By now you've probably heard that there's going to be a solar eclipse next Monday. It's kind of a big deal. But while all of the continental US will have a partial solar eclipse, only those within a 70-mile band stretching from Oregon to South Carolina will get the real deal. We're talking day turning…
Continue reading: It’s Not Too Late To Plan A Trip To See The Eclipse!!!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
We're flying to Helena from Burbank, staying with friends, and driving south to see it. It's an adventure!
Flying from MDT-MYR ($120 round-trip on Allegiant), then drive for 1.5 hours south to experience this with my kids. Can't wait!
Driving to the path (about 4-5h on a normal day) and staying in a state park 2-bedroom cottage for $350/night. Could be worse, phew!
Fly to SLC, drive up to Idaho Falls (218 miles north, all I-15) and then drive back down afterward. As for me, I'll be watching a 90% eclipse through my welding hood, which is good enough for me! And hotel rooms will be MUCH cheaper in SLC than in the path of the storm!
I live in Jacksonville, Florida and we are getting 91% of the eclipse. I'm a teen in middle school (8th) and we get out of school when it happens. Because of it we aren't allowed to look at it (for safety) and were getting dismissed late. Great. Now I'm missing an amazing thing and have to spend extra time in school:(!
Atleast it will be an excused absence on Monday! 🙂
Ha , I'm in Oakland and it seems everyone I know is all of a sudden making last minute plans to drive up to Oregon. I hope they have a great time but I think the main thing they will be seeing is hours and hours of traffic! We went to Sudan earlier in the year and many people thought we were mad but driving for 10 plus hours along with half the state sounds like madness to me ;).
Last fall, we booked travel to Oregon and Kentucky. We live in Pittsburgh. Hubby has had his glasses and decoder ring since before Thanksgiving.
I am waiting for Hubby to decide which plans to keep and which to cancel. Oregon will have less cloud cover, but he's heard the traffic will be worse than driving from Pgh to Kentucky.
The word from people inside the path is to have a full tank of gas and pack food/water. We might be sitting is some traffic before AND after.
Either Woodburn, OR or Bowling Green, KY will have a room available for Sunday night inside the path of the totality sometime tomorrow when Hubby makes up his mind. 😉
Dee -- Thanks for sharing your strategy. We actually just switched to our backup option today ourselves!
I keep telling people that there is going to be a lot of fluidity in the lodging markets in the final days as people cancel off their alternative options.
you all are silly! Fly into St. Louis, and drive 20 minutes! Or in my case, wake up, leave about 10 for the wineries in Augusta, drink wine and cheese and see the sun go away. Missouri is the Show Me state after all, and we'll be more than happy to show you all a great eclipse.
Or for those of you too lazy to drive, fly into either Kansas City or Nashville, walk outside the terminal, see the eclipse, then get back on the airplane.
Jacki -- Please show me a cheap ticket to Nashville from ANYWHERE that is still available for purchase. Or Kansas City.
@ Dee -- We're going to Oregon (in-laws are in the path), and either the state will be a complete cluster, or deserted from all the fear-mongering. But gas and water is a particularly good idea around Portland -- those freeways can bottleneck during even minor weather events, and I wouldn't expect them to handle an influx well.
Travis, I'm so excited that you're so excited about this. Loving the posts. I'm skipping grad school and driving up to Nashville for it. Chaos is expected, and it's going to be so epic. Really wishing that I could be out in the backcountry though. Enjoy and thanks for all the updates!
Atlanta and Charlotte are considerations too. Especially since totality will be mid afternoon.
I live in Denver, and our local news stations are approximating 300-500 thousand people to be on I-76, I-80, or I-25. Also, I think a lot of people are still going to be going to Nebraska, and I think every single rest stop will be full. There is going to be so many people flooding into Nebraksa and Wyoming that they might not have enough food, gas, etc.
Options aplenty for flights and lodging and vehicles. In all cases booking with points or miles is the better option. AA flights @ 15,000 BA miles or $750. Hertz rentals @ 650 points or $150. IHG lodging @ 20,000 points or $200. Oddly enough I am traveling from Kansas City to Charlotte to visit the relatives over the weekend. The weather is predicted to be better in Charlotte so a good thing.
I live in Columbia MO which is directly in the path but I will be in the UK next week. Just checked and every hotel in my city is sold out. Tempting to think about renting out my house since I will not be there but not worth the hassle. I read that the eclipse will happen again in 7 years with a different path but still over Illinois. Guess I will have to wait till the next one 🙁
Chicago and Indy are also other options. Can be in St Louis from Chicago in about 5 Hours.