Total Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017

I just booked my hotel for the night before & night after in western Nebraska... according to my research so far, that's the most likely place to find clear skies along the path of totality, plus easy roads east or west in case of a front moving through that day.

I can't WAIT!!!!!!!

Afterwards, maybe we'll make an actual vacation of it & go see Mount Rushmore & Devils Tower.... anything else of note in Montana/North & South Dakota?

http://eclipsophile.com/nebraska/

 

Devils tower is very cool

-jim

 

Prairie . . . lots of prairie.

Cheers,

Dave

 

Sherman fire up the wayback machine, take us back to ... 1991.
We rode motorcycles and camped for 35 days. San Diego to WSBK, at Brainard Minnesota, via Michigan.
On our way west, while out on the plains we were lucky enough to have Aurora Borealis ALL night. It started before total darkness, so we left the rain fly off. We dozed, and giggled about our awesome private light show. We were camped just east of the Missouri River, on seemingly endless grasslands. Perfect grass cushion for good sleeping.
Mt Rushmore is a must see. Sturgis is cool for the Scene. The Missouri river basin is spectacular in size and scope. Lots of neat Mom and Pop stores that you don't see in suburbia. Have a Buffalo burger.

 

Yeah, and not just the tower. Go over to the west side of the tower. Endless dirt roads, endless awesome.

 

That will be cool. I'm going to have to try and see this too!!

 

Hmmm, the 21st is a Monday. I wonder how it would look over the skies of Vegas or Phoenix?

 

Chimney rock/Scottsbluff is cool out there. Also the Theodore Roosevelt natl park in West ND is awesome.

Go protest that pipeline with the indians.

 

Similar obscuration at maximum in Phoenix. Not total like a swath all the way across the US.

Vegas:


Path of totality:

 

All I'll have to do is walk out the front door into totality.

 

I'm just north of the greatest eclipse point. Might have to take a day off work and go ride down.

 

Where is that total eclipse point? Bowling Green? I might take the day off and head that way too.

Back in the mid sixties when I was around 10 I read that the next total eclipse in Britain was going to be in 1999. I remembered that for years and come the time I took a day off work, got up at 3:30 and rode down the west of England to watch on the coast. Of course it was cloudy that day and I never got to see the moon pass across the sun but it was still quite an experience as it got dark, It is an odd sort or dark though, not really black but a sort of very dark grey and looking out to sea you could see a band of daylight on the horizon.

 

Me too. That blue line goes right over my house.

 

Hopkinsville.

 

One month to make your plans. I'm way more excited this than any adult oughta be.

 

No plans for me. Two minutes and thirty eight seconds of totallity at the house.

 

Why are you guys celebrating the end of the world? My religion guru us telling me it's all coming to an end at the exact moment the eclipse passes over you. He said as long as you stay out of it's totality path you are good though. So I got that going for me.

 

Ya'll stay home...Kentucky's full

 

Word around here (DC area) is I-95 and all major routes south will be completely jammed going toward South Carolina that weekend. You not only want to have a place to stay, but go early otherwise you might be watching a partial eclipse from your car in the middle of a traffic jam. I would love to see this, but no way am I taking a full weekend plus a vacation day to see it and fighting traffic the whole way. Actually if I really wanted to see it I would probably fly to the Midwest and rent a car.

The worst part is the traffic is going to mess with me getting to my track day at NCBike on the 19th and/or 20th. At least I will be going against traffic on my way home.

 

i'ma sit on the deck and celebrate 7 years with the wife in those few minutes