How far would you travel to see The Eclipse?

[LeeInTN]

About 30 feet to my front porch. We are right smack in the middle of the 70 mile wide "zone of totality" here in TN, one of the top 30 towns in the country to view the eclipse.

We'll go out on the deck since the front porch is covered.

During totality, will major airports stop take-offs and landings since the momentary darkness would force them to crank up the lights and enact nighttime operational procedures?

[wrongfunds]

Even partial solar eclipse is a big deal. Things do get weird. One just feels it. The shadows take interesting shapes.

But if you do not have curious mind or hate the overhype, then it is no big deal to you. As somebody said in previous reply, we lose sun every 24 hours

[littlebird]

Surely this must be sarcasm.

Well, it was a joke.

You never know with some people on here saying that 95% is good enough for them when it wont really look any different than a normal day. Tone doesn't translate well over internet posts.

Nor does the citation of archaic scientific articles with ambiguous photos

[Kenkat]

I counted 17 people in this thread willing to travel for the eclipse.

18 people. I am not this year because I have a little one and another on the way. But it will be about 2000 miles to see the next one.

Based on the volume of users and traffic on this site, that doesn't feel like very many people to me.

Then why the hotel rooms booked months in advance at higher than usual rates, and the expectation of apocalyptic traffic?

There is definitely a core of people who are going to see the eclipse and planned overnight trips as to not miss it. The size of that group exceeds the room capacity within the totality zone. So there are definitely people interested. The question I think is if there is another very large group that is going to travel the day of the eclipse and what impact that will have on roads. It is a work day and a school day for many people and I just don't know many people are going to make the arrangements to go on Monday.

I recognize there is a chance I could be dead wrong about this...

Our little tourist area is already fully booked--no camping slots, no hotel rooms, no cabins, nothing, and it's been that way for six months. You can't even get a seat on a plane flying in starting probably Wednesday of this week. Our emergency responders are telling us to prepare for traffic to be at a standstill and to avoid driving if you can.

What area of the country are you in?

[neilpilot]

About 30 feet to my front porch. We are right smack in the middle of the 70 mile wide "zone of totality" here in TN, one of the top 30 towns in the country to view the eclipse.

We'll go out on the deck since the front porch is covered.

During totality, will major airports stop take-offs and landings since the momentary darkness would force them to crank up the lights and enact nighttime operational procedures?

Most aircraft and flight crews are fully capable of night operations.

[Elsebet]

Honestly, zero miles. Doesn't really interest me.

Ditto.

[AlwaysBeClimbing]

Even partial solar eclipse is a big deal. Things do get weird. One just feels it. The shadows take interesting shapes.

But if you do not have curious mind or hate the overhype, then it is no big deal to you. As somebody said in previous reply, we lose sun every 24 hours

I consider myself to have a very curious mind, yet I don't see the "big deal" here, no live changing event for me. Now if I was an astronomer, I'm pretty sure I'd see it differently. IMO, it's massively over-hyped. But then we've become an "event" culture, and there's never enough hype for the "must see" 'really big show'. Wake me when the sun goes nova.

[Wakefield1]

Partial eclipse (even a high coverage one) is over hyped
Total eclipse is under hyped. You might not get any in a lifetime. Of course it can be a failure if the sky is clouded over.

[likegarden]

Thanks for the map!
So I would possibly be able (if still around) to see the 2024 total eclipse, would be only 3 hours north. That would be a comfortable day trip.

[rattlenap]

Temecula, California.

[exoilman]

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_baron_y ... ar_eclipse

[jadedfalcons]

I'm traveling to my back yard. Benefits of living in Saint Joseph, MO. Front yard has too many trees in it.

[wrongfunds]

"Solar eclipse is all one big conspiracy"
- Flat Earth Society

[weltschmerz]

deleted

[badbreath]

We are traveling about 7 hour car ride to Nashville. But doing it very slowly to stop and see things in between.

[auntie]

I'm driving from southern California. About 1000 miles. Each way. Planning on an 8 or 9 day trip.

[protagonist]

If I were to travel to see it, I would pick some totally unknown, tiny spot on the line of totality with very little light pollution. I would look for the spot on the line of totality that would, under normal "non-eclipse" conditions, be the most boring. I would probably rule out any locale that made it to lists of the top places to view the eclipse. I would stay in a campground or motel far enough away to get a room and drive to my chosen site just in time for the event....or maybe just sleep in my car. Totality will last about 2 minutes. I would want to be as far as possible from places like Salem, Oregon, where hotels have been booked out for years, the infrastructure will be strained to the breaking point, and as a city of 167K population there will be a lot of ambient light.

[mega317]

Protagonist: I completely agree with your plan, that is how I think of it too.

very little light pollution... ...as a city of 167K population there will be a lot of ambient light.

Just a follow up question because this also crossed my mind: it will be daytime so won't most lights be off?

[sunny_socal]

I'll be at work like a good boy, likely will miss the whole thing. Will leave my welding mask on the workbench so wife & kids can take a look.

If I weren't so busy right now it would be the perfect time to take a week off!

[Soul.in.Progress]

We are traveling about 100 miles to see it, taking the day off work and taking our three children since their school has not started yet. Super excited! Planning to go to a small town within the path of totality, not a major town. Aiming for the center line, but that will depend on traffic. Hoping for clear skies, but the forecast doesn't look good.

Good luck to all of you fellow Bogleheads who are aiming to see/experience it!

[Texanbybirth]

I don't have to go anywhere, as in 2024 I own prime real estate directly in the path. (Think most populous US city in the path.

I'll be staying home with my wife and kids to check out the eclipse this year. We're not in the path of totality, but with two little ones finally sleeping through the night in their beds I wouldn't trade this precious sleep for almost anything in the world.

Hope all you travelers are safe and enjoy the show!

[Mudpuppy]

I hope the travelers have planned for all the other travelers that will be traveling that day. Or, as xkcd put it in today's comic, bring water: https://xkcd.com/1876/

[MathWizard]

Between 3.5 and 12 hours. I'd planned to drive 12 hours to one with friends back in the 70's ,
but bailed at the last minute. I'm driving 3.5 hrs to this one, hence the range of time.

[TravelGeek]

I'll be at work like a good boy, likely will miss the whole thing. Will leave my welding mask on the workbench so wife & kids can take a look.

You may be aware of this, but just in case...

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety

Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welders glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find.

[protagonist]

Protagonist: I completely agree with your plan, that is how I think of it too.

very little light pollution... ...as a city of 167K population there will be a lot of ambient light.

Just a follow up question because this also crossed my mind: it will be daytime so won't most lights be off?

Not in Times Square.

Eugene is not Times Square, but I am sure there is lots of illumination in daytime, not very imposing in broad daylight but unavoidable in the total darkness of the eclipse. I question whether McDonald's can turn their signs off even if they choose to.

Besides which, and perhaps even more salient, it will be a madhouse with infrastructure strained to near breaking point. It's probably a very cool place to visit on other days of the year, but for this, give me some unknown piece of isolated cactus in the Eastern Oregon desert 50 miles from the nearest gas station. That is, if you are traveling that far for the maximum eclipse experience.

[IMO]

All this talk about driving for day & thousands of miles to go look at the sun is crazy and ridiculous. Maybe I'm just getting old and gumpy, but:

"In my day, there was only one show in town, it was called 'Stare At The Sun' that's right you sit in the middle of an open field and stare up at the sun till your eyeballs burst into flames. And you thought, oh no, maybe I shouldn't have stared directly into the burning sun with my eyes wide open. But it was too late! Your head was on fire, and people were roasting chickens over it. That's the way it was and we liked it."

https://youtu.be/GHkGpQ8fgYo?t=1m30s

That's a classic SNL skit for those who think I was serious.

To answer the OP question, not traveling with 80% out the door. But for those traveling, kudos, it's not the eclipse per se, it about the journey/experience . . .

[Whakamole]

Besides which, and perhaps even more salient, it will be a madhouse with infrastructure strained to near breaking point. It's probably a very cool place to visit on other days of the year, but for this, give me some unknown piece of isolated cactus in the Eastern Oregon desert 50 miles from the nearest gas station. That is, if you are traveling that far for the maximum eclipse experience.

The best night sky I've ever seen was in Eastern Oregon, probably 50 miles from the nearest gas station (I know I was counting the miles when I was low on gas and driving home from Crater Lake.) Were I going to adventure out to see a total eclipse, I'd head there but not expect much and try to annoy the locals as little as possible.

Salem is getting a lot of attention because it's the State Capital and so has a number of hotels, and between nearby Portland and Eugene there's a lot of places to stay that aren't that far away (unless I-5 is a parking lot which it usually is anyway.)

[skjoldur]

[deleted - redundant]

[BHUser27]

Be sure to check out the Berkley "Eclipse Megamovie" website. Interesting project that anyone can contribute to and they have a cool eclipse simulator tool (just enter your zip code).
Main site: https://eclipsemega.movie/
Simulator: https://eclipsemega.movie/simulator

[nymeria.stark]

What area of the country are you in?

Central Idaho. Our little town is right on the path of totality.

[vectorizer]

We are driving about 12 hours from the Philly area to SC, with two days in a hotel room, all for 2 minutes of totality. "Totally" worth it.

[Almost there]

Not driving anywhere to see the eclipse.

[GerryL]

Drove up I-5 today from Woodburn (north of Salem) toward Portland. Noticed that the highway is lined with orange construction barrels. I'm guessing that they are being deployed to prevent drivers from pulling onto the shoulder to watch the eclipse. Locals have been warned that stopping along the highway to catch a peek is verboten.

We are already anticipating heavy traffic on I-5 in the days leading up to the event. Some people may skip the last couple of days of our annual fossil dig due to clogged roads. Sigh.

[itstoomuch]

From Woodburn to Junction City, I wonder how the authorities are going to enforce the peak ecilpse 10:00-10:30?

[GerryL]

From Woodburn to Junction City, I wonder how the authorities are going to enforce the peak ecilpse 10:00-10:30?

The next day I asked someone in Woodburn about the orange barrels. They said there has been repaving going on at night. My mistake.

News about how police managed the traffic during the event will be interesting. We're already seeing stories about 15-mile traffic jams going into Prineville. And gas stations running out of gas.

[westcoast]

About 30 minutes or 20 miles on a good day with back roads to Mt Angle Oregon the sweetest an nicest small town on the planet. Settled by German and Swiss immigrants in the late 1800 and open to all. Stay and enjoy the October fest which begins the second week of September for the best time of your life. But remember to just visit, don't stay we like our small population state.

[Nestegg_User]

Gerry

Here in central OR, we've had the whychus fire and the current "milli" fire (still nowhere near contained and over 3000 acres earlier this morning) which has caused a bit of problem with visibility-- we are relatively clear in our location in the totality path-- but should still have enough clarity for the visitors. They are trickling in now, 97 is still passable (look at TripCheck for immediate updates), but gas levels are questionable as some stations have run out and are being rationed small amounts per day (in Redmond, Prineville, Terrebonne, and even Bend....don't know about Sisters (currently under level 1 and 2 evacuation alert from the milli fire) or Lapine).
The area around Prineville also has some sort of festival going on (with about 50000 attendees) so that doesn't help the small roads, which were at a standstill for a couple of hours yesterday.
We're hunkered down now... have fun, stay safe, and hope we don't have more fires-- we don't need any more of them.

[catdude]

Gerry

Here in central OR, we've had the whychus fire and the current "milli" fire (still nowhere near contained and over 3000 acres earlier this morning) which has caused a bit of problem with visibility-- we are relatively clear in our location in the totality path-- but should still have enough clarity for the visitors. They are trickling in now, 97 is still passable (look at TripCheck for immediate updates), but gas levels are questionable as some stations have run out and are being rationed small amounts per day (in Redmond, Prineville, Terrebonne, and even Bend....don't know about Sisters (currently under level 1 and 2 evacuation alert from the milli fire) or Lapine).
The area around Prineville also has some sort of festival going on (with about 50000 attendees) so that doesn't help the small roads, which were at a standstill for a couple of hours yesterday.
We're hunkered down now... have fun, stay safe, and hope we don't have more fires-- we don't need any more of them.

N.D. - thanks for the TripCheck tip. I wasn't aware of that site. I'll get up early Monday morning and take a look at it, and decide if I want to venture up Rt. 97 to the totality zone. I'll probably stay put in Bend, but anything's possible...

[TravelGeek]

N.D. - thanks for the TripCheck tip. I wasn't aware of that site. I'll get up early Monday morning and take a look at it, and decide if I want to venture up Rt. 97 to the totality zone. I'll probably stay put in Bend, but anything's possible...

Remember, you don't have to go all the way to Madras to experience totality. It starts in Redmond. Not as long, but maybe 30 secs is sufficient if the alternative is 99.56% of totality

Lots of useful tools on the web, or try the Eclipse Safari app on Android or iOS.

Tripcheck not only provides traffic info, but also easy access to roadside webcams. Let's you see the "traffic chaos " from afar

[ResearchMed]

N.D. - thanks for the TripCheck tip. I wasn't aware of that site. I'll get up early Monday morning and take a look at it, and decide if I want to venture up Rt. 97 to the totality zone. I'll probably stay put in Bend, but anything's possible...

Remember, you don't have to go all the way to Madras to experience totality. It starts in Redmond. Not as long, but maybe 30 secs is sufficient if the alternative is 99.56% of totality

Lots of useful tools on the web, or try the Eclipse Safari app on Android or iOS.

Tripcheck not only provides traffic info, but also easy access to roadside webcams. Let's you see the "traffic chaos " from afar

Is there anything like "TripCheck" elsewhere? In particular, in Nashville?
Glorious weather here now

RM

[neilpilot]

Is there anything like "TripCheck" elsewhere? In particular, in Nashville?
Glorious weather here now

RM

https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic/?positi ... ts,traffic

be sure to open the "feature menu" to select the conditions you want to view

[ResearchMed]

Is there anything like "TripCheck" elsewhere? In particular, in Nashville?
Glorious weather here now

RM

https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic/?positi ... ts,traffic

be sure to open the "feature menu" to select the conditions you want to view

However do they measure the traffic in this detail?

I'm looking out of a hotel window at some actual streets that are showing as "red", and everything is still quite sleepy. NO traffic.
Yet these roads are shown as red.
Even last night, when there was at least some traffic, it all still flowed nicely (at least in our big/huge city minds).

RM

[neilpilot]

Is there anything like "TripCheck" elsewhere? In particular, in Nashville?
Glorious weather here now

RM

https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic/?positi ... ts,traffic

be sure to open the "feature menu" to select the conditions you want to view

However do they measure the traffic in this detail?

I'm looking out of a hotel window at some actual streets that are showing as "red", and everything is still quite sleepy. NO traffic.
Yet these roads are shown as red.
Even last night, when there was at least some traffic, it all still flowed nicely (at least in our big/huge city minds).

RM

Yes, supposed to be current traffic. I can't vouch for how current TDOT info is, especially in the weekend

[protagonist]

Here in MA we will get about 63% of totality.

I am a diehard science geek.

That said, as cool as it seems to be there for the 2 1/2 minutes of totality, I am comfortable with watching it from home and then checking out totality videos on youtube.

It would be cool to watch birds freak out. That will be sorely missed on youtube.

I did see the one in 1970 and remember it well. I remember making some kind of viewer looking through a pinhole or some such thing. It was very cool. So those of you who are making the trek, my hat is off to you. Enjoy.

[LeeMKE]

I leave in a few hours via Amtrak to watch it in Carbondale IL tomorrow (hopefully).

Not interested in driving because of the grid lock widely expected for more totality locations.

[neilpilot]

I leave in a few hours via Amtrak to watch it in Carbondale IL tomorrow (hopefully).

Not interested in driving because of the grid lock widely expected for more totality locations.

I wish you a clear sky. Currently NOAA forecasts sky cover at Carbondale to be 30-40%.

[Nate79]

Elon Musk has called off the eclipse. You can all stay home.

[letsgobobby]

Deleted

[Nestegg_User]

Bobby

Remarkably, the roads really aren't crowded-- (so much for "carmaggedon ") --just the Prineville area with the festival. Perhaps, the news of the fires is scaring away some--- check to see if there are cancellations.

As I'm in totality-- just need clear sight line (smoke obscuring the cascades not the eastern horizon).

(Use the cameras on tripcheck to help verify traffic conditions)

[ResearchMed]

Is there anything like "TripCheck" elsewhere? In particular, in Nashville?
Glorious weather here now

RM

https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic/?positi ... ts,traffic

be sure to open the "feature menu" to select the conditions you want to view

However do they measure the traffic in this detail?

I'm looking out of a hotel window at some actual streets that are showing as "red", and everything is still quite sleepy. NO traffic.
Yet these roads are shown as red.
Even last night, when there was at least some traffic, it all still flowed nicely (at least in our big/huge city minds).

RM

Yes, supposed to be current traffic. I can't vouch for how current TDOT info is, especially in the weekend

Well... a Nashville street that is showing as "red" has exactly 2 cars waiting at a light. No other cars for the two blocks I can see.

Meanwhile, it's hot and humid, no surprise.
"Now" (tomorrow at this time, as I'm typing) would be partial-heading-into-totality.
We actually have a view of the sun from our hotel room, if clouds cooperate.
That might be nice for a bit prior to totality, but as totality approaches, we definitely want to be outside, although we don't want to stand in the sun for an hour or two. (For medical reasons, DH cannot do that anyway.)

So IF the cloud gods permit, we can go in and out of our nice shaded hotel as we please, and then head outside prior to totality.

Interestingly, we'd be able to see the umbra race toward us from this height in the hotel; we can see the cloud shading approach. However, the umbra would be traveling at 1,400+ mph, so IF we can see it, we won't have time to get downstairs and experience totality outside.
We'll choose "umbra outside"

But if it's cloudy... like today, when cloud cover is intermittent, then we'll wait to see what traffic is like, based upon direct observation.
We can also see one major highway, so tomorrow morning/mid-day, we should be able to see if there is indeed carmageddon or not.
I guess it's going to be the day trippers who would cause that.

We encountered some folks in the hotel elevator who plan to drive to the mid-point, apparently thinking it wouldn't be totality unless one was "there".
It seems there will be about 1/2 minute more of totality there, than in Nashville.
We wouldn't travel around for that.
But IF there is a likely (or definite) cloud cover problem, that's when we'd want to head out in search of clear sky.

Keeping our fingers crossed...

Thanks to all who have been so helpful with information about this special event!

RM