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If you took part in the solar ecplise today, please share your experience.
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From serial eclipse chaser to first timer:
- Was it worth it?
- How much travel/cost/diffuculty was worth it?
- Is one time enough?
- etc.
I have not traveled much for natural phenomena. I have gone for the Northern Lights a few times, never seeing a big display.
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Drove down to Salem from a Holiday Inn Express in Southeast Portland last week. Drive down wasn’t bad, drive up averaged less than 10 mph. Great experience although I will probably stay in totality next time (in 2024). The most memorable part was going in and out of totality; the actual moment inside totality you can see tons of photos of. Videos do not capture going in and out justice.
Just returned from a trip with a public museum. That is absolutely the way to go. We had a half dozen astronomers with a variety of scopes. Saw sunspots being “eaten” by the shadow (much like pacman) because we could actually watch the shadow moving. Caught a huge solar flare leaping high in the air as pink lightening above the corona. The astronomer yelled to take our glasses off at just the right time to see the entire sun flash into a bright diamond ball just before totality. Another scope read the hydrogen and the sun became a gorgeous red… Read more »
Fontana Lake, North Carolina, on the border of Smoky Mountain National Park. Invited to friend’s family lake house for weekend, and had ~2 minutes of total darkness. Watched the whole eclipse from a float boat in the lake with great visibility. Seeing the corona, and a planet & some starts was amazing. Travel costs were only gasoline and buying & cooking ribs & sides for 8 people Saturday night. Normal 3 hours to travel up from Atlanta Saturday morning, but 5 hours to get home tonight, through north Georgia mountain town gridlock, which required extra corn nuts and Mt. Dew.… Read more »
I drove from Chicago to Princeton, KY for maximum Total Solar Eclipse. ~6 hours. Total eclipse time was roughly 2:30 seconds. Plan A: Shawnee National Forest was closed due to overcrowding Plan B: Stay at Walmart, but we moved on because the automatic lights and security light would turn on giving too much light pollution. Plan C: Small church in the middle of a corn field with some enthusiasts and local church people. The Total Eclipse was nothing like on TV you def have to see this yourself. I am already planning Luxor 2027. My country total is at 70… Read more »
I drove with my boyfriend and friend from Boulder, CO to Merrill, NE for the eclipse. We had 1:48 of totality there. It is normally about a 3 hour drive — took us 3:15 to get there and 4:30 to get back. We camped so costs were pretty minimal and it was absolutely worth it! I’m really looking forward to the 2024 eclipse now. I don’t think I would go overly out of my way to see an eclipse, but I would definitely drive 3-6 hours again to see another one.
I drove down to SC for the total eclipse…originally I had plans to make it a 3-day weekend with other exploring beyond the eclipse itself but work got in the way and it turned into running down & returning back the next day. Drive is normally 5.5 hours each way. Still en-route for the return drive but it’s now expected to be 10.5-11.
It was very cool for about 10 minutes (the time directly surrounding totality) but in my opinion, not worth the grand amount of effort. Likely a large frustration especially if the weather hadn’t cooperated.
partial eclipses are boring. total eclipses are amazing. this was my second, after a first in north queensland in 2012. no written description i’ve seen captures how cool it is. another will be returning to the US in 2024!
It was 90% in my hometown. Kind of cool but not worth a long trip to see. Maybe the total eclipse was better.