That map looks a lot better today, presumably because of the rain that passed through. Of course, there's still a week to go...

The bolded sentence is incorrect. Look at the map at the link you provided. Salem is slightly *north* of the midpoint of the totality path.

On a separate note, no one in this thread has mentioned the possibility of flying into EUG. I'm sure rental cars (and possibly flights?) are booked solid there, too. But in most other respects it would be a decent option, as it's just as close to the path of totality as PDX.

Oregon's going to get a temporary 25% overall population boost into a fairly narrow band of the state. The roads are going to be at a standstill; my company in Portland has already given everyone permission to work from home that day. And, thanks to the risk of clouds in the valley, a good number of them are heading to central and eastern Oregon, where there's plenty of space but rarely roads with more than two lanes.

1 million more people can cause a big disaster. Think about the total population of Oregon...

Let's start with traffic. It could be, by leaps and bounds, the worst traffic Oregon (outside of Portland) has ever seen.

Then there's the overload of population. The temporary population of the greater Salem area could swell by some large multiplier factor, overwhelming local resources.

Because the event is in the sky, it's hard to predict a cap on how many people might come into the Salem area. It's not like a typical event where the seating in a stadium or the parking spaces at a state park would limit how many people can visit.

And with that many people, the traffic could be snarled not just in one direction but in every direction (especially if lots of people park illegally on small roads). Making it much harder for any emergency services that are needed to get where they need to go.

And then, if everyone's afraid of how overpacked Salem will be, they'll just spread out more and overwhelm a lot of tiny towns left and right too.

I was supposed to be flying from SEA to RDM Saturday afternoon (19th) but the flight was cancelled by Alaska a couple of weeks ago. The best solution we could find considering all flights to RDM were already sold out was re-booking onto an alternative flight to EUG at a similar time and then take a taxi to RDM to pick up the rental car (no other options really as rental cars are all fully booked throughout the area).

The taxi will cost about $300. Does anyone know Alaska's policy regarding compensation for this? I have sent them a message but no reply yet after two weeks. Feels bad being out of pocket for $300 through no fault of my own!

You should call AS to ask about this.

If I were you, I'd just drive. Better plan anyway, as the airports will be mad. That's not to say that the roads won't be mad, but most of us will be getting on those roads to drive to our vantage point, anyway!

Yep - I predict this is the most likely scenario. This is why I made back-up plans to drive to Madras and bought overnight parking and tickets to Solarfest.

Eclipse experts say that historically, long stretches of 2-lane highways can take 2-3 times the regular duration to travel during an eclipse. That means the drive to Madras from Portland could take 4-6 hours! Then there's people running out of gas, blocking the roads, cars overheating... :eek:

I'm praying for clear skies in the Salem area so I (and the rest of the 1,000,000 people with the central/eastern Oregon back-up plan) don't have to drive very far and can take back roads if push comes to shove. If not, I think the state will be crippled for an entire day...

Drive from where? Rental cars from SEA seem to be in the $1150 range for pickup on 8/19, return 8/22 :)

There's a bus from Eugene to Bend (just 15 miles south of RDM), but it appears to be sold out on 8/19 (surprise!).

Amtrak still sells tickets for $51 from Eugene to RDM (train to Chemult, 2 1/2 hr bus ride to RDM).

I wonder if there are car pool options from Eugene to central Oregon. Might be worth checking Craigslist before paying a cab $300. Scenic drive, though :)

Doesn't take a million people, just a few idiots ignoring the camp fire ban. Or someone pulling over their car to the side of the road and setting dry grass on fire. With roads clogged, fire engines won't get through, and there already are enough wildfires to keep the available firefighting aircraft busy.

Don't forget Uber :)

I didn't. :)

The Uber app told me that there is no Uber in Eugene (which surprised me because Redmond does have Uber). I was too lazy to check Lyft.

I highly doubt you would be able to even find a taxi.

Get a car rental from Seattle (Sixt still has availability from Seatac). Or, assuming you have a place to stay booked in redmond, use your Facebook to offer a friend a free night in exchange of their car services.

That's correct, and no Lyft either. Shut down since April 2015 by the cities of Eugene and Springfield.

Story is traffic jams started today in the rural areas. Madras was bumper to bumper most of today and there are rumors of prineville gas stations running out of gas. Many businesses are closing in PDX. The eclipse is cool - but not excited about the chaos.