Are you traveling to see the eclipse?

[teachermom2834]

If you are, how far?

 

We live in the path that will have the full totality. I am anticipating heavy traffic on interstates and a general influx of people. I know hotel rooms and campsites have been sold out for awhile. It is hard to know what to expect as it is not exactly a common occurrence ;)

 

My family is not convinced. I've advised them to avoid errands and appointments that would have them on the highways. They think I am being silly. (I hate crowds and traffic and am known to imagine worst case scenarios so that might be true).

 

So what do you think? Would you expect lots of people to road trip for the eclipse? Anticipate heavy traffic?

[Rachel]

A month ago I wouldn't have thought traffic would be heavy but I'm starting to change my mind. We won't be traveling. We live where it should be 95% totality and that's good enough for me.

[Xahm]

We're going less than 2 hours so we can be in totality. My plan is to drive up the day before (inlaw's lake house). My husband well be working, unfortunately. I'm guessing that there will be some interesting 911 calls for him to deal with.

[Guest]

Yup. 8 hours. But it's also to visit my mom.

[TravelingChris]

We are travelling to Idaho.  We are staying in Billing and travelling on the day to a city that is on the totality early in the morning.  We are coming from a city that is 93% and about two hours from a city that is 100%.  But we are traveling to Idaho to get a much better chance of having a clear day.  The area closest to our city with totality has only about a 40% chance of being clear that day.  Hence our travel to Idaho.  Western Oregon is the best place but when we started planning our trip, more than nine months before, all the hotels in Oregon were already booked.  So we went with number two- Idaho.  We have a lot of other places we will be visiting in Idaho and Utah so that even if we miss the eclipse because of bad weather, we still will have a nice vacation.

[medawyn]

We are! But it's also our annual vacation to my grandparents' house. We just arranged it for the perfect week in August. With my kids' current ages, I don't think we would travel otherwise, but having a familiar place to go helps. Plus it's a fully stocked house, so we can hole up for a few days, because I definitely expect the traffic and town to be insane; it's already a busy summer tourist spot. We're going for a full week, so it's a vacation that includes the eclipse, not a trip just for the eclipse.

 

DH is way more excited for opportunities to fish, but he's not admitting that out loud.

[Garga]

We will be traveling an 8 hour drive simply to see the eclipse. We will be staying in a hotel for 2 nights. We booked the hotel room just 2 weeks ago, so there still seem to be rooms out there. We will be in 100% totality where we're going.

[*****]

We have a place we can stay in Corvallis, but wondering if fighting the traffic would be worth it. I-5 can normally be very busy, so I envision the highway to be a nightmare?  If anyone in that area can give me a heads-up about whether to come or avoid the area, I am all ears!

[3 ladybugs]

I am going 12 hours. I live in New Jersey and I am not sure what it is up here but we are going the smokey mountains to get the total effect. ;) My in-laws are a bit jealous. But I married into a big science family so that is to be expected. I wasn't really worried about the traffic till I started seeing posts like this. I hope it is Y2K all over again! :)

[eternalsummer]

I am in a town of well less than 100,000 people, north of a city of 2 million or so, and we are in full totality.  You'd think everyone would stay in the big city - it's not far away- but local authorities say to expect half a million people here.  I will not be going anywhere that day :)

[Ali in OR]

We have a place we can stay in Corvallis, but wondering if fighting the traffic would be worth it. I-5 can normally be very busy, so I envision the highway to be a nightmare?  If anyone in that area can give me a heads-up about whether to come or avoid the area, I am all ears!

 

Where would you be coming from? Which day would you travel? I-5 has been a nightmare for me this summer with no eclipse, so I'm expecting it to be a disaster. There just aren't a lot of north-south options. The path of totality is not where the big cities are, so I'm just guessing that a lot of people who live in the state will want to drive south (from Portland) or north (from Eugene, southern Oregon), mostly on I-5. And that's just considering Oregon residents. Add in a million visitors (they say) and it will only be worse.

[raptor_dad]

We just booked a campsite 2 days ago. We have a crazy 3 day weekend scheduled.

 

We are doing a 24hr bike relay "race" from 7pm Friday to 7pm Saturday. Our "A" goal is for DS8 and DS10 get 50miles and DW and I to combine relay fashion for 100-150m. Then we are going to crash until Sunday morning... Then we are going to drive 6+h from Minneapolis to St Joseph, MO. Even if it takes 9-10h, we'll still be in our tent site by dinner time. Hangout, see the eclipse Monday... probably take a nap sometime after totality to 4 or so... Drive back to Minneapolis. I assume getting out of the airport will be hell and getting out of St Joes will suck but it should be fine once we are on I35. We should get back home by midnight and DW can drag herself to work in the morning and the rest of us can recover.

[Tap]

Nope we live just outside Portland Oregon. 

[CadenceSophia]

I'm going to see it from Alaska. It is a 50 hour drive.  I am little concerned about traffic but since there is a 70 mile wide band, that leaves a lot of open space. Our plan is to visit John Day Fossil Beds on the 19th for the talks, and then leave the park. I really want to see Tyler Nordgren.  We'll be sleeping in our van/trailer so any rest stop or pull off is fine for us. 

 

 

We have a place we can stay in Corvallis, but wondering if fighting the traffic would be worth it. I-5 can normally be very busy, so I envision the highway to be a nightmare?  If anyone in that area can give me a heads-up about whether to come or avoid the area, I am all ears!

One of my friends from Alaska is going down to Corvallis to see it!

[LucyStoner]

We were planning to but then we found out that my older son has his freshmen orientation at high school. It's a big deal for him and so we are staying here in good old Seattle.

[rebcoola]

We are in a low population area and its not far to totality so we are going to try to drive a little south. If it seems like the traffic is getting crazy we will just stop and still have like 98%

[Pink and Green Mom]

We aren't travelling as my oldest will already be in school.  We live in the Tampa, FL area and have about 80ish percent eclipse.  That will have to be good enough.

 

DH and I both went to Clemson University.  They are selling tailgating spots to view the eclipse on campus. 

 

[Another Lynn]

Nope.  Going to enjoy our partial right here in the comfort of our own home.  (Traffic and overcrowding is going to be crazy in the eclipse destination 3 hours from us.)

[mom31257]

We are traveling but have special circumstances. Our dd goes to college in the path of it, and my sister and dad live in it as well not far from her college. She moves back in the day before, so I'm going with her and staying with family. My best friend is coming up with her kids to stay with me, so we can see it together. 

 

 

[ScoutTN]

Across the street to a park!

 

We are one of the larger cities to see the totality, so every hotel room here is booked and zillions of people will be off work, out and around, to view the eclipse. We could probably see fine from our front yard, but it is a good excuse for a picnic at the nearby park.

[chicagoshannon]

We are traveling about 4 hours to St. Louis.  We will go the day before and take in the local sights.  We were going to go to Carbondale but that was booked up a long time ago.

[BarbecueMom]

I'm in the totality path (STL) and not driving anywhere that day! DH is staying home from work, too.

 

We may walk down to the library's eclipse gathering, but it's likely our neighborhood roads will have out of town drivers who pulled off the highway to look up at the sky. It makes me nervous to have the kids walking on the street (no sidewalks) with drivers who don't know where they are and have their eyes on the sky instead of the road.

 

(Side note, the eclipse is on my baby brother's 26th birthday. All he wants is a cake. I told my mom to get him one with his face printed on the icing, then stick a Moon Pie over it. The son blocked by the moon, heh.)

[shawthorne44]

We are travelling.   My guess is that out-of-town people will be settled in a few hours ahead of time.  Like for July 4th fireworks.   Out-of-towners aren't entirely sure of where will be a good spot, so we'll want to spread our blanket early.   When it is over, that is when I imagine there will be lots of traffic.   

We have a hotel room for the two nights before, and will be doing general tourist stuff.   Since the eclipse is on a Monday, I imagine there will be many others doing the same thing.   

eta:   We have a reservation for the festivities at a state park in Tennessee.   I've never been to Tennessee, but it looks like it will be totally awesome.  

Edited August 3, 2017 by shawthorne44

[creekland]

We'll be going from southern PA to NC - staying with my oldest son.  Then the morning of the eclipse we'll travel another 2 1/2 hours to get to a supposedly good spot.

 

This assumes the weather is predicted to be good.  If not, we'll see what the forecast is in various places and adjust as needed.

[teachermom2834]

We'll have a good view from our home. Thinking maybe I should sell blanket sized plots and parking spaces :)

[SeaConquest]

It would be a super long drive from San Diego to Oregon, so we will miss it, sadly. I think we're only getting around 50% of the eclipse this far south. :(

[xixstar]

We are driving about 8-9 hours to see it and to visit my mom. We will be staying inside tge path of totality but near the edge so duration is shorter - only 1.5 minutes

 

My spouse wants to drive over another 50 miles or so to see the longest duration. I don't want to drive the day of the eclipse at all.

 

I am starting to wonder if traffic will be truly awful on Saturday and Sunday -- we are going to stop Saturday night to see family that's about halfway there.

[YaelAldrich]

The date of the eclipse is also the birthday of my recently deceased sister, so I (and some number of my boys) are travelling to NC to be with my parents.  They are also in the 95% occlusion area so we will kill two birds with one stone.  I am driving 12 hours on Sunday to get there.  My DH and daughter will be in Japan and miss the whole thing!

[YaelAldrich]

Double post

Edited August 3, 2017 by YaelAldrich

[Pegasus]

We are on the very edge of totality. Thinking about driving a bit to get closer to the maximum totality duration but may reconsider if it reports are that traffic is crazy.  Got the solar eclipse glasses from Amazon; was supposed to be one of the trusted manufacturers from the description, made in the USA, but came as "Made in China".  Sent them back and re-ordered from Lowes. Hoping they come in time and are genuine.

[mommyoffive]

Nope

 

We were going to.

 

I think we have 80 something here

[Lanny]

My wife would go up there if we had lots of money. She said this is a once in a lifetime thing. I think she said people should weigh themselves before and during the eclipse. Mass changes,? I hope you enjoy it

 

Sent from my SM-G355M using Tapatalk

[maize]

I'd like to drive up to the cemetery where my grandpa is buried--it's out of the way in a tiny little town, right in the middle of the eclipse path. Haven't been back since we put him in the ground and this is the kind of event he would have enjoyed. About four hours from here with good traffic though and nowhere to stay there so we would be leaving early in the morning.

 

We'll see.

[Annie G]

If it was happening on a weekend we would. We could get to totality in about 5 hours. But since it's during the week, we aren't.  Last week we traveled through the area that is closest to us and all the hotels are already booked and there are billboards advertising the eclipse. I know the are hotels are booked because we chatted w the hotel clerk where we stayed. (We've stayed there 12 times this year so we're getting familiar with him).  He wonders what is going to happen if the weather turns bad...the whole town is prepping for it. Restaurants are expecting high crowds, etc. 

 

 

[Caclcoca]

We are driving about 3 hours to totality.

[EMS83]

The thought crossed my mind, rather too late, and I think we wouldn't be able to find any place to stay.  We're about 2 1/2 hours from totality.  I guess we'll settle for whatever we get here.  :)

[DragonFaerie]

I thought about it. We can travel about 45 minutes and be in the path of totality. But the traffic and crowds worry me, so I think we'll just stay here and be happy with 99.6%. 

[linders]

We live in a small town, where the very northern edge of town will have totality. Half of our state has (SC) totality, so we will be driving perhaps 30 min to get into the 2 min+ zone.

 

I expect the interstates to be a traffic zoo as well as the state capitol. Fortunately, we live in The Land of a Million Backroads so there will be ways to get to where we want to be.

[Hypatia.]

We're traveling about 4 hours away. We have reservations at a campsite that's in the path of totality, but we'll be arriving on Friday and staying for several days. I'm excited, but the idea of camping sounded better before I was 7.5 months pregnant.

[dirty ethel rackham]

We didn't have any plans, but now I found out that dh, d's and dd all want to go. We have family who live in the path of totality, so they are thinking of making the 5 hour drive the day before and staying a couple of days. I will have started my new job by then so I don't think I'll have the day off. Bummer for me.

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[marbel]

We hadn't planned on it, but suddenly my husband wants me and the kids to go (he can't get off work due to too many others going on vacation then).  We would have a place to stay with family in Western NC but it's a 12-hour drive for us --> meaning me.  We have a kid who can drive but he can't handle long distances on the highway (I81 which has a lot of trucks).   I'm sitting here pretty annoyed because I don't want to do it, but my kids do.  I wish my husband would have kept his big mouth shut.  :-) Kidding, kind of.  I may still say no.  

 

ETA: I started reading about all the traffic expected in the area.  Then I saw that there is another total eclipse coming up in 2024.  So we'll plan for that one.  Or, my husband and kids can.  Assuming everyone will be living within driving range. 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by marbel

[Guest]

*quiet voice*

 

Am I the only person who doesn't care one whit about a solar eclipse?

[luuknam]

Google says it's usually about an 11-13 hour drive to where we're going. We're leaving on Friday after work, iiuc. I'm not sure when we're driving home... Tuesday or Wednesday I think. 

[Liz CA]

*quiet voice*

 

Am I the only person who doesn't care one whit about a solar eclipse?

 

Similar here. I sort of find it interesting but since I won't be in the path to see it all, I will probably not worry about it too much. Were it happening in my neck of the woods, I'd probably look at it. If my ds was still young and living here, we would likely watch it together - whatever we can see from here.  We are not traveling to see it.

 

ETA: Just checked the path and ds is living in the perfect spot. I am sure I'll get a report unless he does not care. :)

Edited August 4, 2017 by Liz CA

[Liz CA]

My wife would go up there if we had lots of money. She said this is a once in a lifetime thing. I think she said people should weigh themselves before and during the eclipse. Mass changes,? I hope you enjoy it

 

Sent from my SM-G355M using Tapatalk

 

Are we going to lose a little weight while it's happening?  :) Then it's not a bad deal at all.

 

[Laura in CA]

Where would you be coming from? Which day would you travel? I-5 has been a nightmare for me this summer with no eclipse, so I'm expecting it to be a disaster. There just aren't a lot of north-south options. The path of totality is not where the big cities are, so I'm just guessing that a lot of people who live in the state will want to drive south (from Portland) or north (from Eugene, southern Oregon), mostly on I-5. And that's just considering Oregon residents. Add in a million visitors (they say) and it will only be worse.

 

 

Friends of ours are traveling to Oregon to see the eclipse, along with (apparently) a million other Californians (I've heard higher estimates, too). The husband is an amateur astronomer (he is a PhD physicist) and has been kicking himself for years for missing the last total solar eclipse in Baja California. I doubt we would go, as I don't like crowds and traffic, but we won't be in the country (for the All-American Total Solar Eclipse, boo hoo) so that makes it an easy decision. :) 

 

I've warned her about traffic gridlock; as Ali says, there aren't a lot of north–south options between CA & OR. 

[regentrude]

I think she said people should weigh themselves before and during the eclipse. Mass changes,?

 

No, mass does not change, of course. You don't lose any matter.

 

Weight, i.e., net gravitational force, does change by a tiny amount if sun and moon are both lined up to pull in the opposite direction of earth. Not measurable with any regular bathroom scale.

 

Here's an estimate (don't have time to verify the calculation myself)

http://sciencing.com/gravitational-force-earth-during-solar-eclipse-19381.html

 

Maybe an even more interesting question involves the effect of the gravitational force on yourself during a solar eclipse. The pull of the sun on you is about 0.0603 percent of the pull of the Earth on you. The pull of the moon is about 0.0003 percent of the Earth's gravitational pull. So if you weigh 68 kilograms (150 pounds), at noon during a solar eclipse -- or during any new moon -- you'd weigh 0.6 grams (two-hundredths of an ounce) less than you would at noon when it's a full moon.

 

 

[Liz CA]

No, mass does not change, of course. You don't lose any matter.

 

Weight, i.e., net gravitational force, does change by a tiny amount if sun and moon are both lined up to pull in the opposite direction of earth. Not measurable with any regular bathroom scale.

 

Here's an estimate (don't have time to verify the calculation myself)

http://sciencing.com/gravitational-force-earth-during-solar-eclipse-19381.html

 

Well...that's negligible and does not last. :lol: It was a nice thought while it lasted.

[luuknam]

Well...that's negligible and does not last. :lol: It was a nice thought while it lasted.

 

 

Well, with all the ooh-ing and aah-ing, I'm sure you'll exhale some CO2 and H2O and the like, which mean you would be losing mass (of course, you're doing that pretty much all the time). 

[*****]

Where would you be coming from? Which day would you travel? I-5 has been a nightmare for me this summer with no eclipse, so I'm expecting it to be a disaster. There just aren't a lot of north-south options. The path of totality is not where the big cities are, so I'm just guessing that a lot of people who live in the state will want to drive south (from Portland) or north (from Eugene, southern Oregon), mostly on I-5. And that's just considering Oregon residents. Add in a million visitors (they say) and it will only be worse.

 

We are coming down from the east on I-84, then 205/I-5 south.  As you say, there aren't a lot of north-south options. 

 

You are right, on a normal day, I-5 can be a nightmare.  I keep pointing this out to dh, but he doesn't seem to get the picture!  I don't have to go, and he does have the option of going without me.  I would rather stay home without traffic, so I may do that.   Thanks for the info!