douglas, WY @6AM Sunday morning from Boulder. 3 hour drive -- minimal traffic. Spent the night at the Sleep Inn which we'd booked back in February. Headed south and west of town around 9AM onto a quiet dirt road within a mile of Centerline and had a great viewing spot on a rise surrounded by open range. It's my 3rd total eclipse, and like the Islands of the Caribbean -- they are all the same and each one is unique!

By the way, the 3 hr. drive UP to Douglas took 10-1/2 hours coming BACK. Ouch!

 

[jonhall]

Glad you had a good trip @DandyDon.

Here in Indy we had over 90% eclipse. I sat by the swimming pool during the time of the eclipse and although there were periods of clouds, when the sun shined through, I would say if a person paid close attention, they would have noticed a difference in the level of brightness. Otherwise during the peak time, a person not in the know would have just thought it was cloudy.

The path of next total eclipse across the U.S. (2024) will pass through Indy. I may need to stock up on eclipse glasses and rent out yard space!!

 

[DandyDon]

The path of next total eclipse across the U.S. (2024) will pass through Indy. I may need to stock up on eclipse glasses and rent out yard space!!

Oh, I am looking forward to the Annual in 2023, but the Total the following year will be better, yeah.