August 2017 Solar Eclipse

Have some hotel reservations in Portland, OR and was planning on driving SE that morning to the other side of the mountains (for a better chance at clear skies), but I’ve been hearing preemptive horror stories about huge traffic pileups. I should have just got a hotel reservation in the path of totality a year or two ago, I suppose.

There are festivals in places like Madras, OR that still have camping spots available, but camping for two days in a field with thousands of other people is just not my jam.

Any advice from Oregonians on where I might try to drive to if I left before the crack of dawn?

Warm Springs / Madras are your best bets, but they are both expecting huge turnouts.

You might consider going out I-84 to the Dalles and going south on I-197 to Madras for a better drive. Hi-way 26 is going to be crazy.

You could try going south to Salem first, and then take 22/20/126 across to Redmond (then north towards Madras).

But, I bet that section will be packed too. Best bet is probably just to figure out where ever you want to go and go early. Bunch of people are heading out to the state parks I hear, Painted Hills, Smith Rock, etc. so those roads will be bad too (much like 26).

I’m worried about getting from Portland to Salem in 2 hours.

In Cary, NC and contemplating where (or if) to go. Could go west on I-40 and see it in western NC or go south into SC. Worried the traffic will be terrible. Maybe I’ll just stay put for the nearly total eclipse.

We have had a hotel room in Lincoln City booked for two years now. Really hoping it’s going to be clear. If not, plan is to hit the road early and drive east. But I hadn’t thought about traffic being insane. So I guess we will head out VERY early if it’s looking to be cloudy that day.

Yeah, that marine layer might be your undoing, but it’s August so you never know. I think you stand a pretty good chance of clear skies. If you’ve got low clouds/fog at the beach, a lot of times you can just head a few minutes down the road and have clear skies.

If it is clear for you, I imagine being on the beach for the eclipse will be spectacular.

Also, Lincoln City has a great beach :)

Was surprised last weekend to find more or less normally priced hotel rooms still available in and around Nashville.

I bought tickets to travel down to the fairground in Salem, OR from Portland to view the Eclipse.

I just received this email this morning from the organizer (OMSI)

The current estimated drive-time from Portland to Salem on Monday morning is 6 hours. It may also take 1-2 hours to travel from the freeway exit to the fairgrounds.

Ug.

That’s why I booked a hotel in the eclipse path for Sunday night. I still expect a travel headache, and I don’t hold out any hope for being able to do anything interesting in Nashville Sunday afternoon/evening. And then there’s getting home…

As Armando becomes increasingly concerned with his drive back from GenCon that coincidentally overlaps the eclipse insanity.

So what’s a good place to get good eclipse glasses? I don’t want to find out the day of that I bought some useless junk!

I just bought some well reviewed 3 pack from amazon that weren’t cardboard.

See here: Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers | Solar Eclipse Across America

But be very careful on Amazon - you’ll find a listing for “American Paper Optics” and 3/4 of the sellers are chinese junk. (read the reviews). You need to read the reviews & find out which of the sellers are actually reputable and buy from them.

Or buy from the websites of the companies directly instead of going through Amazon.

EDIT: Basically you look for the appropriate CE mark. Also based on some comments I read, you can buy the same glasses (certified) at some Lowes locations. Here is what I bought because I want to view them with my sunglasses.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KDGJ22I/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

B&H has a whole section devoted to Eclipse paraphernalia

I’m really hoping the freaked out articles predicting chaos and anarchy in Oregon are going to turn out to be Y2K-level panic over nothing.

I think they’ve managed to scare me away. Had reservations in Portland and was going to drive into the path of totality early that morning, but now I think I might just stay up here, laze about, and enjoy a very partial eclipse.

Well shitty roads combined with 2-3x population from Washington & California and you can see why they are panicking. I’m expecting armageddon level traffic jams starting at 11am Monday and hence why I’m staying camping out in Eastern Oregon until Tuesday. AND I’m carrying an extra 15 gallons of gas.

I am officially off and going myself. Not to Oregon, but either St Louis or Carbondale, depending on the weather reports.

Traffic be damned.

And I am taking my son. He is only 3.5, but this should be a day to remember for him, and I intend to make it so.

For myself the straight line closest Eclipse watching point (and why does iOS cap Eclipse?) is somewhere between Grand Island and Beatrice Nebraska. Whatever those are/

I will be finishing a 70-mile hike through Gannett Peak and Dinwoody Glacier the day before the eclipse. I’m hoping to camp in my Jeep eve of the blasted thing, wake up super early, and check weather conditions. If it’s trash, I’ll be on deserted roads and able to quickly travel in the basic line of totality to a better spot.

Going to head back toward Denver after it’s over and meet some friends who are watching it in Casper. They’re driving all the way from Texas.