Who's Going to Watch the Eclipse?
 

This is the first, and likely the only, thread I will start before actually making the trip! For one, I am still unsure whether I will go somewhere to watch the event. I am curious if anyone else is going anywhere?

Without doing much research about "best" locations (too late for that anyway), I am planning to ride north east form the Atlanta area. Are any of you planning to be in that corridor? Would be nice to compare notes. Would love to see eclipse photos from those not in that area, but in the eclipse corridor.

Last, but definitely not the least, please wish me luck! Would hate to drive a few hours each way and then get stymied by the weather.

I have room tentatively booked in Bridgeton, MO (near STL) and hope to hook up with a friend who lives near STL to see the eclipse. No flight is yet booked as this is not a done deal and it is easier to cancel hotel rooms as opposed to flights. The weather forecast for the STL area looks "pretty" good at this point but it is still a week out so that could change. The weather, specifically cloud cover, will be a big factor as to whether or not the eclipse will be visible.

My friend and I are doing a quick flight to Kansas City (MCI) to watch the eclipse. It’s in the path of totality.

I'm going to western Idaho for hopefully the best chance of clear skies. Flying DUS-MAN-JFK-LAX-SAT/AUS-SEA/BOI-DEN-SAT-PHX-PHL-MAN-DUS. Spending a long weekend driving from Seattle down to Portland then through the mountains to Boise. May do a trip report on it all, not sure yet.

Great idea for a thread! I live northwest of Atlanta in Marietta. We will be staying home as we have a 95% of totality. Gathering with 4 of my grandchildren! Observed the total eclipse in 1984 and looking forward to the second (and last) one in our lifetime!
Enjoy!

The High School I teach at is in the area of totality. It is in an eastern suburb of Nashville. I think we will be outside for some period leading up to and then after the total eclipse. I would rather have it off and sit on my deck in shorts having a cold eclipse martini instead of making sure 35 teenagers don't stare at it without their glasses. Many school systems in the Nashville Metropolitan area are closing for the day, but our system has decided (so far) to remain open. Should be an interesting day.

I am really worried about the children (and adults). Coincidentally, I was at the same age when we had a total solar eclipse in India in the 1980s as DD is today. And just like where we live right now, we didn't have totality close to us back then either. But I don't think she's as knowledgeable about the eclipse as I was back then. Had my parents decided to take a trip to a region of totality, I would have jumped at the opportunity. My kids and DW are like 'meh'!! :-(

Don't know how teachers can control the kids and make sure they don't look at the sun. We'll be having the partial eclipse through dismissal time (and before and after). Knowing that it would be innate curiosity to look at the sun with naked eyes (I might have too, back when I was kid, but for the fact that we had a good cloud cover where I was living at), I don't know how folks will handle it! It would have been really nice if our school system had closed for the day as well.

You guys really need to step out into totality. It cannot be more than a couple of hours drive (under normal situations) away for you. All descriptions that I have come across have said that even 99% eclipse is no match for totality.

But yes, a cloud cover will definitely spoil the mood :-(

I got word from my friend fairly near STL that he is willing to get me and take me into the area of totality so we can watch the eclipse.
Air ticket booked. 19th August AA2462 LAX-DFW connecting with AA1010 DFW-STL. Flying out Saturday because a) I don't want to miss church and b) allow extra time if something happens with the flights.

Going to drive down to John Day in Eastern Oregon to catch the eclipse with the cremains of a friend who desperately want to see it with me... but couldn't make it.

After that I'm going to take him to Northern Nevada to visit 70,000 of my closest friends and family at a reunion.

Leave yourself plenty of time. WSDOT (Washington Dept of Trasportation) is predicting massive traffic problems on I-5. There is a section between Chehalis and Castle Rock (about 20 miles) that is only 2 lanes in each direction, and traffic on the southbound side sucks most of the time already. When you get to the border with Oregon, there are only 2 bridges across the Columbia River in the Portland metro area, and traffic across those is miserable most of the time, too.

Oregon is estimating somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million visitors on the 21st, with many of them coming down I-5 from Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia, and even Vancouver, BC. The rental car facilities at PDX are estimating that they will rent 17,000 cars in the 3 days surrounding the eclipse. Hotels in Clark County, WA (Vancouver) are projecting 95% capacity on Saturday, and 100 on Sunday and Monday.

The problem with getting anywhere in Oregon is that there are a very limited number of roads that go where you want to. For North/South, you pretty much have Hwy 101 on the coast, I-5 and Hwy 99 in the Willamette valley, Hwy 97 in west central Oregon, and Hwys 95 and 395 farther east. For the east/west, you have even fewer choices - pretty much limited to I-84 and Hwy 26 from Portland and Hwy 22 or 20 from Salem or Corvallis.

You might save a lot of time by taking I-90 east to Yakima, hooking down to the Tri-Cities on I-82, and picking up I-84 at Umatilla - and just avoiding the cluster that is the Portland/Vancouver area completely.

Long Story short, if I were serious about seeing it in person, I would be looking at flying to Eugene or Bend/Redmond or Boise and avoid driving completely.

I live in the Vancouver, WA area - and my plan is to stay home and wait for everyone to leave

I have a room in Knoxville, 8 hour drive from me, with a 6pm night-of cancellation deadline. Weather looks good and, though I've done two 8-hours-each-way r/t's driving the last 8 days, I think I'll probably still go. I'll be driving mostly through WV, so I'm hoping traffic isn't a problem on Sunday.

I'll be in Atlanta too, and waiting to decide which direction to head: northwest to North Central Tennessee or Southwestern Kentucky; or northeast to NE Georgia; or east to Central or Coastal South Carolina.

None are showing a "sunny" forecast at this point, but a forecast this far out is always tentative.

I'd appreciate any insights.

Yes
 

We will be at an event held at Oregon State University in Corvallis. It is a two day celebration of all things eclipse with a giant watch party. We are staying in the dorms and going to eclipse fun activities. The whole thing is sponsored by NASA. It should be fun.

Any bets on how long it will take us to make our way home to Portland? For bonus points I have to pick my mom up at PDX around 9:30 pm. Good times on I-5. Wish us luck.