My hometown is in the zone of totality, but it's a town of only 50,000 people. And they are expecting half a million to try and drive from Salt Lake City to Idaho Falls this weekend. The local news has been saying that porta potties are going to be available on interstate 15 for the first time in history. Why? Because apparently the traffic jam is going to make Los Angeles traffic look heavenly in comparison. Reports are saying that people may run out of gas on the interstate (idling) as it were and that you should take food and extra gas tanks just in case. The trip to I.F. normally takes about three and a half hours. They are saying on the news to prepare (just in case) for something that takes twice as long.
Additionally, in my home town, the grocery stores sold out of food. Milk, groceries, bananas, you name it... Crowds hit the grocery store hard on Monday in a panic. Lines went around the block at every food outlet and gas station. All because of a solar eclipse and people questioning whether or not they will be able to get supplies.
This may be one of the worst decisions I've ever made. But I'd like to see the eclipse, and I already have glasses for it. I want to see the sun's corona live. I think it will leave me with a sense of awe. I hope it doesn't cloud out. If the weatherman says it will be obscured by cloud cover, I'm going to stay home. I bet there's a lot of pressure on the local weather people here to get the forecast for Monday just right.
Anyway, to anyone else out there that's trying to make the trip, I wish you good luck. See you on the far side of the shadow.
Good luck with that. I can't go out of state on a Monday but it should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe've decided it's too far to travel for something that lasts less than five minutes.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it. I've made a pair of glasses from old photo negatives, which I've used before and they work quite well.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wanted to go. But I'm working Tuesday and Wednesday, and the closest place of totality is a couple hundred miles away. My father, however, planned his whole vacation around going (he planned this out last year), and is already on his way. (He's getting there about two days before.) In his RV.
ReplyDeleteHave a great time. I hope it isn't as awful as is being predicted.
I'm looking forward to watching the eclipse. It seems fitting with all the craziness going on in the United States right now. Perhaps five minutes staring in awe towards the stars is what we need right now.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck to you too. Enjoy and stay safe.
ReplyDeleteFirst, sorry I'm only now showing up to comment.
ReplyDeleteSecond -- I hope you enjoyed the eclipse! I drove up to Wyoming to see it, and though there were rough spots (stop and go in some places on the interstate) I'm so glad I went. The corona around the moon, the way a strange kind of night fell all over the land for a couple minutes -- wonderful.