As most of you know, I was pretty excited about the total solar eclipse on August 21st. Sure I liked the science of it and all, but the travel aspects were equally fascinating to me. It's just so rare for millions of people all across the country to want to cram themselves into a 70-mile…
Continue reading: My Epic Experience Watching The Great North American Solar Eclipse
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
"...I-25, which wasn’t itself was mostly a parking lot." You are LITERALLY sending a mixed message 😀 I also didn't take any sun classes, I knew I forgot to do something 🙁
So cool. When I saw the title, I knew this wouldn't be a post from Lucky, since he can't seem to do anything that doesn't involve a long haul flight somewhere.
"there was definitely heavy traffic"
"we were able to drive 50-60 mph most of the time"
Come pay us a visit in LA and then tell me that's heavy traffic! 😛
Awesome. I live in Jacksonville, Florida and we had about ~91%. We tried to go north to Georgia but it was rainy there so we thought 91% is good enough. And it was AWSOME!
I had to teach that day and my high school is in the path of totality outside of Nashville. We went outside at 1:10....totality was at 1:30. It was a hot sticky August day, but it was bearable when the sun started to slide behind the moon.
Picture about 100 jaded teenagers suddenly engaged and awestruck and looking up from their phones. When the totality came there were gasps, cheers, tears, clapping, wows, etc. I could not have imagined a more exciting place to watch the eclipse than sharing it with my students all amazed at the same time. We weren't teachers and students, just people sharing different cool things that we saw. About 1:45 it got too hot again and we went inside.
The students were talking about it all week. It was such a great experience. The 30 minute commute home took over an hour because the freeways were jammed, but it was a great day. Thanks for sharing yours.
We had a 13 hour drive from Casper to Denver - usually 4 hours. Biggest mistake was following Waze. Lack of cellular data coverage meant that Waze wasn't informed by motorists about road closures and actual traffic conditions. For example, Waze suggested that we exit I-25 and take a frontage road for a 40 minute savings! Technology is so cool! But the south end of the frontage was closed, and the closure couldn't be reported due to lack of connectivity. So we spent 2+ hours going down a 5 mile frontage and back up it, packed in traffic. Ended up going far east next to Nebraska and then heading back west to Denver.
Awesome write up Travis!! Seems like your whole family had a great time. But man, this is nerdom to a new level that I didn't know existed 🙂
Since my first exposure to astronomy back during High School in 1971 (we had a planetarium in our school) seeing a total solar eclipse has been a bucket list item. Started planning our eclipse excursion to Nashville in March. Booked round-trip flights from DFW for $256 each (just before airfares doubled). Booked two nights in an Airbnb 2 bedroom house for a very reasonable $343 all-in with fees, which we turned out not needing about two weeks prior to Aug 21, and cancelled for full refund. I'm pretty sure the Airbnb host was happy we cancelled because by then the going rate had skyrocketed if you could find one at all. Reserved a rental car through Costco.com for three days at $63 (total) which beat reserving directly through the car rental companies quoting 4 x higher.
Our goal was to be close as possible to the centerline so started by staking out points on Google Maps where rural roads crossed its path about 40 miles north of Nashville. Started heading toward Cross Plains, TN about 9:30 am taking back roads since I-65 northbound already had heavy traffic. Very little traffic going up through Ashland City and Springfield. We arrived at our viewing spot at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church on Highway 25 on the west side of Cross Plains at 10:30 am.
There were maybe 80 people there, including eclipse chasers with sophisticated telescopes connected to video monitors. Turned out to be a perfect spot less than 1/4 mile from the centerline. Plenty of parking and shady areas to setup chairs, plus the church staff went out of their way and opened their restrooms and offered cold water to everyone. There were large open fields on both sides of the church so we had unobstructed views of the sky.
Could never have imagined what this experience would be as special as it turned out. Seeing how the lighting and colors change when the sun is 80% , then 90% then 95% covered was amazing. The crisp edges of the shadows, even seeing shadows of individual pine needles! We had a few scattered clouds just prior to totality, then at the last moment as the moon's shadow approached and the temperature dropped from mid 90s, the clouds disappeared. For 2 min and 38 seconds we were awestruck.
Already looking at plans for the one in South America in December 2020. Maybe rent out our home near DFW for the one in April 2024.
Forgot to add our return AA flight to DFW the evening of the Aug 21 was oversold so we volunteered to bump, got $1000 in vouchers, plus hotel, dinner and breakfast. Nice return on our investment!
My family of five watched it from gorgeous alpine Canyon Creek Meadows in Oregon, near Three Fingered Jack. Drove in the day before, then hiked in and camped. A magical place!
I watched it from a park just north of Salem, Oregon with my mom (who is a retired science teacher) and it was epic. Like nothing I've ever seen before - like seeing the clockwork of our solar system in motion.
Great pictures, Travis! I don't think any camera can quite capture the way the sun's magnetic field lines looked during totality though.
Got my calendar marked for 2024!
I drove to Government Point just north of Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast in the middle of the night before to avoid any traffic, set up a blow up mattress/cot in the bed of my pickup, and slept in the fog on the side of the highway. We expected the fog to lift in the morning before totality as it usually does on the coast, but as the time approached we were still pretty socked in. Although we saw some sunbreaks when picking up coffee in town, ultimately the fog did not lift at our location. The MyRadar app I usually use for local weather didn't have any data for our area, and it turned out they had sunny skies only a couple of miles south of us, but in the end I was happy with our location and experience. Because of the heavy fog we were able to watch the partial phases without our eclipse glasses, which was a beautiful experience even my iPhone camera was able to capture.
As totality approached we stared to the west, hoping to catch sight of that curtain of darkness. We noticed nothing facing that direction but the erie grey, to purple, to black sunset over a matter of seconds, as the temperature plummeted and the wind picked up. Turning around we saw the true show, I gasped and cried at the beauty and wonder of the moment. From reading other accounts, I don't think we missed much of the experience even through the fog. The most incredible moment was the very end of totality, when the diamond ring burst into existence in the corner of the black sun.
Traffic home was no worse than any weekend day on Highway 101, though there were huge crowds in many of the little communities we passed through that we may have beat on the road on our rush to get back.
My boyfriend was very skeptical of the experience and did not want to drive in the middle of the night and waste a work day, but acceded to my demands and afterward agreed it was a indescribable and worthwhile experience. I really hope anyone in the miles and points community considering traveling to a total solar eclipse in the future will listen and understand how special this experience is. I will remember it far longer and in greater detail than any aspirational redemption or A380 shower suite.
My parents watched it from a high viewpoint they hiked to near Sun Valley, ID, and I think next time around I will choose a location like that, with better natural scenery and perhaps a more secure weather forecast. I would like to experience that 360 degree sunset!
Awesome. So refreshing to get a post talking about real life experience. Too bad your kids are so young, not sure whether they will remember this in a few years. Thank you for sharing! Greetings from Belgium.
Sadly, we had already planned a trip to Canada so rather than being able to easily get to the Eclipse from our home in COS, we "drove a rental Kia to Nova Scotia to see a partial eclipse of the sun."
PS. Travis, your post brought me to tears. What an amazing time you had with your family. A memory to be cherished.
Beautiful family Travis, and great post!
Ps: youre brave to have 3 kids....my goodness haha
Nice writeup Travis and a GREAT family outing - be sure to do in 2024 when your kids are older and they'll remember more of it.
I was just a little East of you next Tryon, Nebraska camped out on 40 acres of farmland truly in the middle of nowhere. We had HEAVY fog overnight and in the morning ... but it did clear and was an outstanding experience. My pics/writeup here:
http://www.komar.org/faq/2017_solar_eclipse_tryon_nebraska/
But as you know, it's 100X better in real life!
My family of three watched from the campus of the Kentucky Technical College in Paducah, KY. A great decision. The event was extremely well run and a ton of fun. One of the most emotional experiences of my life. The drive back to Ohio, though, was brutal. The 5.5 hour drive took almost 8, including a winding gravel road in SE Indiana I was convinced would never end. The event of a lifetime that I would do again in a heartbeat!
This may be the best post I have ever read on OMAAT (with my apologies to Lucky). I am a fellow nerd yet was too preoccupied with work stress and my two and a half year old to plan ahead for this year's eclipse. Rest assured that will NOT happen again in 2024, as I long for the memorable experience you had with your family, Travis.
How old are your kids? And what was there general reaction when totality arrived?
Thank you for the fantastic write-up!
We live along the outer edge of the optimal path, and opted to go closer to the center line just north of here. My daughter and I joined a group of other paddlers on the Tennessee River, combining some time on the river with viewing the spectacle. We left the boat launch just as the eclipse began, and headed for a backwater. The power boats were parked everywhere, definitely in full party mode, and we were glad to be outside of the main channel. As the eclipse peaked, loud cheers arose in unison from across the water. "Here comes the sun" was heard playing from one boat. It was as good as it had been built up to be.
Our group of paddlers split into two groups, with some returning to the launch ramp and others continuing on to an island beach for some swimming and refreshments. Bird activity was noticeably greater, and we were treated to several osprey and a bald eagle, among others, during the excursion. The experience was worth a vacation day.
What a great post! I was looking forward to this great event, but our weather was not the greatest, Cloudy and overcast. Thanks for sharing the experience with us.
Cheers,
Rhonda & The Unstoppable Family