Author Topic: Eclipse Chasers 2017  (Read 36293 times)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #100 on: August 15, 2017, 12:57:54 PM »
Oregon update. Smoke issues have been clearing up a bit, so I'm cautiously optimistic. Forecast looks good as far as I've seen.

homestead neohio

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #101 on: August 16, 2017, 07:51:16 AM »
We are keeping a few options in KY and TN open and will decide on Sunday where we'll land for the attempted viewing.  We'll go where the sky is more likely to be clear.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #102 on: August 16, 2017, 08:29:09 AM »
I wish I was making plans to see it in totality, but we are getting over 90% here, so that's cooler than the one I remember as a kid.

My office is having a viewing party, so I get time off work and a goodie bag of eclipse themed food.

iris lily

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #103 on: August 16, 2017, 08:50:55 AM »

After hearing about the hundreds of  thousands of  of people flocking to my part of the world, I have decided to stay home and view the 99% sight rather than fight the crowds on back roads in rural MO to see the entire shebang.

robartsd

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #104 on: August 16, 2017, 09:22:17 AM »
We have a nice little spot outside Ketchum, ID right now and in case someone is here in the area and would like to join us, we would not mind sharing our site, especially with other forumites!
There's space for another small to medium sized camper and a tent. PM me if you'd like details, picture, coordinates!
1:50 of totality for this eclipse is pretty good - that's what, 75% of the time that you would get if you moved ~20 miles to get to the centerline in your area? As you get close to the fringes, the surface features of the moon make the precise times for the start and stop times of totality very difficult to predict, so I would move closer to the centerline if I was only a few miles inside the path.

BC_Goldman

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #105 on: August 16, 2017, 01:05:20 PM »
Looks like I'm probably heading to the Paducah area again. As others have said, east isn't looking good so that rules out staying at my sister's near Columbia. Anyone from the Philly area heading down? Everyone I was talking to about going has bailed so right now I'm looking at a solo drive down Sunday into the night, sleep in the car somewhere, see the eclipse on Mon and drive back again afterwards. Sounds fun with people but brutal alone.

BC_Goldman

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #106 on: August 20, 2017, 10:05:45 PM »
Well, my trip has had an unexpected twist. I'm hanging out in WV with a blown tire and bent rim from an epic pothole I hit while trying to find a gas station. I'll be here overnight until the tire place opens in the morning. Now that the initial panic over being stuck in the middle of nowhere has worn off, I'm going to treat this as another adventure.

I was cruising nicely along I-68 and had just crossed into WV (about 300 miles out of 868 completed) when I decided I should stop for my first fill up since leaving home. Exit was coming up and had a gas sign so I got off and turned right like the sign said. Drove a half mile with nothing in sight so I decided to turn around in another mile or so if I didn't see anything. Right around the time I was going to turn around I came upon the mother of all potholes and didn't react fast enough. Bang went the tire! I pulled into a nearby driveway and saw the rim was bent as well. Somebody saw me and a guy came out to give me a hand putting on the donut and gave me directions to the tire place. Turns out the gas station was right near the exit but was closed and I didn't see it in the dark.

I started off but pulled over pretty quick cause something didn't feel right. Donut tire pressure was low so I pulled out my cheapo tire pump to beef it up a little. While I was doing that, another guy came by in his car to check on me. Turns out this pothole has been responsible for the destruction of a good 30 tires in the last couple weeks. One poor guy lost both tires on the passenger side! Donut is no help in that case. Finally got the pressure over 20 and knew there was no way the pump would get it much farther. I thanked the guy for hanging out with me and got back in my car only to discover the battery was too weak to start the car. So I had to chase after the guy before he drove off. He gave me a jump and I asked him to follow me to the place just in case I had any issues. A half mile down the road and I suddenly was having problems with no power. Standing on the gas and was still losing speed. Slightly panicked, I pulled over again and we looked for any obvious damage. Nothing.

Started driving again and soon had the same problem. I was also getting a low traction warning and finally realized the problem was probably the fact that I was running on an underinflated donut. The donut was probably slipping which was causing the low traction warning and the car was cutting power to compensate. I babied the throttle after that and didn't really have any trouble after that.

By the time we got to the other rest stop the panic was mostly subsided. Now I'm sitting here in an late-night diner typing this missive to you on my phone. Thankfully they have Wi-Fi here because I have no cell reception to call anyone if I needed to. And I don't have a data plan so no Wi-Fi would have been awful. You don't realize how much you rely on phone and internet until you don't have it!

So now I have at least 7 hours to kill before the tire place opens. Hopefully they have everything to get me back on the road.

Sadly, it will most likely be too late for me to see the eclipse. I might be able to head south and get within the path of totality. If that happens, I might get lucky and be clear of the weather to the east that kept me from going to SC.

Whatever happens, I'll be looking forward to the 2024 eclipse!

geekette

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #107 on: August 20, 2017, 10:58:51 PM »
Wow, that sucks! 

Good for you, considering it an adventure. I hope you get back on the road quickly in the morning.

We bailed on our hastily planned trip. Too many hours on the road, traffic warnings, iffy weather, and neither of my travel companions actually wanted to go this AM. 93% will have to do this time and I'll plan better in 2024.

markbike528CBX

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #108 on: August 20, 2017, 11:05:22 PM »
loading up and panicking about the unkown things we might have forgotten.

LeRainDrop

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #109 on: August 20, 2017, 11:10:12 PM »
Oh man, BC_Goodman, what a bummer!  It sure is a good story, though, and I'm glad you're able to keep a good attitude about it all.

BC_Goldman

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #110 on: August 21, 2017, 03:38:32 AM »
Really glad I thought to bring a blanket on the trip. Been dozing in the car for the last few hours. Looking at maps I don't think it will be possible to make it to a point of totallity in time so I will probably head for home. Might be able to make it before the partial arrives.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #111 on: August 21, 2017, 07:12:28 AM »
Well, we were only getting a partial here (92% apparently)- but the sun has been blotted from the sky early.

We have a gray sky of thunderstorms and are expected to all day.

DarkandStormy

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #112 on: August 21, 2017, 02:28:18 PM »
Saw it in a 86% zone - clouds muddled it up a bit, but cleared at the time it was 86%.

Who's ready for 2024?? Assuming we don't move, we'll be in the path of totality!

markbike528CBX

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #113 on: August 21, 2017, 03:59:17 PM »
Perfect weather near Spray, Oregon.   1st eclipse for me, Mom and DW.  No real traffic problems.

geekette

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #114 on: August 21, 2017, 04:08:05 PM »
We got to 93% here, and our deck, which is usually hot as blazes, was quite tolerable. I kept thinking I had sunglasses on, since it was oddly dim. Teeny tiny crescents scattered the tree shaded part of the deck.

I hope we can plan ahead better and catch 2024.

FrugalZony

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #115 on: August 21, 2017, 04:29:06 PM »

BC_Goldman, sorry to hear about your experience!
Hope you got everything settled and still were able to see something somewhere!


We stayed put as planned and had a great time.
A ton of cars came our way, earlier this morning, some stayed, many drove further north.
We watched them all drive back after the eclipse.


It was so nice to just go out with our coffeemugs, watch the thing, then come back in and
make a nice brunch.


Bracken_Joy

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #116 on: August 21, 2017, 05:06:53 PM »
Well, that was pretty damn incredible. Totality was really awesome. I'm pretty sure if I had only seen a partial, I would have been severely underwhelmed overall though.

wordnerd

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #117 on: August 21, 2017, 05:46:38 PM »
Well, that was pretty damn incredible. Totality was really awesome. I'm pretty sure if I had only seen a partial, I would have been severely underwhelmed overall though.

Totally agree! So glad we drove the extra couple of hours for the totality.

lizzzi

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #118 on: August 21, 2017, 05:56:55 PM »
Really glad I thought to bring a blanket on the trip. Been dozing in the car for the last few hours. Looking at maps I don't think it will be possible to make it to a point of totallity in time so I will probably head for home. Might be able to make it before the partial arrives.

Let us know how the rest of your trip went, BC. Hope you are back home and all is well.

Optimiser

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #119 on: August 21, 2017, 06:14:59 PM »
Totality was amazing. The temperature drop. The weirdly dim light. The starts. The birds chirping. And then THE SUN'S CORONA! Wow, way cooler than I anticipated!

Telecaster

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #120 on: August 21, 2017, 06:28:04 PM »
And then THE SUN'S CORONA! Wow, way cooler than I anticipated!

I know!  Seeing the corona was....wow!  I knew it would be cool, but it was cooler than I ever imagined.  Plus the 360 degree sunset, the shadow bands, the diamond ring,....the whole thing.  That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. 

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #121 on: August 21, 2017, 06:33:26 PM »
And then THE SUN'S CORONA! Wow, way cooler than I anticipated!

I know!  Seeing the corona was....wow!  I knew it would be cool, but it was cooler than I ever imagined.  Plus the 360 degree sunset, the shadow bands, the diamond ring,....the whole thing.  That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Yeah, that was the part where I was thinking "there is NO WAY pictures adequately captured this". The crazy thing is everyone I was viewing with saw it as a different color. It looked very white/silver to me, very yellow to my husband, very red to my mom, etc.

AccidentialMustache

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #122 on: August 21, 2017, 07:44:09 PM »
9 hrs driving.
1 hr pit stops (DS needed to pee a lot)
2 hr eclipse
<2 min totality

100% worth it. Left just after 7 am, got back just before 7pm. There were some annoying upper level clouds, but at least the midwest summer storm clouds held off. Looking forward to 2024, especially since it'll be a wider band/longer duration.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #123 on: August 22, 2017, 06:15:56 AM »
It was cloudy where we were. Not for the whole day. Only for about an hour before the eclipse until an hour afterward :(

We got glimpses of the sun at about 98% occlusion, but we didn't get to see totality at all. It was still amazing, getting dark for two and a half minutes and a 360* sunset at the top of a mountain...but...damn. I'd been planning this for months. It's hard to savor what we did experience, knowing how much we missed. Guess I'll start planning my trip to Texas in 2024.

LateToTheParty

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #124 on: August 22, 2017, 06:19:09 AM »
Agree. Totally amazing, absolutely worth the effort to travel into the path of totality in OR. Will probably eclipse chase in 2024.

Livingthedream55

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #125 on: August 22, 2017, 06:35:13 AM »
I would like to get advice from you experts on how to best prepare for 2024. I live in Boston so could easily go to Vermont, Maine? I'll be many years into FIRE by then so will have all the time in the world!

Lessons learned? Advice? I'd prefer to stay somewhere and not face traffic immediately before or after totality.

How early should I begin planning? Two years out (to secure accommodation somewhere)?

Thanks in advance!!

AccidentialMustache

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #126 on: August 22, 2017, 07:07:05 AM »
Hotels will sell out in the 3 year range, possibly +- 1 year depending on circumstances. The good news is 2024 is a much longer eclipse (4 min near max) and much wider (130 miles, not 70 miles) so it'll cover a lot more hotels naturally. The bad news is it ignores the western US (if you live there) and that they may come to visit the eastern US (if you live there).

For us, getting off the beaten path was key to getting there in time. Out cells were out of service, but our (fairly bad all other things considered) in-car nav system worked fine, so we hit unmarked 55 mph back roads and started beating the interstate traffic substantially. We should have done that about 10-20 miles earlier.

DW said campgrounds w/showers were still available down to a few weeks beforehand, but it is worth noting that is through Shawnee national forest (which is huge). Your local national parks may vary.

For the best chance to see it you should be willing to deal with traffic, because you need to be ready to drive out from under clouds. It'll be about 1:30 pm for me in IL/IN when it happens, and I figure a 3-4.5 hr drive to see it isn't unreasonable. Does the path intersect you by that distance? Keep in mind traffic and general snafu means you should only be looking at a 2-3 hr drive and adding 50% for traffic.

Gone Fishing

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #127 on: August 22, 2017, 07:36:16 AM »
We got very lucky and saw totality through a break in the clouds.  Lightning was flashing about and a thunderstorm rolled through shortly after.

Hash Brown

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #128 on: August 22, 2017, 09:04:00 AM »
I have an appointment to see an eye doctor tomorrow.  Definitely had at least temporary eye damage from what were probably faulty glasses.  I had sort-of night blindness on Monday night and woke up this morning with everything looking like I was looking through pink cellophane.  I had a hard time reading my neighbor's address.  There was an overall loss of contrast and a shift to peach/pink and maybe blue/cyan. 

Luckily by about 10am it seems to have mostly cleared up and hopefully I'll recover all the way.  It was very scary there for a bit. 

Livingthedream55

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #129 on: August 22, 2017, 09:42:50 AM »
I have an appointment to see an eye doctor tomorrow.  Definitely had at least temporary eye damage from what were probably faulty glasses.  I had sort-of night blindness on Monday night and woke up this morning with everything looking like I was looking through pink cellophane.  I had a hard time reading my neighbor's address.  There was an overall loss of contrast and a shift to peach/pink and maybe blue/cyan. 

Luckily by about 10am it seems to have mostly cleared up and hopefully I'll recover all the way.  It was very scary there for a bit.

Scary indeed! Please keep us posted!!!  Hope you learn all is well!

GuitarBrian

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #130 on: August 22, 2017, 11:56:19 AM »
I was all set to drive about 3 hours north to Wyoming with my parents. Then my Mom said she didn't want to go... So I almost didn't go. But at 10pm Dad and I drove up. No traffic at all. We were heading for Medicine Bow National Forest, but at 3am, 10 miles before the National Forest, we found a level spot beside the dirt road. Parked the camper and went to bed. I didn't know exactly what hour the eclipse would be, the times I had were in UTC. So I set my alarm for 9am.

We got up, had breakfast, and started checking if it was starting. We couldn't find glasses (didn't plan ahead :/) So I stacked 5 pairs of dark 100%UV sunglasses, and we just quickly glanced at the sun, very quickly. At 10:30 it was beginning!

About 100 yards away were the only other people we shared eclipse with. They were a family related to the ranch hand on the ranch we were parked on. Very nice family, and they gave us a pair of glasses :)

We had 0 clouds, it was completely clear. I was blown away by the totality. Amazing. Unbelievable. Surreal. I would have drove much further, and will to see another one in the future. It was awesome.

We videoed the whole thing, not perfect, but it captured dad and my reaction. I also had my camera and tripod and took photos of the Corona. If your interested, I attached my photos.

We decided to take a different way home. Continue across the National Forest and back roads to Laramie. 100 miles of dirt road. 20 were 4 wheel drive 2 track. Lucky it was dry. My 2 wheel drive truck only scraped a few times. When we did get back the a paved road. It was backed up for 40 miles. We decided to hang out and wait the traffic out. Made some hamburgers, took a nap, watched the new episode of game of thrones. 4 hours later the traffic let up.

We got home at midnight. I can't say enough how amazing it was, and to spend time with my Dad... I will remember this for the rest of my life.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2017, 11:59:24 AM by GuitarBrian »

JoJo

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #131 on: August 22, 2017, 12:00:07 PM »
Traveled to central Oregon, more than an hour east of Madras so didn't have to get in the messy traffic.

No traffic on Saturday. Got there in 5.5 hours of driving + a number of fun stops.

Campground was great. Great swimming hole on the John Day river just steps from our tents.

Total eclipse was AMAZING! Loved the dapples before & after, saw all the phases and got some good pictures.


Took 7.5 hours of driving time home (so about +2 hours due to slowed traffic, everytime it was a poorly timed stoplight or stop sign as the culprit. Seems like a few strategically placed police would have alleviated greatly). But, still think fortunate because I spoke with a friend attempting to make the normally 4 hour drive from Salem, OR to Seattle... started at 11 am, by 10 pm they were still 90 miles from Seattle and stuck in traffic going 2-5 miles per hour.

I'm hooked... thinking about where I want to see the 2024 eclipse.

I'll be working on a blog post tonight and will post the link here when it's done.

By the River

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #132 on: August 22, 2017, 12:26:50 PM »
I saw the map of the 2024 eclipse and started planning.  Looks like it might be Fredericksburg Texas to watch it on top of Enchanted Rock.  I plan to be retired by then so it will be easy to just camp at the park the night(s?) before and after and not worry about traffic. 

DarkandStormy

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #133 on: August 22, 2017, 12:51:32 PM »
So I stacked 5 pairs of dark 100%UV sunglasses

Very cool story, but just as an FYI - even doing this is not sufficient protections for your eyes.

JoJo

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #134 on: August 22, 2017, 07:54:25 PM »
It was awesome!  I did the trip in a very mustache way...$70 for camping & gas from the Seattle area... probably could have camped for free but wanted to have toilets for our large group.

Here's my blog & some of the many photos...
https://thehotflashpacker.com/eclipse-2017/

seattlecyclone

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #135 on: August 22, 2017, 08:41:25 PM »
So I stacked 5 pairs of dark 100%UV sunglasses

Very cool story, but just as an FYI - even doing this is not sufficient protections for your eyes.

For just brief glances, it was probably okay-ish. This page cites that you'd probably have to look for "minutes" before having a 50% chance of permanent damage, while this page says a couple seconds is pretty harmless. From various points where the glasses got jiggled out of position I probably got a few seconds' of total exposure myself. Everything looks fine the day after.

GuitarBrian

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #136 on: August 22, 2017, 10:39:37 PM »
So I stacked 5 pairs of dark 100%UV sunglasses

Very cool story, but just as an FYI - even doing this is not sufficient protections for your eyes.

For just brief glances, it was probably okay-ish. This page cites that you'd probably have to look for "minutes" before having a 50% chance of permanent damage, while this page says a couple seconds is pretty harmless. From various points where the glasses got jiggled out of position I probably got a few seconds' of total exposure myself. Everything looks fine the day after.

I tried to stress the "very quickly" part. We are talking less than a second... I knew the risks.

Raenia

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #137 on: August 23, 2017, 07:44:15 AM »
We got really lucky with the weather at our location in Charleston - as totality was approaching we could see the dark clouds rolling in, but they held off just barely long enough.  Less than a minute after totality ended, we couldn't see the sun at all behind the clouds.  But man oh man, that corona!  Totally worth the 24 hours of driving there and back.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #138 on: August 23, 2017, 08:19:57 AM »
I saw the map of the 2024 eclipse and started planning.  Looks like it might be Fredericksburg Texas to watch it on top of Enchanted Rock.  I plan to be retired by then so it will be easy to just camp at the park the night(s?) before and after and not worry about traffic.

Easy to camp at Enchanted Rock?  Even on a regular weekend it can be hard to get a site there.  (One of my favorite places in the world to be. Seeing the eclipse there would be so cool.)

By the River

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #139 on: August 23, 2017, 08:43:35 AM »
I saw the map of the 2024 eclipse and started planning.  Looks like it might be Fredericksburg Texas to watch it on top of Enchanted Rock.  I plan to be retired by then so it will be easy to just camp at the park the night(s?) before and after and not worry about traffic.

Easy to camp at Enchanted Rock?  Even on a regular weekend it can be hard to get a site there.  (One of my favorite places in the world to be. Seeing the eclipse there would be so cool.)

It looks like reservations can be made online 11 months in advance.  Will have to keep that in mind. 

Hash Brown

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #140 on: August 23, 2017, 11:07:46 AM »
I have an appointment to see an eye doctor tomorrow.  Definitely had at least temporary eye damage from what were probably faulty glasses.  I had sort-of night blindness on Monday night and woke up this morning with everything looking like I was looking through pink cellophane.  I had a hard time reading my neighbor's address.  There was an overall loss of contrast and a shift to peach/pink and maybe blue/cyan. 

Luckily by about 10am it seems to have mostly cleared up and hopefully I'll recover all the way.  It was very scary there for a bit.

Scary indeed! Please keep us posted!!!  Hope you learn all is well!

Good news.  I had an exam today and the doctor said I simply have eyes that are extremely sensitive to bright light.  I told him that I've always been bothered by welding torches, even when they're 100+ feet away.  Ironically he could tell I was okay by shining a light in my eye.  If I hadn't reacted that would have been a bad sign. 

Throughout the day on Tuesday my vision improved but I still had mild night blindness that night.  Wednesday morning I woke up and I'd estimate my vision is about 5% "off", like sliding various adjustments on photoshop by 5%.  A huge improvement over Tuesday morning, when I'd estimate my vision was 15-20% wrong in various directions.  Imagine sliding 5-6 sliders that much, at random, and that's how the world was looking for me. 







HPstache

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #141 on: August 23, 2017, 11:18:31 AM »
I saw the map of the 2024 eclipse and started planning.  Looks like it might be Fredericksburg Texas to watch it on top of Enchanted Rock.  I plan to be retired by then so it will be easy to just camp at the park the night(s?) before and after and not worry about traffic.

I am hooked... I'd like to see another soon!

edit: I was wrong about the annular part
« Last Edit: August 23, 2017, 11:20:22 AM by v8rx7guy »

dougules

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #142 on: August 23, 2017, 04:35:21 PM »
We got really lucky with the weather at our location in Charleston - as totality was approaching we could see the dark clouds rolling in, but they held off just barely long enough.  Less than a minute after totality ended, we couldn't see the sun at all behind the clouds.  But man oh man, that corona!  Totally worth the 24 hours of driving there and back.

I had the same thing happen.  I was at an overlook in TN, and a big bank of clouds held off just until a couple minutes after totality.  We even got to see the shadow bands before the clouds rolled over the sun. 

zinethstache

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #143 on: August 23, 2017, 08:12:20 PM »
DH and I made the eclipse the main attraction for our first summer of FIRE. We did it very mustachian, spending $0 to camp at the closest Thousand Trails we could get into and then we drove inland under an hour to an awesome little refuge south of Salem. Hundreds of cars converged there. We arrived at 5am and got a very good spot. DH saw the 1991 eclipse in Mexico and of course we plan to make the 2024 eclipse as part of our full time travel plans.

Its hard to believe its over!

JoJo

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #144 on: August 23, 2017, 08:41:37 PM »
Here's my cool shot of the "diamond ring"

Hash Brown

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #145 on: August 23, 2017, 09:33:14 PM »
I just uploaded a video I made of the group I watched the eclipse with.  The camera didn't catch the strange lighting as the light dimmed, but it pretty obviously illustrates why observing an eclipse in the path of totality is a completely different experience than watching anywhere outside it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcDDDlYz6VY&feature=youtu.be


Livingthedream55

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #146 on: August 24, 2017, 01:37:13 PM »
I have an appointment to see an eye doctor tomorrow.  Definitely had at least temporary eye damage from what were probably faulty glasses.  I had sort-of night blindness on Monday night and woke up this morning with everything looking like I was looking through pink cellophane.  I had a hard time reading my neighbor's address.  There was an overall loss of contrast and a shift to peach/pink and maybe blue/cyan. 

Luckily by about 10am it seems to have mostly cleared up and hopefully I'll recover all the way.  It was very scary there for a bit.

Scary indeed! Please keep us posted!!!  Hope you learn all is well!

Good news.  I had an exam today and the doctor said I simply have eyes that are extremely sensitive to bright light.  I told him that I've always been bothered by welding torches, even when they're 100+ feet away.  Ironically he could tell I was okay by shining a light in my eye.  If I hadn't reacted that would have been a bad sign. 

Throughout the day on Tuesday my vision improved but I still had mild night blindness that night.  Wednesday morning I woke up and I'd estimate my vision is about 5% "off", like sliding various adjustments on photoshop by 5%.  A huge improvement over Tuesday morning, when I'd estimate my vision was 15-20% wrong in various directions.  Imagine sliding 5-6 sliders that much, at random, and that's how the world was looking for me.

Whew!!!   Glad to hear your eyesight is 95% back!    Hopefully the recovery continues.    You should (if you haven't already) ask your eye health professional about year round protective actions (special sun glasses, any vitamins that might be beneficial??)

lizzzi

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #147 on: August 24, 2017, 01:46:20 PM »
I just uploaded a video I made of the group I watched the eclipse with.  The camera didn't catch the strange lighting as the light dimmed, but it pretty obviously illustrates why observing an eclipse in the path of totality is a completely different experience than watching anywhere outside it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcDDDlYz6VY&feature=youtu.be

Enjoyed the video--thanks for putting it on youtube! I can see that totality is much cooler than the 85% I saw in my area--although the 85% was well-worth seeing. Will be chasing totality in 2024!

JoJo

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #148 on: August 24, 2017, 04:07:37 PM »
Here's my cool shot of the "diamond ring"
Amazing. One of the best pics I've seen so far. I didn't make it very far north but saw the partial eclipse from a cool and uncrowded part of the eastern Sierras.

spartana!  you should have joined us.  We had room for a couple people.  Our campsite was big and would have been easy to add you in.  Hope you're enjoying your trip.

Phy to FI

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Re: Eclipse Chasers 2017
« Reply #149 on: August 25, 2017, 08:11:37 AM »
You know how in the movies, when a character is shocked, or awed, they drop whatever they are holding? Yeah, I did that.

I had my eclipse glasses on, and took them off for totality. It was amazing! After looking for a bit, I turned and looked at the 360 degree sunset. And then I realized that I was no longer holding my glasses! I had dropped them at some point without knowing it.

Yeah, it was amazing. I'm hooked! I want to see another one. I guess now I need to travel hack to get to Chile/Argentina. :)