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Who has travel plans for the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse?
- Thread starter DandyDon
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OP
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I still have mine from the 2012 Annular here, but few will have saved theirs so I ordered 25 from Rainbow early to get the poster. I'll give a few to family & friends here with written instructions on date & time to look as 75% coverage is worth seeing - then text then on the day as a reminder. I think I'll order that 10 pack too so I'll have more to share. I like how those are individually packed & sealed, so I'll take that pack on the trip. There are 5 of us in our family group, but it's fun to share.
With two years of planning and lots of details, I expect a lot to go awry. Well, I have already tossed some ideas of driving to Nebraska alone or driving to visit several national parks on the way to Yellowstone alone, now that the family is on with the plan and all. I have had to trouble shoot the plane tickets and the first night hotel stay already, which I discovered on my own - no emails, but it's good to have a basic plan, be prepared, then explore options as we go.
The other 4 in this group are currently in Nanjing airport waiting on a late plane to Chengdu, and now my daughter is asking me for info on Chengdu as she left the planning to the Chinese daughter who is going with them and this Yellowstone trip as well. "Why didn't you ask where you were going to research?!" Crickets. Only one of the group speaks Chinese, and they use a different dialect of Mandarin in Chengdu. Lordie. They do have a booked van & guide so I guess they'll go where he goes.
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Me in Aruba in 1998. Check out all the hair! And the fancy Questar telescope with the solar filter.
OP
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My granddaughter trying on some local attire with some nice Tibetan ladies in western China yesterday. They're not going to be so impressed with my trip.
OP
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Ok, less than 11 days until lift off now, after planning this trip with various approaches for two years, and I am watching possibilities closely - as well as worrying about what I may have missed. This trip would have been easier & cheaper if we'd planned on flying to & from Idaho Falls, but the kids really wanted to add Mount Rushmore - a 10 hour drive from there, so we're doing the open-jaw flight. I know it's a massive carving to behold, and it's the only time any of us will be in that part of the nation so yeah - gotta include it, but I expect the kids to be bored with it after an hour there. We'll see...
Delayed or canceled flights: Always a risk. We've had to change flight plans twice when they moved our outbound up to before dawn, then canceled our original return from Bozeman, but those changes both worked in our favor. There are no backup flights that work for our plan tho, so got to hope these planes fly and on time.
Van rental agency failing to deliver - sending us to $2,000 competitors: It's amazing how much some of these agencies charge to pickup in South Dakota and drop in another state over 600 miles away. A SUV would have worked for 4 of us but not 5 (did that once, and it was hell!), and while I do have a van reserved at under $800 - that agency is really not obligated to have it for me. I keep watching for price breaks as we get closer, but they keep going up. Current view on a new booking is $2,896!
Hotels canceling on arrival: Buildings have problems. I will be phoning each property the morning of our arrival dates as I have saved the day many times doing so, but we can only hope we don't find ourselves begging for comfortable quarters at a planned stop.
Food poisoning: That happened to me once with the kids. It hit right after we checked out of the hotel so I couldn't ask for a late checkout while the kids visited the park. I had to rush to the lobby restroom several times, then make an emergency stop at a convenience store on the way. Once at the park, the kids went to explore the caves that were once living spaces, but I was afraid to get far from the visitor center.
Bears & wolves: Actually bison cause more injuries than any other animals at Yellowstone when people try to pet them, as they are accustomed to people getting close - but they are not tame. My granddaughter has no fears so we'll have to work at the distance rules. We're not doing any back country hikes, so not carrying bear spray.
White water rapids & horseback riding: They decided to add those one day. I can only hope.
Hiking by cliffs & posing for photos: So how can I inspire safety in my granddaughter? She continues to scare me, like when we went out on a rough lava bed at Death Valley - in flip flops!
Scalding hot springs & geysers: I do hope I can keep them on the boardwalks.
Traffic jams on E-day: I had originally hoped to watch the eclipse from the center line in Grand Teton, but that narrow park road will be a zoo I bet. We're leaving the Old Faithful cabins before sunup, plan to pickup breakfast & box lunches in West Yellowstone when we top off the gas tank at 7am, then hope the road to the airport is not crowded. I really want to watch from the center line near Thornton ID on the way - approximately where the construction icon is on the map below, but I may chicken out and hurry to the airport to watch it from there. We absolutely have to be on the 5:35pm plane out that day, and there are no backup flights for two days! I keep checking Idaho Falls news for eclipse mania, hoping there won't be a horde in the way.
Delayed or canceled flights: Always a risk. We've had to change flight plans twice when they moved our outbound up to before dawn, then canceled our original return from Bozeman, but those changes both worked in our favor. There are no backup flights that work for our plan tho, so got to hope these planes fly and on time.
Van rental agency failing to deliver - sending us to $2,000 competitors: It's amazing how much some of these agencies charge to pickup in South Dakota and drop in another state over 600 miles away. A SUV would have worked for 4 of us but not 5 (did that once, and it was hell!), and while I do have a van reserved at under $800 - that agency is really not obligated to have it for me. I keep watching for price breaks as we get closer, but they keep going up. Current view on a new booking is $2,896!
Hotels canceling on arrival: Buildings have problems. I will be phoning each property the morning of our arrival dates as I have saved the day many times doing so, but we can only hope we don't find ourselves begging for comfortable quarters at a planned stop.
Food poisoning: That happened to me once with the kids. It hit right after we checked out of the hotel so I couldn't ask for a late checkout while the kids visited the park. I had to rush to the lobby restroom several times, then make an emergency stop at a convenience store on the way. Once at the park, the kids went to explore the caves that were once living spaces, but I was afraid to get far from the visitor center.
Bears & wolves: Actually bison cause more injuries than any other animals at Yellowstone when people try to pet them, as they are accustomed to people getting close - but they are not tame. My granddaughter has no fears so we'll have to work at the distance rules. We're not doing any back country hikes, so not carrying bear spray.
White water rapids & horseback riding: They decided to add those one day. I can only hope.
Hiking by cliffs & posing for photos: So how can I inspire safety in my granddaughter? She continues to scare me, like when we went out on a rough lava bed at Death Valley - in flip flops!
Scalding hot springs & geysers: I do hope I can keep them on the boardwalks.
Traffic jams on E-day: I had originally hoped to watch the eclipse from the center line in Grand Teton, but that narrow park road will be a zoo I bet. We're leaving the Old Faithful cabins before sunup, plan to pickup breakfast & box lunches in West Yellowstone when we top off the gas tank at 7am, then hope the road to the airport is not crowded. I really want to watch from the center line near Thornton ID on the way - approximately where the construction icon is on the map below, but I may chicken out and hurry to the airport to watch it from there. We absolutely have to be on the 5:35pm plane out that day, and there are no backup flights for two days! I keep checking Idaho Falls news for eclipse mania, hoping there won't be a horde in the way.
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OP
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I saw a notice on FB from a lady in Oregon offering camping in her field - dirt spaces, no water, no power, no toilet, no fires, nothing but a field space - $450 a night! She did say the nearby truck stop allowed anyone to use their facilities.
I see that Idaho Falls has opened 3 city parks to camping, $50-100 a night with 3 night minimum, and a big concert, but all look to be away from the airport.
I see that Idaho Falls has opened 3 city parks to camping, $50-100 a night with 3 night minimum, and a big concert, but all look to be away from the airport.
Got a camp site from an airbnb property very close to Painted Hills, Oregon for Saturday and Sunday night. So if there is absolutely gridlock between the tent site and the national monument (as I expect it to be madness), then I'll still be able to photograph the solar eclipse.
fish149
Contributor
Camping south of bowling green, KY for the eclipse. Campground is literally 100 yds outside of totality so we're gonna have to scout a viewing area out.
This is a first total solar eclipse for me. No diving this trip just maybe a trip to mamouth cave.
This is a first total solar eclipse for me. No diving this trip just maybe a trip to mamouth cave.
Will stop in SC off I-95 on my way back north from BHB. Diving and Total Eclipse; what a trip!
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