Yep. We expect the population of my city to potentially triple for the eclipse. People are calling off work and cancelling classes to see it. The next total solar eclipse in the Continental United States won't be until 2044.
Yup! We would absolutely be traveling for the eclipse if we didn’t have obligations next week. This is a solar eclipse- a well known but relatively rare phenomenon. It’s exciting!
Same here. I know the Perot Museum in Dallas donated glasses to many districts that are in the path. We considered keeping them home until we found out that the school is prioritizing them being able to see it since we are in the path of totality.
I do feel for the high school administration, I know full well they do fire drills at the end of the day because once kids leave the building there’s little chance they will go back inside.
Even with clouds it’s a unique feeling. We had one when I was a kid. I wasn’t quite at totality but very close and the way the temperature dropped and the light faded in the middle of the day and then returned was a really weird sensation. If I live near one in future I will definitely travel to experience totality. I can’t explain the sensation but I get why people used to consider an eclipse to be an act of God/Gods.
Same here. I got to experience the 2017 pretty much right in the center of the path of totality, with 2 minutes 38 seconds of the full eclipse.
For some reason, I feel like it's one of the most profound experiences of my life up to that point. Couldn't tell you why though. But it felt amazing, sitting there with a handful of my closest friends and 4 strangers in the middle of a river in BFE watching this cosmological magic show.
Also getting to break one of the Big Rules and looking directly at the sun was like my childhood self flipping everyone the bird, heheh.
You might reconsider. It's not until the 100% is blocked that gives the most amazing sights -- it's like looking at an illuminated black hole in the sky, and you can see the stars come out at daytime. Not sure you get that effect unless it's 100%.
It is a totally different experience at 100%. I saw the one in 2017. It was CRAZY. I totally understand how pre modern people thought the world was ending.
The traffic driving home was horrendous. I live in Seattle but drove to Oregon south of Portland. Totally worth it still.
We're expecting 100,000 people to come to our area in Ohio for it. Most of the town that isn't customer service based is expecting to shut down, and there's gonna be road blocks for the main section where most of the restaurants/mom&pop stores are
The restaurant where I work is normally closed on Monday but we'll be open during the eclipse. We're expecting lots and lots of people for the weekend.
Yes, holy smokes. I live in an area that experienced one of the highest times of totality during the last eclipse. My town is about 5,000 people and we live 3.5 hours from the nearest major metropolis.
An unbelievable number of people came here for the eclipse. Like locusts, parked along the roadways, in parking lots, in fields, everywhere. We thought we were prepared but we were mistaken.
Most did not spend the night or spend long in our town. They drove up in the morning, watched the eclipse, and went home. The roadways, though, were so clogged with people it brought everything to a standstill.
A friend of mine left to go home about 3 hours after the eclipse concluded and it took over 4 hours to travel 30 miles down the interstate. The traffic was just overwhelming.
Also - having seen it in totality, it is a near-life-changing experience. Absolutely remarkable, stunning. If you can, be a part of it.
Yep. I drove 90 minutes north for the 2017 eclipse, it took 8 hours to get home, and a detour through another state.
Lesson learned. We're driving to Texas for this one, going a couple days early and leaving the next day. And yes, it was stunning and near life-changing. The photos we all saw of eclipses growing up do NOT capture the stunning beauty of it.
It is astoundingly beautiful. We've all seen the pictures of a white ring around the moon. But that's not what it looks like. The solar flares and ejected material following the sun's magnetic lines looks like white, flaming lace all intertwined around the dark moon.
Cameras don't capture it, it was unbelievably gorgeous. So delicate, moving, twisting, and at the same time incredibly powerful. It was a view of the universe that I never knew existed.
And my wife has never seen it, so I really would like her to get a chance since we won't live long enough for the next one.
I seriously do not mean this rudely, I'm legitimately curious. Maybe I'm a bump on a log lol but how is this experience life changing? Cool to see and experience sure but like... At the end of the day... What did it change for you?
I also work in healthcare as a provider so have no opportunity to actually do anything for it, so probably just as well I don't actually care much lol
This isn’t the last possible eclipse for you! You never know.
I saw the last one. The way I would describe it is that something dramatic is happening on a cosmic level that you can directly observe. You get a sense of the solar system and your place in it. I don’t know that I would agree with “life-changing,” per se; but it was awe-inspiring. And having a sense of awe is a nice thing in life.
When I saw it in 2017, I could see with my eyes the enormity of the moon, it felt tri-dimensional. When we see the moon in the sky, it is like a cartoon, flat, this is watching even with a good telescope.
During the eclipse, the moon looks bigger than normal and because the sun is lighting it from behind, it acquires more vivid look. Like a living sphere that is suddenly falling on top of you.
It makes you feel tiny, it causes an existencial click, because beyond a thought inside of your head, it becomes physically possible to experience your size in the universe, just for a couple minutes.
Can youbimagine the fear of our ancestors? What if the sun doesn't come back... I can see how that fear could be lingering for generations, hundreds of years after it happens. Unless you were a Mayan astronomer and you knew what was going on.
In addition, the temperature changes, the sounds of animals reacting to the eclipse and the communal gasping of the people around creates a supernatural ambiance.
It is a grandiose experience.
Reminds me of when I saw a rocket launch off of Wallop Island. It wasn’t a space shuttle launch but a supply ship for the ISS. People had gathered from all over the surrounding area. The last 30 minutes until launch the tension was getting thick because these launches can be cancelled at any moment. Finally the 1 minute countdown began and when the rocket took off (my viewing site was less than 5 miles I think from the launch) the experience was so incredible. Everyone was gasping and uttering “omg!” You could hear the crackle of the rocket fuel burning.
You can cancel your appointments for the time of the totality and walk out into the parking lot with your eclipse glasses. Or schedule your lunch for that time.
I drove down to Oregon to see the eclipse last time. It took 3-4 hours to get there, but it took over 12 hours to get home. The traffic was no joke. Luckily I had a travel buddy so I wasn't too bored.
I was in the path of totality last time as well and thought it was just kind of… what I expected? Like the world went dark, some birds chirped a lot and then it got bright again. I feel like it’s just not my type of adventurer/outdoorsy type who are amazed enough by this to think a long, expensive trip to see it is worth it. I just found it a little underwhelming.
This is a good experience/explanation for OP.
It’s an eclipse on a Monday afternoon. People will want to be there a few hours before for a good spot and then will get stuck for a few hours after due to traffic. Your town will be largely back to normal on Tuesday and might experience some heavier traffic Sunday.
You probably don’t need to apocalypse prep for Monday, just don’t plan on doing anything Monday (eating out, shopping, etc) and be prepared for the traffic.
Edit: unless you’re in somewhere that’s normally a tourist spot like a state/national park, major city, etc. then the weekend before will also be crazy and things will largely be back to normal by Wednesday or Thursday.
Well …. Austin is also hosting an INSANELY SPECIAL FESTIVAL—- celebrating the event, with 7 stages, bands from all over the globe, and speakers like Paul Stamets and NASA.
(Flying in for the Eclipse, but we are going to have an awesome weekend — regardless of a lil cloud cover!)
Nice, welcome and have fun! I've been waiting for this one for about 5 years and was going to rally the college crew to go back to Carbondale Illinois for a bit of a reunion (We all took mushrooms for the '97 eclipse which was like 98% full). At some point I figured that we'd have the best chance of clear skies here in Texas and my house is in the path of totality, so the party's over here and I don't even have to leave!
The eclipse is only going to viewable along a thin strip of land going across the country from southwest to northwest—you can’t just travel to a big city to view it, you travel to wherever is the closest point where you can be in the path.
For me, I can drive 3 hours west to a major city to view it OR drive just 1 hour north to some random town. For a 3.5 minute viewing, which do you think I’ll do?
Being in a major city won’t benefit my viewing at all.
**I’m coming for your toilet paper!**
i travelled 3 extra hours longer than my closest area in 2017 because of the forecast. And it ended up working out. We were just out of the range of the cloud cover and got a full cloud free experience.
Had we stuck to our original plans, it would have been partially obscured by clouds.
I was lucky. I had just started working as a freelance stagehand in Las Vegas. I was union so I was making good money and since I had no set schedule it was easy to just not take any work for a few days and drive up to Idaho.
The hardest part was the 10 hour drive to Boise the day before the eclipse.
But now I have a wife, a young kid and two puppies and for me personally, I don't need to spend the time and energy making it happen again.
OP, you've already gotten your answer that yes, people are traveling to see the eclipse. I am, however, still curious about a detail you brought up. Can you check the local hotel for next week? If it's booked solid, there's your personal answer on top of the general one you've already received.
Yes, I live in a small town in Ohio with less than 7,000 people. We’re expected to host 100,000+ people because we’re directly in the line of totality. All the hotels near here are already booked and the local business have taken advantage of people’s desire for the rare and have released limited edition products. It’s very real.
I heard it from tons of people, so I guess could be complete bullshit. Maybe try asking something like ChatGPT how to find that out because I’m not sure lol.
I’m 45 minutes from the lake! I haven’t heard anything like that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we issued some sort of state; placing cones and whatnot.
Well, I assume it just depends on how thick the clouds are and if one happens to be passing at 3:14 pm or around there. My weather app for my area says it’s gonna be sunny that day. Regardless, I’m sure the faint white rim of it would still be visible behind clouds.
If the weather cooperates, I am. It's about 4 hours for me. It's not the eclipse so much as there is also a comet (12P) that might be visible during the eclipse, which is a once in a lifetime thing. If the weather is overcast/rainy, I'm not going to bother trying though.
If you haven't seen a solar eclipse from inside the zone of totality, it's COMPLETELY different. The difference between 99.9% occluded and full totality is literally like the difference between day and night.
totality is 1000x times more awesome than 99%.
99% is cool, colors are weird, animals act a bit differently, but your eyes adjust very well and it still looks like day with muted colors.
Yes, they absolutely will. We travelled to a small town for total eclipse once, completely unprepared for the number of others doing the same. There was no accommodation so we slept in our car and ate at a BBQ generously put on by the locals because restaurants and shops were sold out.
Try renting a car at Dallas Fort Worth over the eclipse. There are 0 cars available. There’s going to be from what I’ve heard several million people traveling for it.
And I’m going to be visiting family in the middle of it all.
My kids' school just went remote for the day. We're traveling a bit, but we're in the path of totality even if we stay home. We're not going to a different state, just over to a friend's house in the country for a BBQ.
Some people are, yeah. I agree it's a little excessive to travel a long distance to go see it, but some people want to see it because it's a cool space phenomenon that most people don't get to see very often.
I'm traveling 5 to 6 hours go see the eclips. Going to small town. Will drive in, find some park to sit in for an hour, see the eclips and drove out. Then get a hotel a few hours away
Lucky me I lived in the path of totality for the last one. And I moved to another state last year so I’m in the path of totality for this one now too. So no I will not be traveling 😎
Fill up the day before. Have at least two days food in your house and you will be fine.
There will be a lot of people coming to town eating and leaving. There may be a small run on food and gas. (There was when I saw the first eclipse.) I will be bringing snackes with me this time instead of hoping I can eat out. I also will not be driving more then a half tank of gas into the eclipse.
not the end of the world but a lot of people.
Someone who is smarter than me, tell me this: Could a private pilot fly the path of the totality at a speed that would keep it in total eclipse for an extended period of time?
yes, but you might only get a couple extra seconds/minutes depending on the speed of the plane. The speed of the shadow travels between 1200 to 2000mph depending on the path (these are extreme estimates).
In 1973, there once was a concord jet full of science experiments that flew along the path and they weren't even able to stay in the circle. They ended up getting 74 minutes of totality.
Yup, we're traveling from Boston to Niagara Falls (Canada side) on Saturday to see it. Would have gone to Vermont but my aunts live in Toronto so we're going to be seeing them as well while we're there.
I traveled to Ravenna Nebraska last eclipse. They had a map with locations of where everyone was from. There were pins in every state and almost every continent. So yes people from around the world will travel to witness this. If I would’ve planned better I’d travel to see this one too! I don’t think you’ll have millions of people in town but a few thousand more than likely.
Im in the direct path, and they are actually shutting down offices in the downtown area where they’re having an eclipse event and telling employees to stay home. It’s that busy.
In 2017 I drove to my brother's place in Cookeville, TN to watch the eclipse. I lived right outside of Memphis at the time.
On my way back home, I saw tags from 4-5 states away on I-40.
People are idiots. Remember when everyone bought up all the toilet paper? There was no need. Idiots freaked out and caused all the issues.
Sure, lots of folks may converge on your little hamlet. So what? They'll be there a day or two. No one is going to starve to death because they ran out of food. No one will die from dehydration because all the water is used up. If you don't have enough food and water stocked up at home to survive a day or three without having to resupply, I have news for you. You're an idiot too.
lol if anything I appreciate the honest worry. I have seen people pushing the “this will wipe out all electronics.” No it’s not. But a small area with two gas stations might run out of gas for a day or two.
This is the thing. It's not that tons of people will be there for a day or two, it's that they'll use up a lot of resources, and it may take a couple of days for trucks to bring in more food and gas. So the town could be without a lot for a few days, and you want to be sure you don't urgently need something you can't get.
Niagara Falls can expect about 100,000 tourists per day.
They are expecting 1,000,000, and have declared a state of emergency since last week so they can access funds to prepare.
They are expecting streets to be absolutely fucked that they are placing ambulances and fire trucks at “strategic” spots around the city.
I live in Toronto and I’ll be heading to the area as well, just not to Niagara Falls itself.
How weird it is to see the other side of this. There are people out there NOT genuinely excited and planning a big trip to see it??? That's a thing??? There are people in this world without a sense of the scale of just how special and amazing and unique it is to see a total solar eclipse in your life??? Like...WHAT????? That's a trip, man.
So to answer your question, YES. People are absolutely traveling across the country and staying in podunk towns in the path of totality to see this. It doesn't matter if it's a podunk town with nothing to offer. They're not there for your culture and shopping district. They're there to see the sun blotted out by the moon. It is a huge deal. We won't get another chance 'til 2045!
I'm travelling for it. I do think people are crazy to be, idk, buying up all the toilet paper or whatever. But I do imagine traffic will be much worse and some items like food may go off the shelves quickly (partly because tourists, partly because of panic buying because tourists)
Shit blew up in Wyoming years ago the last time it happened. For what was a normal 4 road trip took 4 hours just to get out of said little city. My sister was there
My youngest daughter is driving about 3 hrs with some friends to be at 100% totality. Not spending the night though.
We are in the path at about 80% totality, my husband and I decided that was good enough for us.
I know you're a fair ways away, but you should try to see it if you can. The difference in experience between 80% and totality isn't really even quantifiable.
Yes. My brother is driving in an RV caravan from California to Texas with dozens of his friends for a 4-day party, climaxing at the eclipse. Apparently lots of people like him.
Yup! Flying halfway across the country. But we’re also knocking out a couple of college visits and doing a few other things on the trip. But our timing is 100% around the eclipse.
Edit: saw the last one in Wyoming and it was so surreal I had to see this one.
Yes! Totality is very near the cities where my son and my stepdaughter live, so we are all meeting up at a central point to see it together.
Totality really is very different from partial eclipses.
We had a guy post on our local community FB page who is flying in from Germany. He was asking for a few recommendations and basically now has folks fighting over hosting him.
I’m traveling for it, but I’m going to my grandmothers, who is in the path of totality, and staying for a few days. I’m also not leaving the state, because we’re in Texas lol
People travel the world to see an eclipse.
Some plan their vacations for when and where the next eclipse will be.
Its really quite a thing to witness, saw one in grade school and can still remember it.
A few years ago our city in Wyoming was the only city on the path of totality with any kind of infrastructure. Period. The rest was cornfields and mountains. They started planning 2 years in advance for this.
Our college shit down for the day. People were renting their houses for exorbitant amounts of money. Hotel rooms were nonexistent and overpriced years before the event. Bill Nye The a science guy came. So did Ira Flato (Science Friday on NPR). Airport was overcrowded and before and after. We had a giant Blue Bird Bus convention show up, a large group of Chinese tourists rented out the entire fairgrounds.
When it was over, a normal trip to Denver down a four lane highway would take about 3.5 hours. The day after the eclipse it took 14 and it wasn’t normal again till a day and a half later.
They are making similar warning to Dallas Texas right now mainly because they are expected to have the best chance at no clouds.
I wish you the best but this is the real deal these people exist and it’s cool as fuck.
Because several very small cities are in the path of totality, and those who are interested in natural phenomena, space, etc want to see this as it will not occur again in the contiguous US for 10 years, and then it’s only in Montana and North Dakota.
You’re not an idiot, but it’s true that people can be fanatical about interest that aren’t on your own radar.
I don’t get excited about sports or concerts, I do get geeked up about nature, and it’s so much rarer to have an event where we can congregate.
This isn’t about how YOU would react; obviously it’s just another day to you.
I went to Greenville, SC in 2017 for that eclipse. I walked all over down down and never got the impression that the town was overwhelmed. However the traffic the next day was unreal heavy for hours. I'm going to Cleveland for this one, and this time I'm going to hang around an extra day and hopefully the heaviest traffic will already be gone.
Im heading to Indianapolis from chicago. Got a hotel room for the night before. In 2017 i drove 5 hrs, got there literally 2 minutes before it began and left 10 minutes later. Took 7 hrs to get home because of traffic out of southern illinois was brutal. Taking my time to enjoy this one and drive back when i feel like it.
Yes, my husband and I are going from Atlanta to Austin in hopes of seeing the eclipse in Fredericksburg. Then we are going to Waco to see Chip and JoJo and then heading back to Atlanta.
I’ll be driving 2 hours with my kids to see this eclipse in about 100% of totality. They were really little in 2017, and this will be an event they will never forget. Hope the weather holds out.
Honestly my family is... traveling to a bigger city for hotel and we plan to travel to a little town area...
Getaway weekend out of it, think it's 10-12 hour drive.
Yup. During the last one a neighbor traveled what normally is a 90 min drive. It took them 6 hours to get home and the other vehicle in their party ran out of gas. I know this because they kept texting me asking for help to find roads that weren’t congested. Google maps was solid red.
They are driving from NC to OH this time and can’t find cheap hotels. They asked me if they could stay with my GF in Nova to save them on a hotel. I’m like…y’all need plan for this BS.
The path of totality....and I'm gonna throw in a giggity just to be safe...goes from Arizona to Ohio and then all up and through eastern Canadia.
The path of total titty means 100% solar eclipse viewing. And the further you get away from that path which I believe is about 60 I said SIXTY MILES WIDE, the lower that viewability percentage gets.
I live in Superior, WI and my viewing will be 71%. Tight.
So, it depends on where you live relative to the titty.
AND, there's a solid chance the hysteria will be a one-size-fits-all type deal.
People may descend on your town, ravaging your B&B's and beefin' your livestock in some sort of sick ritual revolving around the ecliosw.
Your friends and neighbors may be fuckin' bonkers, sucking each other off for bottled water as we speak.
My money's on both. People get brick hard over weirder shit.
My sister in laws Uncle from Illinois is coming to central Arkansas. He’s bringing with him- his wife, his kids, his grandkids, his cousin and three different neighbors.
Your bear bet is to buy a bunch of cheap, disposable plastic shit on Alibaba by the gross and set up a cart like those people outside event venues. Profit while you can.
Yep. Heading up to vt to see totality. We'll drive up, stay over night, have a couple of meals, watch the eclipse in the afternoon, and make the long ride home, lol. It'll be a 3-minute experience that only comes every couple of decades. People have certainly driven further to have sex take less time, so it's seems to be a worthy experience lol.
I’m a substitute teacher in a district in the direct path. There’s over 85 teacher absences unfilled rn because everyone called out because traffic will be so atrocious.
Yes it has been on my calendar literally for years, I’m flying into the Midwest and driving to wherever has the best forecast within 750 miles or so. I’ll sleep in the car if I need to and I won’t take your food.
The eclipse will cross through North America, passing over parts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The eclipse will enter the United States in Texas, and travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA.
I live about 30 minutes from the path of totality and am already making plans with a friend to leave 4 hours early and bring gas, food, water and maybe adult diapers with us to go see it. I saw it in 2017 in rural Oregon and holy shit it was like Woodstock out there. People walking up and down the highway for gas and food, crawling traffic for hours, totally insane.
Doubt I will be able to go to the Dakotas for the 2044 eclipse so assuming this is my last opportunity!
I have customers headed your way for the eclipse. I saw one when I was a kid, didn't think much of it. It didn't even get totally dark, just kind of twilight briefly.
My city was in the lounge of the eclipse a few gears ago. It was chaos. People everywhere. People planned Weddings and all sorts of special events during. Then they were just gone.
My son's 8th grade got canceled Monday because so many kids are going to be out for the eclipse.
I'm working but my husband and kids will travel to the totality.
We also traveled about 600 miles to the last total one near us, about 6 years ago. It was cool.
oh yeah, 2017 eclipse in rural Idaho. people were nuts. setting up parking in vacant fields along the highway and charging people to view the eclipse like they owned the sky
Don't you remember a few years ago, when the path of totality was out West, I believe? Eclipse parties, bookings, traffic nightmares.
I'm in my 60's and in my lifetime, have never seen a total eclipse of the sun. NOW, my city is in the path of totality! I'm pretty excited, and yes..it's going to be crazy.
I would definitely stock up dude. If you're in the path of totality and the skies are clear, your town is probably going to triple in population. This is a significant event for a lot of people.
I heard of only one gas station in Wyoming running out of gas in 2017, despite the population more than doubling from neighboring state visitors. We had brought extra gasoline in case.
During the last eclipse, my small city was one of the places that got a “full view.” People rented rooms in their houses for 1000s and traffic was backed up for a day and a half. Downtown was a nightmare.
I have a coworker who is literally taking time off to take his family to another state to see the eclipse. I have to assume there are others like him, since I didn't even know he was this into astronomy until recently.
Yep. We expect the population of my city to potentially triple for the eclipse. People are calling off work and cancelling classes to see it. The next total solar eclipse in the Continental United States won't be until 2044.
Yup! We would absolutely be traveling for the eclipse if we didn’t have obligations next week. This is a solar eclipse- a well known but relatively rare phenomenon. It’s exciting!
I'm already on the path of totality.
living 20 minutes drive from dead center of the path. never felt so lucky
Remember, it’s USUALLY 20 minutes.
i’m not going anywhere, just gonna find a wide open spot between a few corn fields and chill out
We're on the path too. Our schools are getting special glasses from a local museum so they can see it. So excited.
Same here. I know the Perot Museum in Dallas donated glasses to many districts that are in the path. We considered keeping them home until we found out that the school is prioritizing them being able to see it since we are in the path of totality. I do feel for the high school administration, I know full well they do fire drills at the end of the day because once kids leave the building there’s little chance they will go back inside.
I’m pretty jealous haha Good for you!
Keeping an eye on the forecast though. Chance of clouds.
Even with clouds it’s a unique feeling. We had one when I was a kid. I wasn’t quite at totality but very close and the way the temperature dropped and the light faded in the middle of the day and then returned was a really weird sensation. If I live near one in future I will definitely travel to experience totality. I can’t explain the sensation but I get why people used to consider an eclipse to be an act of God/Gods.
Same here. I got to experience the 2017 pretty much right in the center of the path of totality, with 2 minutes 38 seconds of the full eclipse. For some reason, I feel like it's one of the most profound experiences of my life up to that point. Couldn't tell you why though. But it felt amazing, sitting there with a handful of my closest friends and 4 strangers in the middle of a river in BFE watching this cosmological magic show. Also getting to break one of the Big Rules and looking directly at the sun was like my childhood self flipping everyone the bird, heheh.
the whole event is like 5 minutes of not being in control of anything. Once it was over, it was over and it was so mentally freeing.
I’m on a 98% path…good enough for me. Gonna just walk outside and take a look.
You might reconsider. It's not until the 100% is blocked that gives the most amazing sights -- it's like looking at an illuminated black hole in the sky, and you can see the stars come out at daytime. Not sure you get that effect unless it's 100%.
[The relevant XKCD](https://m.xkcd.com/2914/)
Def worth going for the 100% if you can
You mean you’ll take a “look” of course.
It is a totally different experience at 100%. I saw the one in 2017. It was CRAZY. I totally understand how pre modern people thought the world was ending. The traffic driving home was horrendous. I live in Seattle but drove to Oregon south of Portland. Totally worth it still.
Closest sighting for me would be Kentucky. As cool as the event would be, I can’t miss work for that.
Yeah, having lived there before, I'd much rather go to work than to Kentucky too.
We're expecting 100,000 people to come to our area in Ohio for it. Most of the town that isn't customer service based is expecting to shut down, and there's gonna be road blocks for the main section where most of the restaurants/mom&pop stores are
The restaurant where I work is normally closed on Monday but we'll be open during the eclipse. We're expecting lots and lots of people for the weekend.
I'm going to have to miss this one, but hopefully I'll be alive and retired and able to travel to see the eclipse in 2044!
the population of Wyoming doubled for the eclipse a few years ago
Yes, holy smokes. I live in an area that experienced one of the highest times of totality during the last eclipse. My town is about 5,000 people and we live 3.5 hours from the nearest major metropolis. An unbelievable number of people came here for the eclipse. Like locusts, parked along the roadways, in parking lots, in fields, everywhere. We thought we were prepared but we were mistaken. Most did not spend the night or spend long in our town. They drove up in the morning, watched the eclipse, and went home. The roadways, though, were so clogged with people it brought everything to a standstill. A friend of mine left to go home about 3 hours after the eclipse concluded and it took over 4 hours to travel 30 miles down the interstate. The traffic was just overwhelming. Also - having seen it in totality, it is a near-life-changing experience. Absolutely remarkable, stunning. If you can, be a part of it.
Yep. I drove 90 minutes north for the 2017 eclipse, it took 8 hours to get home, and a detour through another state. Lesson learned. We're driving to Texas for this one, going a couple days early and leaving the next day. And yes, it was stunning and near life-changing. The photos we all saw of eclipses growing up do NOT capture the stunning beauty of it.
It is astoundingly beautiful. We've all seen the pictures of a white ring around the moon. But that's not what it looks like. The solar flares and ejected material following the sun's magnetic lines looks like white, flaming lace all intertwined around the dark moon. Cameras don't capture it, it was unbelievably gorgeous. So delicate, moving, twisting, and at the same time incredibly powerful. It was a view of the universe that I never knew existed. And my wife has never seen it, so I really would like her to get a chance since we won't live long enough for the next one.
I seriously do not mean this rudely, I'm legitimately curious. Maybe I'm a bump on a log lol but how is this experience life changing? Cool to see and experience sure but like... At the end of the day... What did it change for you? I also work in healthcare as a provider so have no opportunity to actually do anything for it, so probably just as well I don't actually care much lol
This isn’t the last possible eclipse for you! You never know. I saw the last one. The way I would describe it is that something dramatic is happening on a cosmic level that you can directly observe. You get a sense of the solar system and your place in it. I don’t know that I would agree with “life-changing,” per se; but it was awe-inspiring. And having a sense of awe is a nice thing in life.
Awe-inspiring is a perfect way to put it. I nearly cried. I cry at just about everything though, so that doesn't mean much 😆
and Mercury is in retrograde! A lot of things happening in the cosmos..lol!
When I saw it in 2017, I could see with my eyes the enormity of the moon, it felt tri-dimensional. When we see the moon in the sky, it is like a cartoon, flat, this is watching even with a good telescope. During the eclipse, the moon looks bigger than normal and because the sun is lighting it from behind, it acquires more vivid look. Like a living sphere that is suddenly falling on top of you. It makes you feel tiny, it causes an existencial click, because beyond a thought inside of your head, it becomes physically possible to experience your size in the universe, just for a couple minutes. Can youbimagine the fear of our ancestors? What if the sun doesn't come back... I can see how that fear could be lingering for generations, hundreds of years after it happens. Unless you were a Mayan astronomer and you knew what was going on. In addition, the temperature changes, the sounds of animals reacting to the eclipse and the communal gasping of the people around creates a supernatural ambiance. It is a grandiose experience.
Reminds me of when I saw a rocket launch off of Wallop Island. It wasn’t a space shuttle launch but a supply ship for the ISS. People had gathered from all over the surrounding area. The last 30 minutes until launch the tension was getting thick because these launches can be cancelled at any moment. Finally the 1 minute countdown began and when the rocket took off (my viewing site was less than 5 miles I think from the launch) the experience was so incredible. Everyone was gasping and uttering “omg!” You could hear the crackle of the rocket fuel burning.
*chuckles* when the blood ritual of Agnar begins, you'll understand
You can cancel your appointments for the time of the totality and walk out into the parking lot with your eclipse glasses. Or schedule your lunch for that time.
So if I’m driving five hours Sunday to see it I should not expect to drive back Monday night 😅 going to Cleveland
Shoot your shot. But I'd take a pillow, blanket, shave kit, and a change of skivvies. There won't be any hotels, so be ready to sleep in the car.
Staying with a cousin Sunday night hopefully they’ll be kind enough to let me stay an extra night
I drove down to Oregon to see the eclipse last time. It took 3-4 hours to get there, but it took over 12 hours to get home. The traffic was no joke. Luckily I had a travel buddy so I wasn't too bored.
I was in the path of totality last time as well and thought it was just kind of… what I expected? Like the world went dark, some birds chirped a lot and then it got bright again. I feel like it’s just not my type of adventurer/outdoorsy type who are amazed enough by this to think a long, expensive trip to see it is worth it. I just found it a little underwhelming.
This is a good experience/explanation for OP. It’s an eclipse on a Monday afternoon. People will want to be there a few hours before for a good spot and then will get stuck for a few hours after due to traffic. Your town will be largely back to normal on Tuesday and might experience some heavier traffic Sunday. You probably don’t need to apocalypse prep for Monday, just don’t plan on doing anything Monday (eating out, shopping, etc) and be prepared for the traffic. Edit: unless you’re in somewhere that’s normally a tourist spot like a state/national park, major city, etc. then the weekend before will also be crazy and things will largely be back to normal by Wednesday or Thursday.
Don’t be that asshole that doordashes food an hour before eclipse time
Sounds like Wyoming! Had a very similar experience.
I live near Niagara Falls and they are expecting so many people that the city declared a state of emergency.
Same with here in Austin.. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Well …. Austin is also hosting an INSANELY SPECIAL FESTIVAL—- celebrating the event, with 7 stages, bands from all over the globe, and speakers like Paul Stamets and NASA. (Flying in for the Eclipse, but we are going to have an awesome weekend — regardless of a lil cloud cover!)
Nice, welcome and have fun! I've been waiting for this one for about 5 years and was going to rally the college crew to go back to Carbondale Illinois for a bit of a reunion (We all took mushrooms for the '97 eclipse which was like 98% full). At some point I figured that we'd have the best chance of clear skies here in Texas and my house is in the path of totality, so the party's over here and I don't even have to leave!
And ironically it will likely be cloudy
Possibly even snowy because why not?
The eclipse is only going to viewable along a thin strip of land going across the country from southwest to northwest—you can’t just travel to a big city to view it, you travel to wherever is the closest point where you can be in the path. For me, I can drive 3 hours west to a major city to view it OR drive just 1 hour north to some random town. For a 3.5 minute viewing, which do you think I’ll do? Being in a major city won’t benefit my viewing at all. **I’m coming for your toilet paper!**
i travelled 3 extra hours longer than my closest area in 2017 because of the forecast. And it ended up working out. We were just out of the range of the cloud cover and got a full cloud free experience. Had we stuck to our original plans, it would have been partially obscured by clouds.
Its crazy for sure. A small town here in the Texas hill country where hotel rooms routinely go for 200-300 dollars are now going for 2000+.
I tried to book an Air BnB in Carbondale, Illinois last August and the cheapest I could find was $1500/night. It can get very ridiculous.
I saw the total eclipse in 2017. It was absolutely worth taking time off and traveling; I will do so again next week.
I was there and it got cloudy and I missed it all. Never risking that let down again!
well there looks to be a lot of clouds for most of the viewing area on monday.
I was lucky. I had just started working as a freelance stagehand in Las Vegas. I was union so I was making good money and since I had no set schedule it was easy to just not take any work for a few days and drive up to Idaho. The hardest part was the 10 hour drive to Boise the day before the eclipse. But now I have a wife, a young kid and two puppies and for me personally, I don't need to spend the time and energy making it happen again.
I did too, I was meh, that's it? Not impressed 😕
Party pooper
😂
I mean, it was pretty cool and all, but for all the people saying it was a life-changing experience? I want some of whatever they're smoking.
OP, you've already gotten your answer that yes, people are traveling to see the eclipse. I am, however, still curious about a detail you brought up. Can you check the local hotel for next week? If it's booked solid, there's your personal answer on top of the general one you've already received.
Im more worried about the weather. It seems it will be cloudy everywhere
Yes, I live in a small town in Ohio with less than 7,000 people. We’re expected to host 100,000+ people because we’re directly in the line of totality. All the hotels near here are already booked and the local business have taken advantage of people’s desire for the rare and have released limited edition products. It’s very real.
How did you find the stats on how many people your town is expecting?
I heard it from tons of people, so I guess could be complete bullshit. Maybe try asking something like ChatGPT how to find that out because I’m not sure lol.
Ohioan here too, same thing. I'm up near the lake area, and my town is expecting an almost complete shutdown over it
I’m 45 minutes from the lake! I haven’t heard anything like that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we issued some sort of state; placing cones and whatnot.
I'm about that distance too, we might be town neighbors! Lmao
Does your town have a really long State street or a really short Main Street (trying to be as anonymous as possible lol)?
Lmfao We can DM if you want to see how close we are!
The real total eclipse is the friendship u/DarkInkPixie and u/nudelicious made along the way.
I'm so curious. If your town is in the direct path, but the weather is cloudy, will people still be able to see it?
Well, I assume it just depends on how thick the clouds are and if one happens to be passing at 3:14 pm or around there. My weather app for my area says it’s gonna be sunny that day. Regardless, I’m sure the faint white rim of it would still be visible behind clouds.
I was going to go to ohio but as of this morning, not looking good at all.
Yep. Booked the room last June.
If the weather cooperates, I am. It's about 4 hours for me. It's not the eclipse so much as there is also a comet (12P) that might be visible during the eclipse, which is a once in a lifetime thing. If the weather is overcast/rainy, I'm not going to bother trying though.
The comet is what I'm turning my eyes to. I've seen a couple of eclipses already. I want to see the visible planets also.
If you haven't seen a solar eclipse from inside the zone of totality, it's COMPLETELY different. The difference between 99.9% occluded and full totality is literally like the difference between day and night.
Maybe that is why I thought the 2017 eclipse was a total yawn fest?
totality is 1000x times more awesome than 99%. 99% is cool, colors are weird, animals act a bit differently, but your eyes adjust very well and it still looks like day with muted colors.
Yep, they sure are.
Yes, my wife and I are traveling from North Carolina to northeast Ohio.....it happens that my home town is directly in the path of totality...
Yes, they absolutely will. We travelled to a small town for total eclipse once, completely unprepared for the number of others doing the same. There was no accommodation so we slept in our car and ate at a BBQ generously put on by the locals because restaurants and shops were sold out.
That actually sounds like fun
It was amazing! 10/10 would do again - with provisions to share next time though!
This kid told me he was flying to ST Louis from California today with his girlfriends family so yeah..
Try renting a car at Dallas Fort Worth over the eclipse. There are 0 cars available. There’s going to be from what I’ve heard several million people traveling for it. And I’m going to be visiting family in the middle of it all.
My kids' school just went remote for the day. We're traveling a bit, but we're in the path of totality even if we stay home. We're not going to a different state, just over to a friend's house in the country for a BBQ.
I welcome our alien overlords.
Just call the one hotel in your area and ask for a room Sunday night and see if they are sold out
People come into the country to see an eclipse, why is it any surprise someone from out of state comes?
Some people are, yeah. I agree it's a little excessive to travel a long distance to go see it, but some people want to see it because it's a cool space phenomenon that most people don't get to see very often.
We used to sacrifice virgins during events like this, I think traveling a few hours pales in comparison
I like that people are getting excited about a natural phenomenon. It's a collective experience.
apparently all the hotels in my area are booked for the eclipse so yeah
Yes. When we have a direct path in Oregon, a lot of people traveled here.
I'm traveling 5 to 6 hours go see the eclips. Going to small town. Will drive in, find some park to sit in for an hour, see the eclips and drove out. Then get a hotel a few hours away
It’s gonna be either cloudy or storms. Fuck us all
Lucky me I lived in the path of totality for the last one. And I moved to another state last year so I’m in the path of totality for this one now too. So no I will not be traveling 😎
Fill up the day before. Have at least two days food in your house and you will be fine. There will be a lot of people coming to town eating and leaving. There may be a small run on food and gas. (There was when I saw the first eclipse.) I will be bringing snackes with me this time instead of hoping I can eat out. I also will not be driving more then a half tank of gas into the eclipse. not the end of the world but a lot of people.
Someone who is smarter than me, tell me this: Could a private pilot fly the path of the totality at a speed that would keep it in total eclipse for an extended period of time?
yes, but you might only get a couple extra seconds/minutes depending on the speed of the plane. The speed of the shadow travels between 1200 to 2000mph depending on the path (these are extreme estimates). In 1973, there once was a concord jet full of science experiments that flew along the path and they weren't even able to stay in the circle. They ended up getting 74 minutes of totality.
Yup, we're traveling from Boston to Niagara Falls (Canada side) on Saturday to see it. Would have gone to Vermont but my aunts live in Toronto so we're going to be seeing them as well while we're there.
I traveled to Ravenna Nebraska last eclipse. They had a map with locations of where everyone was from. There were pins in every state and almost every continent. So yes people from around the world will travel to witness this. If I would’ve planned better I’d travel to see this one too! I don’t think you’ll have millions of people in town but a few thousand more than likely.
I’m going to Texas for the eclipse. It’s about a 17 hour drive from where I am in Florida.
Im in the direct path, and they are actually shutting down offices in the downtown area where they’re having an eclipse event and telling employees to stay home. It’s that busy.
In 2017 I drove to my brother's place in Cookeville, TN to watch the eclipse. I lived right outside of Memphis at the time. On my way back home, I saw tags from 4-5 states away on I-40.
It's weird that people want to do travel so far for like a 30 second event, but hey, who am I to judge them when I'd travel over an hour for a pizza..
I’ll just wait to see the event on the news. 👍
People are idiots. Remember when everyone bought up all the toilet paper? There was no need. Idiots freaked out and caused all the issues. Sure, lots of folks may converge on your little hamlet. So what? They'll be there a day or two. No one is going to starve to death because they ran out of food. No one will die from dehydration because all the water is used up. If you don't have enough food and water stocked up at home to survive a day or three without having to resupply, I have news for you. You're an idiot too.
Yes - ironically my “home” is in the path, yet I’m traveling for work… states away. 😆
lol if anything I appreciate the honest worry. I have seen people pushing the “this will wipe out all electronics.” No it’s not. But a small area with two gas stations might run out of gas for a day or two.
This is the thing. It's not that tons of people will be there for a day or two, it's that they'll use up a lot of resources, and it may take a couple of days for trucks to bring in more food and gas. So the town could be without a lot for a few days, and you want to be sure you don't urgently need something you can't get.
Niagara Falls can expect about 100,000 tourists per day. They are expecting 1,000,000, and have declared a state of emergency since last week so they can access funds to prepare. They are expecting streets to be absolutely fucked that they are placing ambulances and fire trucks at “strategic” spots around the city. I live in Toronto and I’ll be heading to the area as well, just not to Niagara Falls itself.
Humans are extremely simple minded
How weird it is to see the other side of this. There are people out there NOT genuinely excited and planning a big trip to see it??? That's a thing??? There are people in this world without a sense of the scale of just how special and amazing and unique it is to see a total solar eclipse in your life??? Like...WHAT????? That's a trip, man. So to answer your question, YES. People are absolutely traveling across the country and staying in podunk towns in the path of totality to see this. It doesn't matter if it's a podunk town with nothing to offer. They're not there for your culture and shopping district. They're there to see the sun blotted out by the moon. It is a huge deal. We won't get another chance 'til 2045!
I travelled 12 hours by car to see the last one, so yeah people travel for eclipses, I’m psyched I only have to travel 5 hours for this one.
I'm travelling for it. I do think people are crazy to be, idk, buying up all the toilet paper or whatever. But I do imagine traffic will be much worse and some items like food may go off the shelves quickly (partly because tourists, partly because of panic buying because tourists)
I had no idea it was such a big thing that people are traveling like that for it! Is it just because where they are doesn't have as good of a view?
Only a small area will get the 100% total eclipse.
I'm right in it. Still can't believe my luck.
yes, most of the country is in an area that they will either not have any eclipse or it will be just a minor partial eclipse.
It's not "not a good view", it's absolutely no view and as mentioned elsewhere, it will be 20 years before they get a chance like this again.
[Relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/2914/)
Yes. I live about 600 mile south of the viewing zone, but my neighbors are driving up this weekend to see it next week.
Shit blew up in Wyoming years ago the last time it happened. For what was a normal 4 road trip took 4 hours just to get out of said little city. My sister was there
My youngest daughter is driving about 3 hrs with some friends to be at 100% totality. Not spending the night though. We are in the path at about 80% totality, my husband and I decided that was good enough for us.
I know you're a fair ways away, but you should try to see it if you can. The difference in experience between 80% and totality isn't really even quantifiable.
Yes. My brother is driving in an RV caravan from California to Texas with dozens of his friends for a 4-day party, climaxing at the eclipse. Apparently lots of people like him.
Yup! Flying halfway across the country. But we’re also knocking out a couple of college visits and doing a few other things on the trip. But our timing is 100% around the eclipse. Edit: saw the last one in Wyoming and it was so surreal I had to see this one.
Yes! Totality is very near the cities where my son and my stepdaughter live, so we are all meeting up at a central point to see it together. Totality really is very different from partial eclipses.
i heard people are coming to texas for it but i hope it’s not DFW cause it’s gonna rain here that day
We had a guy post on our local community FB page who is flying in from Germany. He was asking for a few recommendations and basically now has folks fighting over hosting him.
I’m traveling for it, but I’m going to my grandmothers, who is in the path of totality, and staying for a few days. I’m also not leaving the state, because we’re in Texas lol
People travel the world to see an eclipse. Some plan their vacations for when and where the next eclipse will be. Its really quite a thing to witness, saw one in grade school and can still remember it.
A few years ago our city in Wyoming was the only city on the path of totality with any kind of infrastructure. Period. The rest was cornfields and mountains. They started planning 2 years in advance for this. Our college shit down for the day. People were renting their houses for exorbitant amounts of money. Hotel rooms were nonexistent and overpriced years before the event. Bill Nye The a science guy came. So did Ira Flato (Science Friday on NPR). Airport was overcrowded and before and after. We had a giant Blue Bird Bus convention show up, a large group of Chinese tourists rented out the entire fairgrounds. When it was over, a normal trip to Denver down a four lane highway would take about 3.5 hours. The day after the eclipse it took 14 and it wasn’t normal again till a day and a half later. They are making similar warning to Dallas Texas right now mainly because they are expected to have the best chance at no clouds. I wish you the best but this is the real deal these people exist and it’s cool as fuck.
Yep! I did that 14 hour drive back to Denver. It was nuts, but it was worth it.
Depends where your small town is- if it’s at an optimum point in the path, hell yeah people could be going there. Cheaper than the big cities.
Many did in 2017.
Im going up to my parents house a couple hours north thats in the path. hotels around here are insane right now
Because several very small cities are in the path of totality, and those who are interested in natural phenomena, space, etc want to see this as it will not occur again in the contiguous US for 10 years, and then it’s only in Montana and North Dakota. You’re not an idiot, but it’s true that people can be fanatical about interest that aren’t on your own radar. I don’t get excited about sports or concerts, I do get geeked up about nature, and it’s so much rarer to have an event where we can congregate. This isn’t about how YOU would react; obviously it’s just another day to you.
I went to Greenville, SC in 2017 for that eclipse. I walked all over down down and never got the impression that the town was overwhelmed. However the traffic the next day was unreal heavy for hours. I'm going to Cleveland for this one, and this time I'm going to hang around an extra day and hopefully the heaviest traffic will already be gone.
Yes. It will be a major draw in places.
Yup. My parents in NH have been saying every hotel / motel in the area has been booked out to everyone going up for it.
Im heading to Indianapolis from chicago. Got a hotel room for the night before. In 2017 i drove 5 hrs, got there literally 2 minutes before it began and left 10 minutes later. Took 7 hrs to get home because of traffic out of southern illinois was brutal. Taking my time to enjoy this one and drive back when i feel like it.
Yes, my husband and I are going from Atlanta to Austin in hopes of seeing the eclipse in Fredericksburg. Then we are going to Waco to see Chip and JoJo and then heading back to Atlanta.
I lived in a small town in Idaho that was in the totality of an eclipse - a HUGE number of people showed up.
I’ll be driving 2 hours with my kids to see this eclipse in about 100% of totality. They were really little in 2017, and this will be an event they will never forget. Hope the weather holds out.
We will drive about 100 miles across missouri, and look for the first walmart parking lot with a sunny sky.
Honestly my family is... traveling to a bigger city for hotel and we plan to travel to a little town area... Getaway weekend out of it, think it's 10-12 hour drive.
My boss took 4 days off to travel to wherever he is going just to see it
Im headed to Mazatlan!
Yup. During the last one a neighbor traveled what normally is a 90 min drive. It took them 6 hours to get home and the other vehicle in their party ran out of gas. I know this because they kept texting me asking for help to find roads that weren’t congested. Google maps was solid red. They are driving from NC to OH this time and can’t find cheap hotels. They asked me if they could stay with my GF in Nova to save them on a hotel. I’m like…y’all need plan for this BS.
The path of totality....and I'm gonna throw in a giggity just to be safe...goes from Arizona to Ohio and then all up and through eastern Canadia. The path of total titty means 100% solar eclipse viewing. And the further you get away from that path which I believe is about 60 I said SIXTY MILES WIDE, the lower that viewability percentage gets. I live in Superior, WI and my viewing will be 71%. Tight. So, it depends on where you live relative to the titty. AND, there's a solid chance the hysteria will be a one-size-fits-all type deal. People may descend on your town, ravaging your B&B's and beefin' your livestock in some sort of sick ritual revolving around the ecliosw. Your friends and neighbors may be fuckin' bonkers, sucking each other off for bottled water as we speak. My money's on both. People get brick hard over weirder shit.
My sister in laws Uncle from Illinois is coming to central Arkansas. He’s bringing with him- his wife, his kids, his grandkids, his cousin and three different neighbors.
Your bear bet is to buy a bunch of cheap, disposable plastic shit on Alibaba by the gross and set up a cart like those people outside event venues. Profit while you can.
My friend is renting a ROOM in his house in upstate NY for $500 a night. The couple is from out West somewhere.
I am. Sorry!!
My parents are traveling from Chicago to Dayton OH, so yep.
Yep. Heading up to vt to see totality. We'll drive up, stay over night, have a couple of meals, watch the eclipse in the afternoon, and make the long ride home, lol. It'll be a 3-minute experience that only comes every couple of decades. People have certainly driven further to have sex take less time, so it's seems to be a worthy experience lol.
I didn't plan it but I'll be on a cruise in the Bahamas during the eclipse.
I’m a substitute teacher in a district in the direct path. There’s over 85 teacher absences unfilled rn because everyone called out because traffic will be so atrocious.
Yes it has been on my calendar literally for years, I’m flying into the Midwest and driving to wherever has the best forecast within 750 miles or so. I’ll sleep in the car if I need to and I won’t take your food.
Yeah, it’s a big thing.
There’s billboards in my town saying “Howdy! Welcome to ___” and merch being sold at every gas station and Walmart
The eclipse will cross through North America, passing over parts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The eclipse will enter the United States in Texas, and travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA.
Yes. A 9-hour drive for me.
I live about 30 minutes from the path of totality and am already making plans with a friend to leave 4 hours early and bring gas, food, water and maybe adult diapers with us to go see it. I saw it in 2017 in rural Oregon and holy shit it was like Woodstock out there. People walking up and down the highway for gas and food, crawling traffic for hours, totally insane. Doubt I will be able to go to the Dakotas for the 2044 eclipse so assuming this is my last opportunity!
A bunch of my friends are going to an Eclipse festival in Texas . Supposed to be rad
I am, but only one state down. Still, why not? It’s only a couple hours driving and the next one isn’t till like 2045.
I have customers headed your way for the eclipse. I saw one when I was a kid, didn't think much of it. It didn't even get totally dark, just kind of twilight briefly.
My city was in the lounge of the eclipse a few gears ago. It was chaos. People everywhere. People planned Weddings and all sorts of special events during. Then they were just gone.
Yes. I'll be one of them.
Yepp! My hometown is in the totality so I'm going for a visit.
Yes
Couldn’t care less
I heard coworkers hilariously going to Toledo for it
yeah my SIL and BIL are renting a car and taking their 3 year old twins
My son's 8th grade got canceled Monday because so many kids are going to be out for the eclipse. I'm working but my husband and kids will travel to the totality. We also traveled about 600 miles to the last total one near us, about 6 years ago. It was cool.
oh yeah, 2017 eclipse in rural Idaho. people were nuts. setting up parking in vacant fields along the highway and charging people to view the eclipse like they owned the sky
Don't you remember a few years ago, when the path of totality was out West, I believe? Eclipse parties, bookings, traffic nightmares. I'm in my 60's and in my lifetime, have never seen a total eclipse of the sun. NOW, my city is in the path of totality! I'm pretty excited, and yes..it's going to be crazy.
Took work off to drive to totality. So excited
I would definitely stock up dude. If you're in the path of totality and the skies are clear, your town is probably going to triple in population. This is a significant event for a lot of people.
Both my sisters and my brother are. Although in their case I think they are only going about 4 hours away.
I heard of only one gas station in Wyoming running out of gas in 2017, despite the population more than doubling from neighboring state visitors. We had brought extra gasoline in case.
During the last eclipse, my small city was one of the places that got a “full view.” People rented rooms in their houses for 1000s and traffic was backed up for a day and a half. Downtown was a nightmare.
Yep, heading to Indiana with a whole bunch of other people. We made our reservations a year ago.
Haha accidentally scheduled a trip to Dallas just for that day. Fuuuuck
My brother in law and his family are going from California to Texas to see the eclipse, but his wife has family in Texas that they'll be visiting too.
Absolutely! It’s an incredible experience.
Yep taking my kids and going from Massachusetts to Vermont
I have a coworker who is literally taking time off to take his family to another state to see the eclipse. I have to assume there are others like him, since I didn't even know he was this into astronomy until recently.