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

[Streydog]

If you are driving somewhere to see it I would give yourself plenty of time to get there and plan on heavy traffic. In 1999 I was working in Germany and was driving to Amsterdam for some R@R, had no idea there was a total eclipse coming in my path. It took me an extra 6 hours to get there due to traffic.

 

[Wookie]

Headed to Crossville, TN. Does that count? Back in 1997 I watched it underwater from Nevis. Pretty spectacular.

 

[gr8jab]

I'm going nowhere... nada.. zip... zilch. No travel for me for this crazy event!!!!! Not one second wasted in traffic. Not one over inflated hotel bill. Not a single drop of gasoline...

I live about 1 mile from the center of the path of totality.

I might purchase some extra lawn chairs

 

[DandyDon]

If you are driving somewhere to see it I would give yourself plenty of time to get there and plan on heavy traffic. In 1999 I was working in Germany and was driving to Amsterdam for some R@R, had know idea there was a total eclipse coming in my path. It took me an extra 6 hours to get there due to traffic.

Yeah, traffic threats worry me. Since we are now flying out of Idaho Falls again, I'd like to watch it from Grand Teton near the Jackson airport, but traveling that little park road before & after both could be a nightmare. We really do have to be home that night as my daughter the vice-principal and the two student girls will already be missing several days of school, so we might escape Yellowstone that morning thru the west gate - then set up a little camp near Thornton ID still. Safer, but we'll decide on that when we get to Yellowstone and read the roads and what we hear from others.

Headed to Crossville, TN. Does that count? Back in 1997 I watched it underwater from Nevis. Pretty spectacular.

Between Nashville & Knoxville does sound like a good viewing area. Be sure to get plenty of viewing glasses.

I'm going nowhere... nada.. zip... zilch. No travel for me for this crazy event!!!!! Not one second wasted in traffic. Not one over inflated hotel bill. Not a single drop of gasoline...

I live about 1 mile from the center of the path of totality.

I might purchase some extra lawn chairs

I know a diver in Washington state who booked a property big enough for a large family in Oregon, then the owner canceled when he heard about the eclipse. Some of the stories say that locals are trying to rip off visitors as much as possible. We're safe with our reservations as the national park vendor can't get away with gouging. My original Hertz van rental went from $500+ to $1,000+ with my changes, wish I'd kept the old one as it was for safety while I shopped for more, but I think I'm ok with Enterprise at $800.

This could turn into a real zoo. The West Texas Annualar in October 2023 and Total in Texas in April 2024 will be much easier for me, but that's over six years away. I won't start planning those until I get back from this one at least.

 

[DandyDon]

This map keeps getting moved to other sites. I guess it does overwhelm the server. NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 Aug 21

All the hotels along the Total line across the US seem to be jacking their rates up to over $500/night - everywhere! The Idaho Falls Best Western is $1,123/night that weekend. I hope you have your guaranteed reservations. I still have an extra cabin booked at Yellowstone, Aug 17-21, $100/night, no bath - very basic. I can release it for full refund but would rather give it to a friend.

All the news worries me about traffic. Now I am thinking about making an early drive to the airport as we absolutely have to be on the 5pm plane. That would reduce our Totality time from 2 min 18 seconds to 1 minute 52 seconds, but there is a city park close to the airport.

 

[Streydog]

I can imagine all the small town cops lining the roads along the path, it will be like HWY 77 leading down to the valley during spring break. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

 

[jonhall]

Being in the path of an annular eclipse, or being off the path of totality (a partial eclipse) is undetectable. The only way that you can tell that it is happening is if you have eclipse glasses or if you project the sun's image and view it that way. If you do either of those things, you will see a "bite" taken out of the sun (partial) or the shadow of the moon over the sun (annular). If you don't do either of those things, you won't notice anything happening at all.

Was teaching 7th grade science in May 1994 when an annular eclipse occurred. I spent about 5 minutes looking online for observations my classes sent to Purdue University, as well as the observations of many schools in the state of Indiana, but couldn't find them. Guess they were never published online. They are on a cd that I left at school when I retired.

Most people probably wouldn't notice anything during this type of eclipse unless they looked up, but an observant person may notice other things such as a temperature drop. We observed the eclipse with pinhole cameras, solar eclipse glasses, and a welders mask , as well as through the leaves of trees. A complete ring (annular) could almost be seen through the pinholes created by the leaves and camera. Although I don't remember the results of observations we made (it was 1994), we attempted to count bird chirps, observe flowers, and look for other changes prior to, during, and after the eclipse.

 

[KeithG]

Well I have travel plans. But I was (am) totally unaware of this eclipse thing. We will be floating around a few Ecuadorian islands (not diving). Should I be looking for something?

 

[DandyDon]

Was teaching 7th grade science in May 1994 when an annular eclipse occurred. I spent about 5 minutes looking online for observations my classes sent to Purdue University, as well as the observations of many schools in the state of Indiana, but couldn't find them. Guess they were never published online. They are on a cd that I left at school when I retired.

Most people probably wouldn't notice anything during this type of eclipse unless they looked up, but an observant person may notice other things such as a temperature drop. We observed the eclipse with pinhole cameras, solar eclipse glasses, and a welders mask , as well as through the leaves of trees. A complete ring (annular) could almost be seen through the pinholes created by the leaves and camera. Although I don't remember the results of observations we made (it was 1994), we attempted to count bird chirps, observe flowers, and look for other changes prior to, during, and after the eclipse.

I remember that one. NASA - Annular Solar Eclipse of 1994 May 10

I didn't know how to look things up on a computer then, but I read about it in Sky magazine I think and organized a camping weekend with friends at Carlsbad Caverns, thinking the skies might more likely be clear there than here. We had our viewing glasses, but got blocked by clouds while the skies were clear at home! Missed!

I enjoyed the 2012 Annular from home as it came right thru here towards sundown. We didn't need our glasses by the time it got low on the horizon. I guess one would miss such if they didn't know to watch for it as it never got very dark.

Are you going down for this one? It looks like a 4 hour drive to Carbondale IL.

Well I have travel plans. But I was (am) totally unaware of this eclipse thing. We will be floating around a few Ecuadorian islands (not diving). Should I be looking for something?

That's a long ways from the Totality range. It looks like you might get a Partial eclipse of 6% coverage if you have eclipse viewers and look up at 19:43 Universal Time. Have a good trip anyway. Sounds interesting. If you are home in April 2024, you wouldn't have to travel far for this one: NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 Apr 08

 

[jonhall]

Are you going down for this one? It looks like a 4 hour drive to Carbondale IL.

Thought about going somewhere south, but don't think it's worth it for the amount of time the annularity will last. Will be satisfied with the partial we'll get here in Indy.