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Did you watch the eclipse?


Kirk W

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Just wondering how many here watched the eclipse and if so, from where? We were at base here in east TX and so only had about a 70% or so but it was interesting and the sunlight did dim and the temperature dropped. It would have been interesting to have been at one of the totality sites, but that just wasn't to be for us, this time.  But if you didn't get to see it, don't give up!

Start planning for the next one in 2024

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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I'm camped on BLM land about 20 miles west of Casper, WY.  Casper is on the centerline of totality and they expected huge crowds.  Some reports are saying WY doubled in population today.

BLM opened the land around the Goldeneye reservoir to overflow camping and there were 100 RVs and people in tents set up here.

As the eclipse approached, I decided to drive back into town to watch the circus.

There were people sitting in lawn chairs in just about every green space.  I stayed clear of the major crowds and watched the eclipse from a Burger King parking lot while eating lunch there.

Road traffic dropped to zero as totality approached.  As the light dimmed, flocks of birds took off and began heading for their nighttime roosts, only to return a few minutes later when the sun returned.

The temperature did drop 10-20 degrees as the sun disappeared and the light dimmed into twilight.  There were a few wispy clouds overhead and a brown tinge at the horizon from the Canadian fires so the sky didn't go black but Saturn (I think) was visible directly overhead.

As soon as totality was over traffic returned with a vengence.

As I was driving back to the RV I went past the Casper Airport and saw a steady line of cars going there, so I followed.  They had about 100 private jets land this morning, and a half hour after totality there were about 5-10 jets lined up and waiting to take off.  I suspect they will be busy all day.

I'm staying put tonight and may leave tomorrow, depending on how things look then.

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Here in North central Illinois , we were suppose to have experienced about a 98% eclipse . 

Reality : we didn't notice a difference . It was cloud covered , but I would have thought that light should have at least dimmed . 

Nothing ... 

Goes around , comes around .

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We were supposed to be in Shoshoni, WY for the eclipse where we had space on a private farm to stay, but we got stuck in TN waiting on a motorcycle that isn't ready. We had been staying just outside Crossville, TN before the weekend thinking we'd long be on the road. Once we realized we weren't leaving town I didn't know what we were going to do as the camground we were in was booked solid and I assumed most other campsites in this area were because it was in a toltality. area. We actually lucked out and found a spot at Twin Lakes Catfish Farms in Cookville, TN and so we got to watch it in lawn chairs right behind our RV without fighting any crowds or anything. It was definitely very cool to see toltality and I have much better understanding of why even say 98% just isn't the same. It was amazing to see just how much light still came through with just a little sliver of sun left, and then bam, goes dark and then light again. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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We caught the Eclipse today... Wonderful experience!   We had planned on driving from our RV Park in the Black Hills to a Farm spot outside of Alliance, NE, where we had reservations.   But the weather forecast this morning at 4:00 AM had a 'mostly cloudy' situation there... so we shifted our drive to the West hoping to find a 'spot on the road' somewhere... and we did on US Hwy 85 about 20 miles south of Lusk, WY.   The sky was clear, and we were very close to the center of the Totality     Not a cloud in the sky... long totality... and reasonable traffic with smaller crowds.   It was great!

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Pat and Pete, the Weather Channel was set up and hyping the eclipse in Carbondale, IL. at Southern Illinois Univ. at Saluki Stadium because supposedly the "totality was going to be the longest time in the U.S." I had enough of the "talking heads" quickly and hit the Off button. 

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3 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

I wonder how folks liked the aftermath?

Kirk, I know you know the area around Hot Springs, SD... and I have to say, our trip back from Lusk to Hart Ranch was non-eventful.    Traveling north on Hwy 85 thru Lusk was the longest part, then thru Mule Junction...thru Edgemont... over to Hot Springs... was normal traffic speeds, albeit, lots of traffic.

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That picture looks like it was taken only a few miles to the south of Douglas, WY on I25. I have traveled that many times, but not recently. With I25 leading to Denver and south  I'd bet that a lot of those vehicles had Colo. license plates. 

5 hours ago, jlapeer said:

Traveling north on Hwy 85 thru Lusk was the longest part, then thru Mule Junction...thru Edgemont... over to Hot Springs... was normal traffic speeds, albeit, lots of traffic.

I am not surprised about that as I'd expect that most of that traffic was the tourists from the Black Hills area. We went that route when we left Hot Springs back in 2014 as we stopped to visit old friends in Cheyenne and Loveland on our way back to TX. Lusk is far enough from the interstate highways to probably avoid much of the crowding. I imagine Douglas was packed. I have spent many nights in the city park campgrounds of both Lusk and Douglas. 

But when the next one comes in 2024, we can view it in totality from our own TX home-base! 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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We watched the eclipse multiple times with complete eye safety here in upstate NY using the video feeds from various totality locations coast to coast supplied by NASA via satellite. The 65% coverage overhead here barely dimmed the sun at all though, about the same as a thin cloud cover. Looking forward to 2024 when this location will be at the edge of the totality path...

Dutch
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2 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

That picture looks like it was taken only a few miles to the south of Douglas, WY on I25. I have traveled that many times, but not recently. With I25 leading to Denver and south  I'd bet that a lot of those vehicles had Colo. license plates. 

I am not surprised about that as I'd expect that most of that traffic was the tourists from the Black Hills area. We went that route when we left Hot Springs back in 2014 as we stopped to visit old friends in Cheyenne and Loveland on our way back to TX. Lusk is far enough from the interstate highways to probably avoid much of the crowding. I imagine Douglas was packed. I have spent many nights in the city park campgrounds of both Lusk and Douglas. 

But when the next one comes in 2024, we can view it in totality from our own TX home-base! 

Yea, we figured I-25 would be saturated with Colorado folks... and Douglas would be on that path.   So, when we decided to use 'Plan B" instead of Alliance, we selected Lusk... where we had found the "center totality line" about 20 miles south of Lusk on a NASA map , and left early to get there.   "Plan B" worked extremely well for us!   We liked the idea of Douglas, because like you, we had spent some City Park time there and have come to like the little town - but awareness of likely I-25 traffic kept us away.

As for 2024... we might just be back at our Thousand Trails Park at Lake Tawakoni, TX - After this first "Full Eclipse" experience... we sure would like a repeat! 

 

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Saw it just northwest of Reserve Kansas, about a mile south of of the Neaska/Kansas border.    US 159 and US 73 run concouantly there.  Jack Rabbit Road is gravel and was packed with cars.  There was just enough asphalt open northbound for us to park the Damon pusher.

 

I'm just back in Minnesota and am starting to get organized and will find out later how good any of my pix are.  We had clouds sot so a perfect corona shot like the one above from Vonore TN did not happen.  

pethier, interested in toyhaulers for 13-foot car

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I am in Saint Paul.  

On 8/22/2017 at 9:53 AM, Kirk Wood said:

I wonder how folks liked the aftermath?

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Crazy for us.  We hung around our spot in Rural Reserve Kansas and had lunch.  After the partial eclipse ended (sure, it was clear THEN) we hit the bricks.  The plan was to take the Damon pusher to a reserved site at the West Des Moines KOA in Adel Iowa, where we had stayed in a rented Coachmen Freelander in 2009.  North on gravel Jack Rabbit Road, west on Gravel 702 Road, which is the state line with Nebraska.  North on US-73 through Falls City.  

 

We were planning on crossing the Missouri River on US-136.  We got stopped cold in the middle of nowhere.  Huge backup.  Escaped west on a gravel road and went north on 67.  Reached US-136 to discover the eastbound lane stopped cold.  Went west on 136 and followed 67 north into Peru.  

 

Phone traffic reports showed a huge redline backup on 75 northbound which stood between us and getting on higway 2 to cross the Missouri River and get to 29.  We had to find a way to reach 2 east of the backup.  I-Phone showed that there were roads that connected, so off we went north out of Peru, starting with Bluff Drive and taking anything north which appeared to connect. Here I was driving a 34-foot pusher at 45 mph on narrow gravel roads with my wife's 87-year-old mother convinced were hopelessly lost.  We finally came up 67th Road and tapped into the asphalt entry road to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Valmont Drive.  Bingo. 

 

Right turn on 2 and we were across the Missouri River into Iowa.  North on I-29 and I was feeling Home Free.  I wanted to get as much ground covered while it was still light, but my wife wanted to stop for dinner, so we stopped at a great little place on I-80.  Had a nice conversation with some fivers who were camped there after viewing the eclipse in Alliance, (I think) where it was clear.  It was getting dark.  That's when I discovered that my taillights were not working.  Went to the truck stop and bought lots of red reflective tape.  All we needed to do was get to Adel and our waiting reservation. 

 

As we got on I-80, the traffic was heavy in the pitch dark.  Then the sky opened up with torrential rain.  There is a parking-only rest stop between Avoca and Walnut.  We drove in to find the access road filled with cars, trucks and RV.  Squeaked through them to the back lot.   Boondocked all night.  We were not alone.

 

 

 

pethier, interested in toyhaulers for 13-foot car

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pethier, interested in toyhaulers for 13-foot car

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I can confirm the ridiculous amount of out of state plates in Wyoming.  And yes, a lot from Colorado. Casper was crazy. I drove doen Sunday and stayed with a friend so I had a very quiet view from their backyard and then chilled in the bed of truck on a quiet street as we saw totality. I must admit it was a lot cooler than I thought it would be and was definitely worth taking the time to drive down.

Based on the calculations of Hwy reports Wyoming's population closed in on tripling our normal 750,000 people. I have never seen traffic like that in Wyoming...our infrastructure just isn't build for that many people and cars. I think only 1 in every 10 license plates I saw on the road was from Wyoming. Glad to say it is back to normal now, mostly.

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This was the first eclipse we have taken photos of. Took mid-day Sun shots a few days before the eclipse, to learn about taking photos with the solar filter, then hoped for clear sky during the eclipse.

Purchased solar film and a UV filter. Cut out solar film to fit inside of the UV filter and held on camera lens by hand, except during totality. Canon Powershot used with a 6' step ladder as a stand to rest the camera on.

IMG_0382-M.jpg

i-cp4fP9M-M.jpg

Solar filter placed on lens:

i-j6kQTgG-M.jpg

Bill

Oliver TT

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