Eclipse

[Phoebe]

So, whatchyall doing on the big day? It just occurred to me I need to get permission for my kids to skip school that day so that we can travel to an optimal location. Luckily we know a lot of people to visit in optimal locations but I hear the traffic might be a real issue.

[Kyle]

We got the glasses and are just going to hang out here and watch. I'll be at the office- might go to the top of the parking garage if the weather is nice.

[Zen]

My wife will be heading to Carbondale, IL to help my son and his girlfriend move into their apartment for the school year. Conveniently for her, it is also the heart of the full eclipse. My son was telling her she might not want to even come because they're expecting the town to be inundated with tourists. The reason? The point of greatest duration (GD) of the totality of the eclipse is just a few miles south of Carbondale. Carbondale is the closest city to the GD point and happens to have a major research university, so it will be geek central for the eclipse.

In addition, there is ANOTHER total eclipse coming in 2024 that will also be visible from Carbondale. has info on that one as well. The university is seriously trying to capitalize on it... I don't know that their astronomy department is up to the task, but maybe they'll get an influx of new students because of it?

[Mike]

I'm coming home from GenCon the day before, and I'll probably be too tired to do much. But where we are is only about 3 degrees off totality, and the kids' school has hundreds of the viewing glasses, so I'll probably drive there and watch with the kids.

Otherwise, I'm passing through Omaha the day before. I suppose if I stayed there for a night, I'd be even closer, but I'll be missing my family bad by then.

If we were super-ambitious, we have lots of family in Lincoln which is right in the path of totality, but that seems like a lot of effort for 3 degrees.

[Phoebe]

I think it's worth it to be in the path of totality so that darkness actually falls upon you. But to take the kids with you there might be a big to-do. I'm a little worried about pulling them from school for it, honestly, but I want to get under that shadow.

[Kyle]

I don't know if my kids' school is going to let them out either, but if it does, my wife plans to have a whole watching party with a bunch of other families.

Just pray for good weather. Nothing would suck worse than getting all excited for an eclipse and then not being able to see shit because it's overcast.

[Phoebe]

Ya, that would necessitate longer driving, and then it might not be possible to do in time. Reading more about it, I'm concerned about traffic and predicting length of journey. Might need to draw up various route options. Also wondering where we should go exactly - is there a best sort of place to experience this? I remember being a wee grade schooler - maybe it was Kindergarten? - for one of the full eclipses. We did the pinhole things. It was a big deal at the time.

[Tahlvin]

Totality is about 300 miles away from us. I don't have time to drive that far just to watch the sun. Peak coverage for my location is supposed to be about 1:15 PM, with about 85% coverage, so I'll probably take a late lunch that day and just watch the sky change color slightly.

[Phoebe]

I am hoping that most people adopt your sensible attitude toward the thing because then the traffic won't be so bad. I'm worried about the traffic, especially as people are like, eh, why not? And just start in to driving.

As some scientist quoted by the inestimable CNN said, totality is like your wedding night vs partiality like a first date. Whatever theee hell that was supposed to mean. Really, what did this person even mean by that? All I know is that I want to feel The Darkness right there around me. My high expectations for how great it's going to be probably mean it won't be worth all the driving.

My 5 year old just appeared for no reason whatsoever, no imaginable reason that might explain why he suddenly popped forth from the bed at an Hour Fit Only For Sleep, to explain in very earnest, very urgent tones that Indiana Jones had to get owihtQZL;RKHZ;DLKH;LKR or whatever he just babbled out at me, in order to GAIN POWER. There is part of me recognizing the kid is fascinating and adorable, but the other 99% is like WHY AREN'T YOU SLEEPING? Is it a sickness? Why won't anyone here sleep? The 14 year old sleeps in midday but not during the actual nighttime hours. You think, good parents out there, in your twee little voices, You should have a Routine! Just have a Routine and stick to it and all will be well! Ha aha ahahahahaa. I know I'm not the only one in this special mental place in early August. Ha ha, a routine! As if I could impose a routine on a goddamn grapefruit at this point.

[Tahlvin]

Well, if you want to see a total eclipse, you better hurry. After all, the last total solar eclipse will happen in about 600 million years, after which the moon will be too far away from the earth to totally block the sun, and there will no longer be any total eclipses, only partial eclipses. So what are you waiting for???

[Kyle]

The one in April 2024 has a path that I'm in the totality zone. I'll wait for that one instead of travelling for this one.

[Zen]

[Phoebe]

Yeah, I mean, my first date with my husband was pretty decent, which might be why we continued downroad to married.

Anyway, I'm really anxious about traffic now that more info is emerging. But also even more motivated to see it.

[Tahlvin]

It was cloudy here today, and we're supposed to get rain later. So we sat on our screened-in porch and watched it get darker, but that was about it.

[Phoebe]

It was pretty cool. A weird thing happened that is TMI for a public forum but can tell you Thurs.

[akiva]

It was awesome here. So glad I got the glasses.

[Zen]

We had a couple pair of glasses to pass around at work for our 90 some-odd percent coverage eclipse here.

My wife, who was in Carbondale at the heart of the totality, got to see the whole shebang. She said that our friend's yard was, evidently, the best place to view the eclipse in the entire city. My son, who was not there, only got to see 15 seconds worth of the totality because of cloud cover, but at our friend's back yard they got to watch the whole thing unfettered.

Unfortunately, she is now trapped in the mass evacuation of Carbondale Illinois. I hope she gets home at a reasonable hour...

[Bluedevyl]

So, Bill, DMDarcs, and I decided before we left that we were going to try to see as much of the eclipse as we could since we were so close. We found a room in Louisville for last night, and then took stock as to where we should see it from.

We heard from my cousin that the best place, due to its proximity to the GC point, would be Hopkinsville, KY. We also heard that at last estimate, there was a million people there. We ended up in Scottsville, KY, which was well within the totality track. We were in total shadow for a little over two minutes and then got the hell outta there.

We've been on the road since, and still have 6 hours left to go, but we're all agreed on the fact that the detour was WELL worth it.