Total solar eclipse 2017

[RunningBum]

Curious as to why you think traffic will be worse in TN than SC. Have you read or heard anything specific about TN that makes you think that? My plan involves driving up from Atlanta to central TN, and I'm not aware of anything that would make me want to rethink that right now. But please share if you know something that might be pertinent!

It's not the traffic of one vs the other, it's that I'm taking the train to SC, and walking everywhere within town. The train shouldn't be affected by traffic tie ups. Possible, if it causes a crossing to be blocked, but unlikely. No train option for me to TN.

 

[Jerry1]

Well I'm committed now. I was deciding between going to Columbia MO and Bowling Green KY. Weather in Columbia looks bad so going to Bowling Green and further south if traffic will allow. I feel like I'm heading into the eye of the storm. We're going to Louisville tomorrow and leaving for Bowling Green early Monday morning. It normally takes 2 hours to get to BG from Louisville but I'm going to leave between 7 and 8am. If the drive is 4 hours, I will be there right at the start. Plus I'll have about another hour until totality.

Bowling Green is only about 30 seconds of totality so beyond the goal to get there, If I can get another 15-20 miles further south, I'll get up to 2 minutes. That's my stretch goal. Wish me luck and for all the eclipse chasers, I wish you well too. Be safe.

 

[Ronstar]

How the eclipse will look at various times from a certain zip code:
Solar Eclipse Map: See How the Eclipse Will Look Near You | Time.com

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Heading to knoxsville TN as I type. Hope it's worth it.

 

[Walt34]

DW just left, heading to her niece's place. They will leave early AM tomorrow and head for Florence, SC to (hopefully) see more than a dark and cloudy sky with the niece's 3-year-old son. According to Google Maps it will be just under a 7-hour drive but I'm sure there will be stops along the way.

 

[FIREmenow]

How the eclipse will look at various times from a certain zip code:
Solar Eclipse Map: See How the Eclipse Will Look Near You | Time.com

Knowing my luck, here's how mine's likely to look on the SC coast....

 

[meierlde]

Since the April 8 2024 total eclipse central line goes almost right over my house I am not going for this one. (Will watch on Tv or live streamed). The 2024 eclipse is a border to border eclipse starting in Mexico going over Texas right over Waco and Dallas, Paducah, Indianapolis Cleveland, Buffalo, Fredrickton NB etc. This does provide a lot more hotel rooms as it crosses more settled parts of the country:https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2024/

 

[LauAnn]

Just finished rigging up my binoculars on a tripod to project the eclipse on a sheet of paper. I waited too long to get a pair of the viewing glasses.

 

[LauAnn]

The April 8, 2024 eclipse also goes directly over my location. At 97% coverage it should be a pretty good show. Already looking forward to it.

 

[sengsational]

We're in the zone!

 

[homestead]

Drove down into the Eclipse zone this morning to help my son paint his deck. Went as far as Woodburn OR on I5. No noticeable increase in traffic yet, in fact there was more northbound traffic than southbound.

 

[PawPrint53]

But trying to find a pair of approved/safe eclipse glasses in my area has become a huge chore to say the least.

Today I was volunteering at our local farmer's market where a group not associated with the market was supposed to give away 1100 pair of eclipse glasses at 9:30 am. There was a glitch and 300 pair were given away prior to 9:30 am, and the remaining 800 were scheduled to be there at 11:00 am, distributed by a high school girl's soccer team. Of course, there were hundreds of people who showed up at 9:30 am and had to wait until 11:00 am. We weren't sure where the girls were going to be (the market is spread out over several blocks) and by 10:30 am, several hundred people were crowded around the market information booth. It was pretty frightening actually and as 11:00 am grew closer, the crowd seemed to draw closer to the booth. At about 11:05, someone radioed that the girls were at the other end of the market (3 or 4 blocks away) and the crowd took off en masse, some of them very upset. From what I understood, people started grabbing the glasses from the girls and several pair were ripped up in the ensuing melee. While I didn't see this part, someone said it was downright scary. And all for a free pair of eclipse glasses.

 

[6miths]

Going to hit the road at noon tomorrow. Hope to sneak into the zone in the wee hours of Monday am then have a nap!

 

[fosterscik]

We have a hotel booked in Murray Kentucky tomorrow night. It's a ~20 mile drive from there to the land between the lakes. We plan to enter early, find some parking and hike all day until eclipse time. Wish us luck finding parking...

 

[JoeWras]

1 day to go. I'm going to hit the road about 4:30am, with hope of reaching zone of totality about 9AM. ( Eastern time, totality at 2:40PM.)

Will I even make it? Will I be stuck miles away? Who knows?

Pray/Lift up thoughts for us idiots!

No matter what, this will be an experience, even if experience is encountering the Mother of All Traffic Jams.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Maybe Oregon traffic won't be quite as bad as hyped?

Oregon, C.O. eclipse update: Very light traffic -- so far - KTVZ

BEND, Ore. - Other than a backup at a La Pine traffic light on Highway 97, Central Oregon's traffic - and, many businesses frustratingly report, customer volume - was lower on Saturday, two days before the solar eclipse, than it is on a normal late-August weekend, much to the chagrin of merchants and joy of motorists.

Why? It could have something to do with national coverage of the 15- to 30-mile traffic jams in the Prineville area a few days ago, as Symbisosis concert-goers arrived in droves.

And just maybe the tall, dark smoke plumes rising from the Milli, Nena Springs and other fires (that have played havoc with hundreds of evacuated residents' weekend plans) prompted some travelers to choose other places to go. Plus, busy stores days ago indicated many local residents paid heed to the advice to stock up and stay off the roads this weekend.

I lived in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics and this is what happened then. Crossing my fingers.

 

[Scrapr]

Maybe Oregon traffic won't be quite as bad as hyped?

Oregon, C.O. eclipse update: Very light traffic -- so far - KTVZ



I lived in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics and this is what happened then. Crossing my fingers.

We will see what happens today. We heard from a neighbor that nobody was out and traffic was very light. So we popped over to a very popular brewpub. Primetime Sat night typical 1 hour wait. 15 minutes and seated. The outside patio was a bit more. But that was crazy

There is a festival over in Prineville. 30k people. Which was creating traffic jams on Thursday. 30 miles IIRC.

I had a hard time imagining that many people. Then I saw this tweet

https://twitter.com/x/status/899070824274997248

 

[FIREmenow]

Saw this today in Chas.

 

[USGrant1962]

We drove from Maryland to Knoxville in I-81 and I-40 yesterday. It was pretty bad in central VA but normal weekend heavy in southern VA and TN. I think central VA was more likely final summer vacation and driving kids to college traffic.

We drove from Knoxville to Atlanta on I-75 today and traffic was very light in both directions.

Except for lighted signs on I-75 saying no parking on the shoulder during the eclipse, there was no indication of the Apoceclipse.

I'm heading out of Atlanta to 0500 tomorrow anyway just to be on the safe side. Looks like I'll be on a boat on Tellico lake for 2:30 min totality (at 2:30 p.m.).

 

[Red Badger]

Eclipse apocalypse has hit western NC. Just checked in to our Asheville hotel. It is sold out. Lady at the desk said Marriott properties nearby were all sold out except for a SH Suites (they are wanting a princely $400 instead of the usual buck fifty). Totality zone is still another hour (plus) west / southwest of here.

We're gonna hang nearby and consider this practice for 2024.

 

[Walt34]

...and consider this practice for 2024.

Same here. DW went with her niece to SC, but I'm gonna wait for April 8, 2024. Shorter drive, maybe even not have to get a hotel.

 

[Dreamer]

We were in Matthews NC at our daughter's house and were thinking of driving to Columbia SC for the eclipse, but daughter said they were warning of traffic nightmares. Daughter said they were not going. They have a 9 yr old, a 3 yr old and an almost 15 mos old. My spouse wanted to get back to WV, since he is leaving on a trip on Wednesday, so we came home today. We could not find any eclipse glasses in Matthews NC.

 

[Senator]

I drove I35 from St Paul, MN to Kansas City today. I left at ~7 AM and arrived at ~2 PM.

I thought there was a lot of MN cars mostly on the road, even 100 miles into Iowa. It also seemed that the SB traffic was a lot heavier than the NB lanes.

When I got closer to KC, not too much traffic. Lathrop, where we are headed in the AM was still desolate. We stopped by there on the way down to see the lay of the land and see where we paid to park and watch.

Everyone here at the hotel is here for the eclipse. Jacks Stack BBQ had a 3 hour wait at 6 PM. We went to a different restaurant.

 

[Brat]

Local news reporting already backups in LaPine/ Highway 97 and Prineville/ Highway 26: 800 cars per hour and 30 mile backup. Over 1 million people expected in Oregon for this!

My son's family was caught in this because of a festival east of Prineville. They were heading for the Prineville Reservoir campground; left Portland about 1:30, Waze shows them parking at 7:30 for a trip that usually takes 4 hours at worst. Daughter & family flying from SFO to join them. Kids sleeping in tents, adults in the motor home.

DH and I have invited a couple friends to join us on our balcony which faces east.

Oregonians like visitors but we hope and pray that they don't like us so much that they want to stay.

 

[Scrapr]

Well eclipse day is on the 'morrow. Either this is a bust or the State is really really prepared. Our town (Bend) is about an hour south of Madras. Madras is supposed to be one of the best sites to view. They are busy there. And Prineville is about 45 mins from Bend. They are hosting a big party/festival 40k people there. There was a lot of traffic getting in there. But since no problems at all that i can see.

I was wrong about infrastructure breaking down. I thought the cell towers would be overloaded (even though more were brought in). And etc. Stores don't seem to be having a run on goods. I may have panicked @eastwest gal who is traveling to Madras.

Things in Bend have even been a bit better than expected. Light traffic at restaraunts and eateries. We heard that things were slow at brewpubs so the Mrs and i helped them out a bit by visiting. One of the most popular ones would have an hour plus wait on a summer Saturday. 15 minutes and we were seated.

Skies are empty, highways are full and Bend is … quiet?; Eclipse predictions mostly on point

Looks like things are going to be OK. There is some smoke overhead from several wild fires nearby. Weathercasters say it should move on tonight. We had ash falling earlier this week but not now, so i guess that is better