Solar eclipse: Excited or just "meh"?

I'm excited. In this age of being absorbed in your iPhone, CGI animated movies, rushing from place to place in a car it's really cool to be reminded of how awesome the natural world is and that there are things that are much bigger than us. It's like a connection across the ages.

We're driving to the path of totality (even that sounds crazy path of totality) and I can't wait to see the bird flocks, temperature swing, solar corona, and the 360 degree sunsets/sunrises. Taking a few minutes to stop and just experience something with a huge group of people is overwhelmingly cool. (I am not looking forward to the hours long gridlock or port a potties by sacrifices must be made haha)
 
@bcla @Cannot_Wait_4Disney geez!

Central Ohio, was eyeing Bowling Green, KY.

My mom has asked me not to go for safety reasons... & I'll admit, it does seem like a risky decision. It's just one of those things I feel like I'll regret missing.

You'll be on interstate 71 and Interstate 65 most of the way. Those roads are pretty good and Bowling Green has quite a bit of infrastructure that some rural areas do not. It is some of these rural towns that have one highway going through them that have events that will bring thousands in that will see some huge jams of traffic. Note that the north end of Bowling Green is not in the path of totality. But the city itself is. Several places in town have events scheduled.

https://www.visitbgky.com/eclipse/

One thing nobody can be sure of is exactly where people will choose to go. Will many stop in Bowling Green? Probably. But how many will stop there vs going further south toward the center line. I think you'll be relatively safe as long as you are not driving during the event itself. Again all the signs and even commercials are airing here that say don't pull over on the shoulder and don't stop but well you know people are going to do just that. OOOOOOOOO!! AHHHHHHH!! CRASH!!!!

And remember to fuel up long before you actually have to.
 
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I'm in the 96% area. The head of the Holcomb Observatory says you won't even notice it. No big deal.
 
You'll be on interstate 71 and Interstate 65 most of the way. Those roads are pretty good and Bowling Green has quite a bit of infrastructure that some rural areas do not. It is some of these rural towns that have one highway going through them that have events that will bring thousands in that will see some huge jams of traffic. Note that the north end of Bowling Green is not in the path of totality. But the city itself is. Several places in town have events scheduled.

https://www.visitbgky.com/eclipse/

One thing nobody can be sure of is exactly where people will choose to go. Will many stop in Bowling Green? Probably. But how many will stop there vs going further south toward the center line. I think you'll be relatively safe as long as you are not driving during the event itself. Again all the signs and even commercials are airing here that say don't pull over on the shoulder and don't stop but well you know people are going to do just that. OOOOOOOOO!! AHHHHHHH!! CRASH!!!!

And remember to fuel up long before you actually have to.
Well, I have glasses & took Monday off, so I'll decide soon! If I go I'll rent a car. Thanks for the tips and encouragement!
 


I'm excited because one of my siblings who lives overseas is coming to see it so I'll see him as he passes through. I'll be working on Monday so I won't even see the partial eclipse we'll get in NJ.
 
Our school has changed their minds about allowing students to be checked out early and having it be unexcused.

They just announced today that as long as a parent provides a note, you can pick up your kid between noon and 2pm and it'll be excused. I talked my daughter into letting me pick her up early - probably around 1pm. She'll be in her AP environmental science class at that time and the teacher has already said she wants as many students in her classes to see it as possible. So I'm guessing there won't be any homework in that class on Monday.

They still are keeping any students who aren't picked up by parents at school an extra hour.

My daughter is excited to see it.
 
People must be excited out here on the west coast. People were enduring 30 mile backups that was taking motorists 10 hours to get though in Madras and Prineville Oregon today. Saturday and Sunday are going to be even worse.
 
I'm excited. My house is a little over 2 miles from totality. I have joked that I can watch totality from my local Walmart parking lot! Ha! But there are also a number of conservation areas and at least 1 state park that's about 30 minutes driving (on a regular day) away. So I think I'll head south to one of those areas.
 
I'm excited enough to be traveling 7+ hours to see it, even though I'll only have to travel 2-ish hours for the next one. My girls are pretty excited too - DD15 decided this was better than being home to hang with friends on her 16th birthday (and oddly enough, the next one is just before DD9's "Sweet 16" - a superstitious person could probably find some meaning in that!). Older DD has been reading up on eclipse photography and is determined that this will be the year she finally wins grand champion at the fair. :rotfl:
 
This map will tell you how much totality you're experiencing, what time everything, begins, and so on.

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html

Thanks for the link! I'm up here in Maine where we'll only get about 55%, from what I can tell, but I'll be out there with my glasses on. I think this is majorly cool and wouldn't miss it!!

(Any idea on how to convert the time for Eastern Daylight Savings time? Normally I'd take UT and subtract 5 hours, but the whole daylight savings thing messes me up... should I subtract 6 hours, or 4 hours, from UT?)
 
Thanks for the link! I'm up here in Maine where we'll only get about 55%, from what I can tell, but I'll be out there with my glasses on. I think this is majorly cool and wouldn't miss it!!

(Any idea on how to convert the time for Eastern Daylight Savings time? Normally I'd take UT and subtract 5 hours, but the whole daylight savings thing messes me up... should I subtract 6 hours, or 4 hours, from UT?)

-4 for EDT (I said confidently and then second-guessed myself, but I'm 98% sure that's right)
 
Thanks for the link! I'm up here in Maine where we'll only get about 55%, from what I can tell, but I'll be out there with my glasses on. I think this is majorly cool and wouldn't miss it!!

(Any idea on how to convert the time for Eastern Daylight Savings time? Normally I'd take UT and subtract 5 hours, but the whole daylight savings thing messes me up... should I subtract 6 hours, or 4 hours, from UT?)

-4 for EDT (I said confidently and then second-guessed myself, but I'm 98% sure that's right)

Or try this link. https://eclipse-app.simulationcurriculum.com/spacedotcom-interactive.html#/38.73/-90.77/-0.03

It gives everything in local time.
 
We have a lot of friends in totality regions and they already have filling stations running dry and empty supermarket shelves. Here's a nightmare scenario I can imagine; what if people wake up to cloudy skies and everybody picks up and tries to drive to where it's clear? Thousands of people trying to drive on unfamiliar roads while looking at the sky.
 
Thanks for the link! I'm up here in Maine where we'll only get about 55%, from what I can tell, but I'll be out there with my glasses on. I think this is majorly cool and wouldn't miss it!!

(Any idea on how to convert the time for Eastern Daylight Savings time? Normally I'd take UT and subtract 5 hours, but the whole daylight savings thing messes me up... should I subtract 6 hours, or 4 hours, from UT?)

UTC=London time. So ask Siri or Cortana what time it is in London, look at the local time, and go from there. That's how I do it, lol.
 

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