Solar eclipse 2017

[Christy]

Fingers crossed for a sunny day for everyone in the east. We have nothing but sun here in the forecast. I freaked out a little about my plan to stay in a hotel (already booked) 2 hours north of the path on Sunday night so I just paid last minute prices for a house on Airbnb 30 miles north of the path in La Grande OR. There are a number of routes south into the path so I gotta think we can make it 30 miles that morning. I was happy to see that ODOT did not name any route in NE Oregon as a potential trouble spot in terms of traffic.

 

[geargrrl]

Well be inbetween John Day and Baker City.

 

[CarverJill]

We have 6.5 hours to go in our drive and so far we haven't hit any of the dredded ecplise traffic but I'm sure we will. The last hour of the drive is just a 2 lane road that goes from Boise (not in the path of totality) to the towns just slightly north of it which are in the path. Our final destination is Garden Valley, ID which is I'm the path of totality. I guess we will see over 2 minutes of the 100 percent coverage.

I had a terrible time finding the safe glasses. I got three different sets from Amazon and none of them were compliant. When I went to reorder a 4th set the compliant ones were $99 for 10! My father in law found the good ones at the local Fred Meyer in Idaho for $1.99 each. I'm actually planning to make the paper plate guards for my kids glasses since those cardboard glasses don't stay in them at all. What's cool is since we will be in the path of totality we can actually look without the glasses during the period of time it's 100%

My sons school is keeping all the kids inside during it. I'm glad he we decided to take him and he isn't going to miss it. It's literally once in a lifetime for us in CA, the 2024 one is just east coast.

So all in all we will have driven in 4 states but also get to visit with my husbands family in Nevada and Idaho.

 

[VickiK]

Fantastic! Best wishes for smooth & steady travel.

 

[Kimmyt]

We are heading out in a few hours. Just two adults, two slightly sick kids on a 4+ hour drive with no confirmed place to stay overnight. You know, no big deal.....

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

I'm an average of 100 miles from the NC slopes, but if the clouds will behave, we should have 100% totality; I'll be truly disappointed if mother nature foils our plans for SC viewing....

 

[Jenny]

It's bright but cloudy here right now. Supposed to be clearing from late morning through the afternoon. Fingers crossed. I'll drive a little bit to get away from the lake effect if I need to, but I am sick of the car right now. Got back from Chicago late, late last night (picked up niece from airport - back from her European adventure).

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

I managed to get this... I had two cameras with me, and one of them died.

Traffic was not too bad overall. Some bottlenecks here and there.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Awesome! What kind of camera did you use?

We were so fortunate to cut through the country on the edge of the SC/NC mountains to my former church on a hill in Greer, SC. I was afraid it'd be crowded, but I guess most people live closer, in totality and so could just watch from their home. We were the only ones there, had lunch at one of the picnic tables in the grove of trees behind the church and just stepped into the sun when we wanted to check on the progress of the eclipse. It was cooler in the trees and there was a gentle breeze. We had our own fun group, picnic and beverages and it was an exciting yet peaceful afternoon. And the clouds spared us. We were truly blessed all the way around.

 

[Christy]

Wow, great photo @Fluffy Kitty.

All of our planning to avoid crowds worked and it was amazing. I can't wait to see another. Texas 2024!

I don't know how to do that level of photography so I left the cameras at home. I took a couple phone photos before totality.

This was the scene when we pulled up at the Oregon Trail National Interpretive Site at 5:30 am. They were having an event, and they have bathrooms, parking and water, plus 360 degree views from 4000'. So it was a desirable spot and everyone got there early before they opened the gate.

This was just a few minutes before totality. It was amazing how light it stayed, though the quality of light did change, until very suddenly it went dark.

PBS had a good NOVA about it last night that I imagine they will rerun. I really enjoyed listening to live NPR coverage as we drove home, too. Just hearing how amazed people were was really cool. And others saw things we didn't--like the shadow bands on the earth (which some people called shadow snakes). All the more reason to see another!

 

[Christy]

2024

 

[Jilly]

2024 in April, might be a good day to ski Jay Peak, Quebec's eastern townships or Whiteface. Next order to the welding supplier I might order the shad 15 glasses!

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

Ah, yes! We think alike!

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

Awesome! What kind of camera did you use?

Just a compact camera at 600mm equivalent. Being able to manually control exposure matters more than the quality of the lens, in this situation.

Wow, great photo @Fluffy Kitty.

Thanks!

2024 in April, might be a good day to ski Jay Peak, Quebec's eastern townships or Whiteface. Next order to the welding supplier I might order the shad 15 glasses!

Oh, man… Diva East? I was so focused on photographing that I didn't entirely take in the experience. Planning ahead...

 

[geargrrl]

Well, wow is all I can say. It was wondrous, magical...
We went to a fire lookout in central oregon. My friend had scoped it out last year. The road was closed so she made sure to talk to the rangers for ADA access. One of our crew is terminally ill and has a placard; we we able to take a 4x4 to the top. This was very serious business, this permit.
Our friend who planned it is a seasoned eclpse chaser. This was #7 for her. So, we were at 7600' with a 360 view of the moutains. NASA had a guy there taking special photos - they had 60 sites across the US taking pictures for a montage to be published later.
Our friend guided us with what phenomena to look for and when; when to take glasses off, etc. We also had a few amatuer astronoers with really good scopes. Best part is we went up to the top at 5:45 to watch the sunrise, then spent the morning there. I was with a group of dear friends, many whom I haven't seen in years.

Oh, we got to camp in the new van, too. :-)

 

[geargrrl]

Oh, man… Diva East? I was so focused on photographing that I didn't entirely take in the experience. Planning ahead...

Our friend lectured us, to not try and take pictures and to just enjoy the experience. There are plenty of great photos taken by pros.

 

[Christy]

I asked my co-worker who went if he saw the shadow/shadow bands and he said no, I was too busy taking 700 photos of the sun. I too had heard put the camera down and just enjoy so that's why I left cameras at home. I did see the sweetest photo taken by my BIL on a phone of all things and you do see the "sunset" and fence line, and the sun in totality--that will be a nice souvenir and I'm a bit sorry I didn't try to take just one.

Best part is we went up to the top at 5:45 to watch the sunrise, then spent the morning there.

I have access to backcountry structures at Mt Rainier and I recently took advantage of that to stay in a fire lookout in a part of the park that doesn't see many visitors. The sunrise might have been the best part. I woke up at 4:30 or so and my head was level with the windows, so I opened my eyes and it looked like the horizon was on fire.

 

[geargrrl]

We also picked up the special USPS stamps and a first day cover cancellation.

 

[snowski/swimmouse]

I finally tracked down a sheet of the USPS stamps in Kankakee, IL the beginning of the month, wrote 19 notes to family and friends Sunday evening and then took them to our main post office in hopes an eclipse post mark.

 

[Fluffy Kitty]

Our friend lectured us, to not try and take pictures and to just enjoy the experience. There are plenty of great photos taken by pros.

I asked my co-worker who went if he saw the shadow/shadow bands and he said no, I was too busy taking 700 photos of the sun.

Of course, being a photo-gear-slut, I say what I really need are more cameras. (The dead camera was meant for landscapes and stuff, and I lost a lot of time trying to make something work, and I almost missed the diamond ring emerging at the end.)

I got pretty much all the shots I was hoping for, so, the next time, if I am lucky enough to be there, will be all about the experience.