Total solar eclipse 2017

Dropping off one son for his first year of college in Greenville SC on 18th - 19th of August but have to rush back home to take his twin to his college in upstate NY on the 22nd. Bummed to miss it.
 
My plan is to go to my fathers house in MO. However, I will be checking the weather and may need to go somewhere else. If the weather doesn't look 100% - plan B:

I live in MI and my plan is to go to Indianapolis the day before. From there, I can go south to Nashville or west to south of St. Louis and make a day trip out of it. It will be a long day, but in about 4 hours, I can get to a couple pretty different spots where hopefully one will have cooperation from the weather. Then, drive back far enough to get a room and head home the next day.

I don't see any point in securing a room/accommodations in a fixed area given the risk of weather and I'm sure any establishment is double or triple charging. It will look as cool in a Walmart parking lot as it will from anywhere else.
 
I just booked a room at the Super 8 in Kearney, MO. $85. 100% obscuration.

Thank you for the reminder. If I was working, I would never have done it.
 
calmloki said:
Wow. We will drive about 6 minutes south of home to the totality line. Maybe park in a little hilltop cemetery about 100 yards south of the line. Probably will have breakfast, lunch and dinner, likely will have wine or mixed drinks. Granted, it's not Sunriver and I'm not Professor Whosiwhatsis, but $2900/each? Think of the money we're saving!

Thanks OP - great heads up!
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Well prof Whoiswhatsis is going to have to do some fast talking. Because Sunriver is not in the path of totality. And if he thinks they are going to take a leisurly drive to scenic Madras the morning of the eclipse they might make the North end of Bend before gridlock occurs. However they may elect my super duper partial eclipse program. Only $250/head. You get to stand in my back yard for exactly 1 hour. An additional $12.50/minute charge may apply. This can be paid in (good) whiskey or wine of a certain age
 
My cousin booked a campsite in Madras OR. We're flying into Portland a couple of days before and camping the night before, joining him. The campsite is in the total eclipse path. DS has to fly out that afternoon. It will be a zoo.
 
I can drive about 6 hours south and stay with a friend who is an hour from the full path, or I can fly and visit family who are actually in the full path. Weather is the big factor, of course, plus trying to decide if it's worth it.
 
Looks like Columbia, MO is a slightly better bet in terms of chance of cloud cover. Also slightly closer than Columbia, SC for me. I wonder if anyone has modeled traffic forecasts for different areas? ;)

CentrelineCloud.png
 
Here's a good map of future eclipses. You put in your age and it shows you the total eclipses in the world up to your 100th birthday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/eclipse/?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.0d01de8b7d27


So, in my lifetime, this is the closest one to where I live now, but in 7 years there will be one that comes through Mexico into Texas and heads northeast above NYC--not much further away. Another one will go coast to coast in 2045, a bit south of this year's eclipse. Two others, in 2044 (north central/Rockies from what I can tell) and 2052 (tip of Florida) are it for the US in my 100 years.
 
Have had our reservations on the Oregon coast since September 2016!
 
I will be watching it from Lathrop, MO. A town of 2,000 people that is supposed to grow to 25,000. It is ~30 miles from Kansas City.

They have buses from KC and Des Moines, but I will be driving. Lots of activities there, it is also their 150 anniversary.
 
I may do this. It's a +5 hour drive to Carbondale, Illinois, where the greatest duration is. I want to photograph it, but I want to catch some interesting landscape with the eclipse. But the eclipse takes place in this area around noon, making the sun high in the sky. Maybe too high to catch some landscape in the same photo.
 
travelover said:
Just moved near Portland. Thought of camping a little south to be right in the path, but all campgrounds are booked. I'll settle for 98.5%
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Why not drive a bit south that morning? I know there's likely to be a lot of traffic, but you could give yourself a couple hours buffer and grab breakfast somewhere, and pack some food in case you do get caught in traffic. If you want to see the full eclipse, which I understand to be quite a bit more of an experience than even 98.5%.

That's my plan, if the weather looks good. I'll see if I can book something right in the path, but if I can't, I'll book in one of the larger cities not far from it (Charlotte or Knoxville) and drive the rest of the way in the morning. The eclipse doesn't even start until 1pm where I'm looking in the east.

Maybe I'm underestimating the traffic. I just checked Columbia, Greenville and Anderson SC, which are pretty close to the center of the path. Some places sold out, but a lot still available, though at a 50-100% markup.
 
travelover said:
Yea, if it was just me, I'd do it. DW has a lot of intertia...;)
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Ditch her! I'd expect someone who goes by travelover to be able to go on the move quite easily!

If you're in a caregiver situation for DW, please disregard as I don't intend to be insensitive.
 
RunningBum said:
Ditch her! I'd expect someone who goes by travelover to be able to go on the move quite easily!

If you're in a caregiver situation for DW, please disregard as I don't intend to be insensitive.
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She makes up for it in other ways.:LOL: Our eclipse is at 9 AM-ish and we are north of Portland. Traffic is terrible crossing the bridges at morning rush hour, so we'd have to be out of here by 6 AM to miss it. Starts sounding like a bit of a hassle.
 
Will be one of the last people in the US to see it - standing on the beach in Charleston.....
 
Hope you are cloud free on the beach in SC. That would be spectacular.
 
We just booked a hotel in Kansas City for the whole weekend, which is an 8-hour drive from where we live in Texas. We also bought a $20 parking pass at the airport in St Joseph, MO, which is exactly on the centerline. It's normally about a one hour drive north from Kansas City. Plan is to leave the hotel about 5am in hopes of beating the gridlock on I-29. It starts at 11:40, so I think we'll make it... unless the entire population of Kansas City has the same plan.
 
Cobra9777 said:
We just booked a hotel in Kansas City for the whole weekend, which is an 8-hour drive from where we live in Texas. We also bought a $20 parking pass at the airport in St Joseph, MO, which is exactly on the centerline. It's normally about a one hour drive north from Kansas City. Plan is to leave the hotel about 5am in hopes of beating the gridlock on I-29. It starts at 11:40, so I think we'll make it... unless the entire population of Kansas City has the same plan.
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You should be fine, I lived there 38 years. I've driven that in way less time!😂 Even World Series or Presidential visits wouldn't make you late. Your location in KC matters, downtown is closer to the airport then JOCO, Kansas, it will take a little longer. Still you should be early.

Are you tailgating first?
 
I waited too long to book in Oregon, so I am taking a different route - fly to New Orleans on the 19th, hop on Amtrak "City of New Orleans" to Carbondale, IL. In town from 0311 to 1615, then hop on Amtrak "Saluki" to Chicago, fly home the next morning
 
6miths said:
Thought it would be worth a bump as only 6 weeks to go. Trying to decide on whether to go to vicinity of Columbia, SC or Columbia, MO to watch eclipse. Have others who are planning to get in the path got their plans made.

Eclipse-Times.jpg
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I will be heading to Columbia SC from the Charlotte NC area. About a 2 hour drive.
 
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