Eclipse 2017

[1911]

I'm a little late to the party as far as getting a grip on how big a deal this is.

We are in totality.

And, we've got a BIG front yard. I wonder if I can make a buck or two by getting a few portajons and and renting out camping space in the front yard?

Or maybe watching it from the Cherohala Skyway would be more fun

 

[escapefjrtist]

Co-pilot and I are taking this in, except opting for 4wheels and A/C on the trip. Booked a hotel about four hours out...we'll see how bad traffic is!

--G&J

 

[FJRay]

The locals dot folks are saying the usual 45 minute drive from Bend to Madras is going to be up 6 hours. I plan on staying far away from the crowds. I'll watch from my backyard.

 

[RossKean]

I was just checking the interactive Eclipse Map and realized that the times given are all in UT (or UTC) - should have been obvious but didn't consider it while planning. I was thinking about watching the eclipse from somewhere in western Nebraska or eastern Wyoming so Mountain Daylight Time is UT - 6hr. Maximum Eclipse is given as 17:50 so local time would be 11:50 (just before noon, not suppertime)!.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Heading South about 150 miles, will park along the road and watch some cows and antelope to see their reaction. Glasses came yesterday.

 

[Ignacio]

I've settled on my hidey-hole in the area of John Day, OR and going to practice dispersed camping starting Saturday afternoon. Viewing location is at 7500' and should be above most of the smoke infesting the region. It's not a road that I would take my FJR up, but taking the old man so we're 4wd'ing it in the 4 Runner.

Then Monday after the event we've got two or three roads we can choose to come back home on.

 

[MajBach]

I'm pitching a tent along the side of hwy 20 just east of Shoshoni, WY. Should be interesting.

Surprisingly there still are vacancies on Airbnb and Booking... Cheapest one started at $2200.

 

[Goodman4]

I live in Eclipseville which is what they've been marketing Hopkinsville, KY as for the last two years. We are supposedly the town with the longest totality, but I think Carbondale, IL is claiming that too. I lived in Carbondale before we moved here so I think the eclipse is following me. Our town expected hundreds of thousands here but it has been pretty light so far so I'm not expecting the total madness they predicted. I should have 2:40 of totality in my back yard, so that's where I will be tomorrow.

Ride safe for those of you headed for a view on your bike.

 

[Bugnatr]

Wasn't going to bother going anywhere with a little over 80 % here but Lakeview Oregon is over 94%. Humm .... If leave at 4 am I could be up to Lakeview by 9. Forecast has some patchy smoke but that may be enough not to need the viewing glasses I don't have. I could bring my welding helmet.

 

[MajBach]

From what I've read, the difference between 80% and 99% is negligible but the difference between 99 and 100% is night and day

 

[sapest]

Settled in Baker City, waiting for the 'event'. Very little smoke here.

The Subway in Milton-Freewater ran out of bottled water at lunch time.

The McDonalds down the street here in Baker City has a 40' reefer sitting in the parking lot acting as a spare freezer, surrounded by porta potties. They are ready for tomorrow.

-Steve

 

[RichDoyle]

The smoke won't matter much. Looking up through it has a minor effect in most spots. I flew to Spokane and back to Prineville today. No real impact from smoke to the overhead sky, or even horizontally. Visibility was 25 miles at least.

 

[ndivita]

Kansas City MO report. It dimmed to where it looked like it was about 8:15 at night. Outside lights kicked on. Lasted two minutes. Pretty strange and interesting. Getting light again. That is all. Lots of hooting and hollering across the street at the park. I suspect there will be a rash of solar retinopathy cases in the next several days.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Move along...nothing to see here. We did get to go outside for 15 minutes, and we all got ice cream.

 

[Goodman4]

Well that was pretty cool. MajBach was right. The eclipse was neat to watch with the glasses but when it went total for over 2.5 minutes it was really amazing. I got some great shots but it apparently takes more skills than this IT pro has to post a picture on an Internet forum anymore. That's a slam on photobucket not the forum.

We rode around Eclipseville on the FJR to see all the campers in the tent cities yesterday and today about an hour before the eclipse. I don't think we had nearly as many as they expected but still a big crowd.

 

[DesignFlaw06]

Note to self for 2024: Stop looking and then pull the glasses off.

 

[TomInPA]

My daughter and son in law got the pic of the day from Idaho.

 

[drc32-0]

Well that was pretty cool. MajBach was right. The eclipse was neat to watch with the glasses but when it went total for over 2.5 minutes it was really amazing. I got some great shots but it apparently takes more skills than this IT pro has to post a picture on an Internet forum anymore. That's a slam on photobucket not the forum.
We rode around Eclipseville on the FJR to see all the campers in the tent cities yesterday and today about an hour before the eclipse. I don't think we had nearly as many as they expected but still a big crowd.

I was right down the road from you outside of Franklin.All the difference in the word between 99% and100%.At 99 it's still daylight and you can't look at the sun without glasses.At 100% it's dark,it cools down and you can put the glasses away and look directly at the sun.Pretty cool.65 north is a parking lot right now.

 

[Goodman4]

Thanks to Mount Rainier and Firefox for the pic assist. Here are my pics:

 

[Pterodactyl]

Much ado about very little in my opinion. I was changing tires for a friend and missed it. But there will be film at 6:00.