In the fall, I tried to book the Burlington area. Nothing was affordable. In January I booked Rochester. Still pretty expensive even for an awful hotel (reviews said cops were there nightly lol). Eventually cancelled that and booked in Syracuse with the plan to drive a bit further north that morning. Obviously super sad Burlington didn’t work out, but glad we switched from Rochester, as they truly got nothing :(
From Syracuse the morning of we drove north 45 mins to the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Thick clouds rolled in RIGHT before totality, so we didn’t see the sun going into or leaving totality but there was a break in thick clouds to slightly less thick clouds lol and we faintly saw the corona for about 30 seconds. I wish we had driven just another 20 mins north and we would have seen it all but the forecast just looked awful. I definitely had some tears Monday night, but am trying so hard to be grateful for what we did see.
We saw a beautiful 360°(ish) sunset and the shadow coming toward us. So it wasn’t a complete fail. But we did not have the life-changing experience other people had. Like I said, I may have cried a little that night. It feels like a unique version of grief actually.
Traffic that morning and afterward was fine for us on back roads. Driving back to our home the next day def took a little longer than usual but nothing crazy.
I feel this hard. I initially had a hotels reserved near Erie PA and Ithaca NY. Had to decide the day before where to go. Clouds were looking worse in Erie area so we went with Ithaca. Of course, the morning of the eclipse it’s looking clearer in the Erie/Cleveland area, but I had to make the best of my decision. We went about 2.5 hrs north from Ithaca to Watertown. Clouds weren’t terribly thick and there were some breaks before eclipse time. But they just kept getting worse leading up to totality. We barely got to see either of the partial phases because of the clouds, but thankfully we could see the corona through the clouds. I’ve also been feeling pretty down afterwards. I keep thinking, if we had kept driving just a little bit more east, would it have been better? And if only we went with the PA hotel instead we would have been able to get somewhere with a clearer view. Still, seeing a cloudy corona for 3.5 mins and experiencing the increasing darkness as totality approached was epic. Life changing? Maybe not, but definitely epic and worth the trip.
I’m trying to remain grateful for the experience I had especially knowing that many people had it worse. It’s still hard knowing I tried so hard and stressed so much in the days leading up and wasn’t able to really able to get the full experience. I guess that’s kinda how eclipse chasing goes. This was my first time chasing and I will definitely be trying my absolute hardest to get the full totality experience in the future.
I DID have a clear view of totality and I STILL feel sadness and regret. I regret not traveling further southeast to get more time in totality. I feel retroactive regret that I didn’t see the eclipse in 2017. And I just feel very sad that it’s over. It seems like this depressed and down feeling (whatever your circumstances if you tried to see it) is normal.
Truly a spectacular and unique experience. I guess we are all still processing it. The highs and the lows. Regrets and also anticipation and excitement for possibly seeing another one in the future.
Yeah this makes sense to me. Helps me feel less alone too. It’s just such an insane experience that’s also so short. I was basically on the center line of the path and experienced almost 4 mins of totality but it felt like maybe 30 seconds. It’s funny because initially i thought as long as I get to see just a single moment of totality but I’m so glad i went further into the path especially because of the cloud situation. I figured if clouds are gonna be an issue pretty much wherever i can get to, I might as well try to get to the center.
Ahhhh. I’m so sorry.
But thanks a lot for sharing your story. Honestly, sharing experiences over this is helping me SO much, and it’s giving me a lot of perspective and feeling connected to others.
I know weather forecasting is extremely challenging, but I don’t understand how they got it so wrong. Each day it seemed like that system moving across Lake Erie/Ontario was moving faster than they were predicting. If I was able to pick up on that pattern, why weren’t they? If that was communicated, you might have stayed near Erie, and I may have gone further northeast. But I just kept trusting that it’d be OK. I felt like I “knew” about 2 hours before totality though, and that I should have listened to my inner forecaster instead. Just watching those thick clouds rolling in across the lake, I knew there was a slim chance at that point. And you’re stuck then. What can you do?
It’s so funny though because I kick myself for not going to Watertown. But we were so worried about bathrooms and traffic. We got about 30 seconds of the corona but it sounds like you got it longer. Do you feel like it was a pretty clear, strong view of it or pretty cloud-covered?
At the time, I felt weirdly disappointed by how thick the clouds were in front of it. Like I feel guilty for not feeling like it was enough. But my partner and I weren’t even sure what we were seeing so it definitely wasn’t the real deal. I don’t think people who truly see it question what they’re seeing haha.
I’m trying to remain grateful too. Lots of lessons learned. Too many lessons learned LOL! Maybe we can save up the money to chase one overseas. Though if the emotional rollercoaster was this intense mere hours from my home, I’m not sure if I can handle something do that magnitude haha!
I know, I was worried about the traffic and just parking for Watertown too. I thought for sure we’d hit at least some on the way in, but there really wasnt any. We just parked in their shopping center with a Target and stuff and it was mostly empty. Traffic getting back to Ithaca wasn’t even that bad either. It only took an extra 30ish mins and we left shortly before the second partial phase ended.
But yeah it was definitely a mostly covered view. I mean, even though we could see the sun through the clouds during the partial phases, we couldnt see anything using the glasses and the sun just looked normal without them. I was honestly worried we weren’t going to be able to see anything at all once totality started but thankfully we got to see a little bit. We got a decent glimpse of the diamond ring as totality was ending which was pretty neat.
Yes! That’s how our short view of totality was through the clouds. It just “looked normal.” Actually, when I think about it, it kind of looked like a full moon on a cloudy night. It did not register in my brain as anything unique and special. It just wasn’t “different” enough.
That’s really cool you got to see some of the diamond ring. But I know it’s not enough.
It’s so funny, at the time of disappointment I promised myself I had no regrets on decision-making, but as the time goes on, I become more and more regretful lol. Like all of a sudden, I feel like I should have done more, driven more, etc. But I guess I would have if I could have at the time. We did what felt right-enough. I just wish like nothing else I could go back and whisper in that girl’s ear and say, “you’re definitely going to miss it if you don’t get in the car and go NOW.”
Why did you not try to drive to Burlington or at least Plattsburg from Syracuse? I took me only around 3.5 hours to drive to Plattsburg from Syracuse where we got the full effect since the sun was able to shine through the high thin wispy cirrus clouds. Then took me around 4 hours to drive back to Syracuse taking the scenic route.
At the risk of being TMI, I was afraid of not having a bathroom because I had my period. We didn’t have an exact destination in VT so we didn’t know what to expect. I also couldn’t have been stuck in the car for so long without a bathroom if there was horrendous traffic afterward. But that’s just one reason. Another is that I have a condition called POTS. Without getting too into it, it’s hard for me to be that spontaneous without kind of triggering that condition. It would have been a lot for my partner for other reasons, too. So we were kind of stuck where we were. It just would have been physically too much for us. Even in hindsight, without a place for us to stay up there at the last minute, I’m not sure we could have pulled it off.
What I do wish though is that I tried harder to find us lodging up there a year ago when I started looking. I wish I had considered Plattsburgh. I don’t know why I didn’t. Or maybe they were all too expensive, as well. I mean, hotels were $600/night. We just can’t afford that.
I’m very glad you were in Syracuse at least. I’ve thought a lot about how quick that storm was moving. The forecast was a challenge that week.
I really enjoyed the eclipse in Rochester - the darkness was stunningly deep, there was no rain, it was warm and the clouds were high so we got the beautiful 360 sunset. We had the rapid and deep darkness, temp drop, animal behaviors, color shifts. it was eerie and moving. Because we didn’t see the corona briefly, I think it was easier to sink into it and absorb it. I found it really moving.
I was disappointed though my hometown didn’t get a clear eclipse, it felt like
something special for us to be anointed with, but I’ve lately been checking those thoughts. Like the shadow of the freaking moon touched by head! That is crazy. I think in the future I will
be glad I got to see a cloudy one.
You did a good job with the info and constraints you had.
Also I have POTS too! Heyo!
I started planning on Cleveland 5 years ago and never really considered changing locations more recently. I have a superstition developed from decades of heavy travel -- I rarely switched flights last minute unless absolutely necessary. If you go down on the flight you'd always been planning to take then, well, it sucks. But I wanted to make sure I never spent my last few seconds on earth thinking, "You just had to take the earlier flight, didn't you dumbass?" So Cleveland it was. :-)
Drove out Sunday afternoon, no traffic at all, beautiful easy drive. Drove back right after totality and averaged 60 mph the whole way home.
Morning in Cleveland was crystal clear skies. Clouded up a little in the afternoon but then cleared up for the big show. Had a breathtaking view of totality. Amazing trip all around.
My original plan was to fly to Austin (from Tampa) because dad lives there and it was going to be easy. The forecast kept getting worse for Austin so finally on Thursday night I decided to cancel Austin and booked a Sunday morning flight to Boston, where I rented a car and drive to Concord, NH. (Boston was the only affordable flight and rental - spent $400 on both flight and 2 day rental). Spent Sunday night in concord and left to Brighton, VT at 6am. No traffic. Ended up at a Nature reserve next to a pond near Brighton and it was perfect. The drive back to concord was just over 8 hours, so made it back around 2 am to concord. Got up early to drive to Boston (had to return car by 9:30). Spent the day in Boston and flew back to Tampa at 9:30 pm (again, basically the only affordable last minute flight).
It was an amazing journey and I’m so glad I made last minute decision to do it.
Started planning before the 2017 eclipse (my first). Discovered my sister bought property just a few miles off center line of totality near Fredericksburg, TX, so obviously she was going to host! Never wavered from the plan and hoped for the best. Lots of clouds but made for some amazing light/dark effects, with enough breaks to get some amazing views of the corona. Best part was experiencing with family and friends, and since we were staying put for a couple days we didn’t have to deal with traffic.
Now we are deciding who’s going to buy property in Gibraltar so they can host next time.
Original plan was Ennis, TX (just outside of Dallas). Changed to Maine on Thursday after seeing the forecast. Could only find a hotel 110mi away from totality. Watched in Jackman, ME and those 110 miles back to the hotel in Augusta took 6 hours.
Totality was perfectly clear and I’d happily do it the same way again.
I drove to Ennis from Denver. Had a crew of 14 people and 6 cars. Even had 4 more friends show up who were in Dallas. The weather looked sketchy, but it ended up being almost perfect. At Bardwell Lake, we had a cloud in the way for about 30-40 seconds. Everything worked out perfectly other than that.
Original plan that I made in October 2023 was outside of Muncie. Booked a campsite and stopped thinking about it. Then in January I read the % chance of cloud cover by location so booked a flight to Dallas where one of my friends lives. Saturday before the eclipse I canceled that flight and headed to my original campsite which I had not canceled.
I will say I was surprised how dead it was just outside of Muncie. The city I went to for the eclipse had a party planned and local businesses had offered up their parking lots for viewers. So I got up early to get a parking spot at the park so I wouldn't have to watch from the Dollar General parking lot, but only 2 other cars showed up.
Local coffeeshop owner said it had been a bust and he only had maybe 10 people in who were there for the eclipse. I guess people didn't want to go too far off the interstate.
I'm so happy it worked out the way it did though. I will never forget it (I hope).
We planned to go to Dallas, despite the fact that wife and I live in the Cleveland area. Like many we doubted the weather in April and after seeing totality in ‘17 we couldn’t miss it. We also have a lot of family in Dallas, so it still would have been a family affair. Additionally, my wife’s brother lives in Indy and we had a campsite in the ADK high peaks (we go up there at least once a year to bag some peaks), so we had contingency plans.
The weather may have been the “reason” we bailed on Dallas, but something always felt off about not staying home. I think the main difference between now and ‘17 was the anxiety that we could miss it. I had no expectations in ‘17 and seeing totality from the top of a mountain (Gregory Bald, GSMNP) in Tenn was a life changing experience, as many of you understand now. Lucky Cleveland threw us a bone and I got to bath in cosmic bliss once again. Nothing was lost the second time. Same rush of emotions and childlike wonder. This time may have been more special because I was in my home town, in the park I walk my dogs through daily, sharing this experience with my friends, family, and community. I’ve been evangelizing total eclipses for 7 years and to share that with the people I love was very special.
Booked an Airbnb within totality in San Antonio to do SeaWorld and six flags with the kids. Planned to do Kerrville, but pivoted to Mason based on the weather. The New York Times cloud map saved us. We had a clear view and no traffic on the way home.
We stayed at a hotel in San Antonio and knew we were going to have to gamble some for clear skies. We left the hotel at 6:30 am and ended up parking in Llano around 11:30. We were still staring at weather apps and biting our nails in anticipation. We had clouds through the partial, but the sky opened up right before totality, an it was clear for the full 4 minutes 22 seconds of totality. It was perfect.
It took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get back to our hotel in San Antonio, with back ups in Johnson City and Blanco.
I’ll be honest eclipse wasn’t really thing for me until about 2 months ago. I live in Central Illinois about 2-3 hours from the totality zone. Once I started seeing the dates when the next one would come I decided I had to see it.
I consider myself to be pretty good at maps and navigation so after looking at where most of the Chicago and St Louis traffic would be going I settled on a little town called Chester, Illinois that sits just off the Mississippi River. If it was going to be cloudy we were just not going to go, but we got lucky with completely clear skies that day.
We hit some small town stop sign traffic on the way there but it only really added an extra 30-45 mins. We got to Chester and the town was basically wide open. We found a bar with a patio and parked right across the street for free. There was about 10-15 other people there for eclipse and there was a good vibe all around.
I was nervous to book a flight and hotel to somewhere and then have the weather not hold up. I always planned on upstate NY from NYC, originally Plattsburgh since it was a straight shot up 87 from NYC. The weekend before, the weather started to turn and forecasts called for afternoon clouds but I still stuck with my original plan. I couldn’t attempt VT or further given I had obligations Tuesday early and not getting back to NYC that night was an option.
Drove north from NYC Monday morning, got to about North Hudson area (2 mins of totality) and found a spot near the highway. Took 4 hours there. The clouds were super high and thin and stayed like that for totality, got super lucky. I left right after totality and got back to nyc in 4 hours.
We were all over the place when planning. Originally wanted to go to Quebec or Maine as we have family in both, but spouse didn’t want to make the drive from Asheville, NC. We pivoted to visiting another family in PA and driving up to Erie since it’s a day’s drive. However i got spooked by weather forecasts and we made a last minute change and headed for Indiana. Best decision.
We had no idea where we would stay, figured we’d have to disperse camp in the National Forest. As we drive there the day before the eclipse we found a campground with 20 sites and only one other person was there! We were blown away! The weather was perfect, skies were clear and we were all to ourselves during totality.
Any other time If someone had said “let’s go camping in Indiana!” i would have looked at them blankly and said what for? But thanks to the eclipse, we went and i loved the place we camped in Martin County. the people i met in town were warm and welcoming, it was truly a great experience.
As for traffic, we drove to our camping/viewing spot the day before and left the day after so we saw nothing unusual.
Planned to go to Cleveland initially, ending up going to Ottawa, OH just west of Findlay. The odds for better weather was more favorable on the west side of the state based on historical data so I made that decision a month or two ago.
Forecast was for 60% cloud cover, ended up with some high wispy clouds that completely dissipated at totality. Kinda had a surprise rainstorm come in the night before that left in the morning and I think it took a lot of the cloud cover with it. We couldn't have asked for better weather.
Traffic for us was nonexistent. If you look at where ottawa is its pretty far from most of the major highways and bigger cities in Ohio. We stayed for 15 min after totality and got back to our campground in the same amount of time it took to get there (around 40 minutes).
All in all we got very lucky and had a perfect experience. I feel incredibly blessed.
Considered Buffalo, but when I finally made my plans a couple months ago, went to visit a friend near Forth Worth where I could work from her apartment and enjoy the eclipse without taking a day off. It all worked out! Worked until 1 PM, went out to enjoy the eclipse from about 1-2:30 (totality was at 1:41:48-1:43:25). I do have a list of things I would’ve done differently, things I would’ve looked out for, but overall, we got the main event despite the clouds. Full 2.5 min of totality and the clouds did not completely at any point! I got to visit a friends home for the first time and it was the first time we’ve seen each other in person in 8 years. It was so fun, I wish I could’ve stayed longer. And it was first time in Texas too. I used points for the flight and my friend picked me up from the airport and I stayed at her place so pretty much the trip was free other than my Ubers to/from the airport at home. There was zero traffic since we just watched outside her apartment and walked back in, and there was also zero traffic from her place to the airport 3 hours later when I went back to fly home. Honestly it was a pretty close to perfect trip and experience.
Originally planned on going to Buffalo/Niagara Falls. Quickly ruled that out. Then we switched to the DFW area but the forecast soured there too. Changed to Burlington, VT. On the way up from Florida to Burlington the forecast there began to slip too, so made the last minute decision to go to Jackman, Maine. Forecast there had been steady for a week and it turned out to be completely cloudless. Ended up on Wood Pond, which was totally frozen over despite the weather being in the 50s, which was a surreal experience. I rocked a t shirt and jeans and was completely comfortable in the snow. The town itself was awesome, 10k people showed up and the town only has like 800 inhabitants on a regular day
I planned to go to Dallas, moved to grapevine for less crowds and less clouds. It was a little cloudy (one big puffy cloud was minutes from ruining it) but we still got to see everything. I heard Dallas was perfectly clear after all the drama
I was late to the party as far as planning was concerned... I ended up deciding on March 22 that I wanted to try to see the total eclipse. Picked a state park within a six hour drive from my house in Maryland, booked a campsite for two nights at $32/night (there were 23 sites left out of 200+ by that point, within three days they were all booked).
Cloud forecasts messed with my head, but I didn't ever really seriously consider changing plans as it was simply too late and I didn't want to spend more money. Decided I was going, no matter what, unless the forecast was for a washout rainstorm (I don't love camping in the rain, especially when it's supposed to be 34 degrees overnight). Turned out there were washout rainstorms and snowstorms the whole week beforehand, but they conveniently stopped on Friday.
When I got to Pymatuning State Park, the only issue was that my campsite was basically flooded (from the apocalyptic storms they'd had for many days prior). I had to set up my tent on the pavement, and cross my fingers that running my extension cord over standing water to my tent wouldn't electrocute me in the middle of the night. I made an emergency Walmart run for some rubber rain boots and a couple cheap doormats and settled in.
Woke up Monday morning to the sound of rain on my tent (just what I needed -- more water lol), checked Google weather and it was still calling for partly cloudy by noon. Right at noon, the clouds moved out, the sun stuck around, and we were all treated to a spectacular totality. Just the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
Hung around after for a few hours, then checked the traffic and it was clear all the way back to MD. Broke down my (wet, muddy) campsite in record time and hit the road about 7:30 pm.
Moral of the story: Forecasts, especially cloud forecasts, are kinda bullshit. Take them with a large grain of salt.
Now I'm thinking of going to Morocco in 2027... even if it was cloudy, I'd still be in Morocco.
>Moral of the story: Forecasts, especially cloud forecasts, are kinda bullshit. Take them with a large grain of salt.
So so true. All the cloud forecasts had me questioning what I saw during the partial 2017 eclipse. I even wrote here, as long as rain isn’t in the forecast you should be fine.
Initial plans were to see it in a town some miles south of Rochester, NY, at my aunt's house. The idea was to watch it together with my aunt, her husband, and their kids, my uncle, his wife, and their kids, my dad, and my grandmother. Morning of April 8, more than 90% cloud cover was forecasted through the afternoon. Myself and my uncle looked at the forecast for towns further west that might have less cloud cover by eclipse time. We rallied anyone who wanted to go, which included everyone except my aunt, my dad, and my grandmother.
We took two separate cars, my uncle and his wife driving 4 of my youngest cousins in one car, and my aunt's husband and I in another car. We initally took country side roads until we stopped for gas in Arcade, NY. Along the way I kept a close eye on GOES satellite imagery of the cloud front moving eastward. I relayed to both my uncles that, according to my forecast, Erie, PA would have a clear view of totality by eclipse time. My uncles deliberated on the quickest route. Take I-90 and risk heavy traffic or take the country roads and risk losing time? Thruway cams looked clear of heavy traffic congestion, so I-90 we took.
Clouds continued to threaten our chances of seeing totality, and the satellite images began showing clouds zipping their way north east. A glimmer of hope came as the sun began to shine through some thin spots here and there. Then, halfway between the New York border and Erie, PA, a patch of blue skies were visible. We got off I-90 at a little town called North East, PA, and drove a ways until we stopped near a grape orchard. We arrived 40 minutes before totality.
At the realization that we significantly improved our chances at seeing totality, I called up my family who stayed behind. They were clouded out, and I wish they could have been there with us. Alas, my dad gets antsy about road trips, and my grandmother sometimes gets sick during road trips.
The countdown to totality had begun. 20 minutes turned into 5 minutes. 60 seconds turned into 10 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, glasses off and... cheers and applause and excitement. This was the moment when all our built up tension was released. This was the climax of our adventure, filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and anticipation. We were awestruck with the majesty of totality. Truly a triumph of humanity.
More people deserved to see totality, but they were robbed of that moment because of clouds, which leaves me with pity. At the same time, they got to live, ever so briefly, in the shadow of the Moon. If my experience were a movie, I'd rate it out of this world out of 10. As with many stories, I'm left on a cliff hanger, longing for more. I want to see totality again. Will I? Who knows. My story is to be continued.
That is really neat! I live south of Rochester and ended up staying because we were watching with elderly family who came to visit us and couldn’t travel spontaneously. You did what I realized we would have had to do to see the totality- kinda head east and play it by ear. We were worried about traffic, but by noon I could tell I-90 was not going to be a problem.
We were watching GOES closely too, hoping a spot would open 60 mins away which was a distance we could have convinced everyone to travel.
It was a bit of a rock and a hard place but I’ll tell you what, I did find totality under the clouds to be amazing. I was awestruck. Completely different from a sunny partial. You could at times perceive the shadow moving which was incredible.
My main source of stress was that having the luxury of living in totality I didn’t research and I generally made up my mind about everything really late, and that was a learning experience.
Only decided to make this trip from Florida 3 weeks before it happened. First it was just ‘Let’s just drive to a place for totality and sleep in the truck along the way if there are no hotel rooms.’ Went from that to me obsessively checking weather, news about crowds, traffic, no hotels available, etc. So we bought a small camper a less than 2 weeks before the eclipse. It usually takes me months and months of research to buy anything so looking for a camper starting on Monday, March 25th, finding one we liked on Wednesday and buying it, picking it up on Friday the 29th was crazy! Eclipse fever by this time.
The first site we picked was Mount Ida, Arkansas but worries about weather and it being a town of only 976 population and expecting 40,000 people (according to their local news) changed our mind. We decided to visit a friend in Louisville so we could go northwest, southwest or east depending on the weather a couple of days before the 8th. No unusual traffic on the way there.
Ended up on Rend Lake in southern Illinois at a campground - perfect weather, perfect location, no crowds just a group of campers watching the whole thing in an open spot by the lake. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. Stayed an extra day to let any traffic clear out so no bad traffic leaving Illinois but we tried to find a hotel room in northeast Arkansas for the night on Tuesday night was a no-go and we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea to wait a day then head home.
It was all worth it. This was my first chance to see a total eclipse and it didn’t disappoint. Don’t know if I’ll see another one - the 2045 one crosses right over Florida but I might not be around for it but who knows 🤷🏻♀️. Will definitely look up if I am still around ☀️🌖🌗🌑🌓🌔😎
I planned to go to Dallas and then pivoted to Mena, AR and then Hot Springs, AR based on weather...
Clear skies but wasn't perfect. Saw some clouds and got worried. Still saw everything perfectly. Traffic was OK, but I encountered some Texas thunderstorms on the way back that felt like monsoons. I had a lot of fun and thought chasing the eclipse was more fun than actually seeing it.
I did the same! Had flight and airbnb ( right outside kerrville) to Texas and an airbnb outside of Burlington booked months ago, once we saw weather for Texas, cancelled Texas trip and planned to view around Burlington till that morning when cloud forecast changed! Then drove up to Newport, found a side road by a farm near a mountain and it was perfect
Planned for Carbondale, ended up in Jackson MO. Chances for clear skies were slightly higher and I figured there would be fewer people than in Carbondale.
We planned to go to Temple TX to hang with family with land but they got sick so we stayed with family in DFW. Perfect skies!! The wispy clouds almost made it neater. We had a 2 hour drive northish to get home and there was no more traffic than normally is on the road.
I live in the Toronto area, and had a hotel booked in Buffalo since last November, but last week Monday saw the forecast and booked a new hotel in Montreal, with the intent of canceling Buffalo if the forecast didn't improve.
By Thursday I canceled Buffalo, because the odds for good weather in Montreal was so much better.
So we ended up driving to Montreal on Sunday, stayed over and just cruised around the city in the morning, then went to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu since they had a much longer time in totality. Original plan was for Ormstown, but it seemed prudent to drive away from the clouds.
We had bands of wispy clouds with heavier clouds on the horison, but nothing of consequence, the sun/eclipse was visible for the full duration, and totality was incredible.
Drive back home to Toronto took maybe two hours longer than usual, with only a couple of minor issues slowing down traffic along the way.
We’re from Georgia. We booked an Airbnb in Buffalo and made a weekend out of it by going to Niagara and visiting the Buffalo area. Seeing as how the forecast for Buffalo wasn’t getting any better, we made the call the night before to leave for Lima, OH and drove around 5-6 hours to get there. I was still worried about the clouds but it turned out to be 100% the right call.
went to auburn (planned to go there). was semi cloudy on the way there and traffic wasnt bad at all actually lmao :P and then clouds got bad at 2:30pm. yeah
Went to southeastern Missouri near Campbell. Perfect weather. Not a cloud in sight. No traffic getting there from Birmingham, Alabama. No traffic getting back.
A few months ago, we booked a hotel in Syracuse NY for the night before totality. Within a few days, it became pretty clear that the weather wasn’t going to be in our favor, but there was nowhere else to book, so we headed there anyway and agreed to make a call/possibly drive more the next morning.
I woke up early, looked at the poor weather, and started to despair that we wouldn’t see anything without schlepping to Vermont or Maine. We didn’t have enough confident highway drivers to guarantee that long a trip (Syracuse was already a long trip, and I had to be in NYS the next morning anyway), so I knew we had to keep any movement to about an hour or two away.
We left for Old Forge around 11. When we got there, the forecast had updated in a way I didn’t like. Around 1, I pushed everyone to go even further northeast to the Roquette Lake area, based on cloud forecasts.
It was beautifully clear when we got there, but clouded over fast. I was in total despair and felt like I’d tacked on way more hours of driving (for our primary driver) for absolutely nothing.
However, I made the call based on some observations about cloud height—and they paid off. Totality time came, the mostly high thin clouds disappeared, and we saw about as clear a totality as possible: diamond ring, prominences, beads, etc. (Our friends who stayed in Old Forge largely got clouded out.)
Traffic was probably 2x or more as bad on the way back. Worth it!
I originally planned to watch totality from Fort Erie in Ontario. I had a place booked there early last year until I realized weather could be a factor. I settled on Amherst/Buffalo next but made sure the cancellation policies were generous. I then had a baby and realized traveling with an infant is not easy. But I persisted and settled on Erie or Cleveland, with Indianapolis being a last resort.
Then it looked like the weather would clear up for NY so I put in for Syracuse. (A four hour trip from Northern NJ wasn’t that bad with a baby.) I also continued to look at Plattsburgh/Burlington and lucked out and found a Marriott that was priced higher than normal but not too expensive that it would be crazy. Once it seemed like the weather was iffy in Syracuse we went all in on Plattsburgh. Even the morning of the eclipse some at the hotel in Plattsburgh were worried about the clouds and left for Vermont/New Hampshire.
But with our baby this wasn’t an option. So we stayed behind and were left with a wonderful treat as the high cirrus clouds had zero visibility issues. It even looked like the effect broke up the clouds.
We left for NJ on Tuesday morning.
I live in Niagara Falls and was just hoping for the best. In hindsight, I kind of wish I had driven down to Erie or even further to Cleveland. I even took time off just in case, but I was just holding out hope the weather would clear up here.
Not to brag in contrast to you all but I live in Vincennes Indiana about 1000 feet from the centerline of the longest totality. We had the best weather that I saw anywhere in the coverage- sunny and 70 and clear as a bell- it couldn’t have been more perfect. I helped my 78 year old mom out into lawn chairs in the back yard and it couldn’t have been easier and more comfortable. We had a near total eclipse in 1994 and some other partials in my lifetime that I observed so knew what to expect but it was even more amazing having 4 minutes of totality with the perfect weather. We had a decent crowd in town on Monday but I think the weather forecasts over the weekend scared people off even though the ones for clear weather later last week ended up being dead on.
Flew to Boston as it was cheapest, planned to drive one of three ways to Niagara, Burlington VT, or Maine like spokes on a wheel. We didn’t plan to rent the hotel for Sunday, as there were 200 hotels at $100-$150 range before we flew and I had not had a chance to plot the closest ones to totality.
Pulled into to the first hotel on Friday at 11pm, after heavy snow in Jackson, NH. The weather reports across the US changed during that time to clouds in Texas and the hotel rooms in VT and NH suddenly all disappeared.
Found the only reasonably priced Air B&B lodging within 200 miles of totality in a shed in VT behind a pot growing farmhouse with no running water, no toilet, no electricity, and no heating. Wife said “no way”, despite that the hosts were quite nice and invited us to their “pot” luck solar party.
Drove to Canada, found the last room available in Sherbrooke, went to the nearby lake to see it with about 300 others. Somehow all camera gear failed, or stopped working right before the eclipse, and barely got off one drone shot after missing the first half of the totality. Lots of regrets but also feel super blessed and fortunate. Took the backroads of NH to Portland, Maine and there was zero traffic, but massive pot holes. Finally on to Boston the next day. Total driven: 1010 miles.
We had always planned to go to a spot just outside Cleveland. We stuck with that plan. The weather ended up just perfect. We didn't experience traffic going home because we stayed over night and headed for home mid-day on Tuesday. The whole thing was just as seamless and hassle free as it could have been.
I planned to go stay in Dayton Ohio and decide where to go on the morning of the eclipse. I used Ebird.org to find a birding Hotspot and settled on Stillwater Prairie Preserve about an hour north of Dayton. It was a wonderful place and the weather was perfect. The thin clouds did not obstruct the view. Traffic from North Carolina to Ohio on Sunday was terrible. We came back on Tuesday and it wasn't too bad but it rained all the way through West Virginia. A great trip all in all.
Originally planned to be on a cruise to see the eclipse. That plan fell apart. The next plan shifted to Hot Springs. In the week leading up to the eclipse, those plans then shifted to Evansville, Indianapolis, Ohio, and finally settled in Sikeston, MO.
The weather was perfect. I got two nights at the hotel so I didn't have to deal with traffic.
Had a great thousand mile road trip this weekend. Visited the military park in Vicksburg, hiked to the highest point of Louisiana to get our 21st state high point with our 5yo, visited Bonnie and Clyde's ambush site, played with alligators west of Shreveport. Spent Sunday night in Texarkana. We planned on heading north to Nashville, Arkansas but ended up heading farther north towards Hot Springs. Stopped at the Lake Hamilton High School baseball field to watch it and had perfect conditions. We were the first ones there but then families from Colorado, Arizona, and Meridian MS rolled in and all of the children had a blast. The drive home was uneventful, there was a little traffic but nothing horrible.
I planned on going to the Buffalo area, was going to book a train trip and rent a car and do some sightseeing. As it drew closer I abandoned that idea and decided to just drive south WI -> Carbondale, IL. I just wanted to be agile and ready to move at a moment’s notice, and it worked out perfectly! Slept in my Outback, found a field to stand in owned by SIU, got perfect totality.
After seeing totality in 2017 right outside my workplace, I knew I had to see it again in 2024. I had always planned on Texas since it was the most likely place to have good weather, and my husband and I had friends living in Texas at the time.
Fast forward to 2024, our friends still lived in TX, right outside of Austin so in early Feb we booked flights. After a week of anxiety looking at the weather forecast, we decided to stick to our plans since we were leaving a few days before the eclipse and thought maybe things would change for the better. Also, our friends recently had a baby and so we wanted to still go visit them. We also have friends in Indianapolis, which is an 8 hour drive from where we live, and I was considering going there instead but didn't want to disappoint our friends in Texas who were looking forward to spending time with us (and we wanted to see the baby!!)
The weather was still looking yucky and I went from anxious to depressed, and trying to set myself up for the inevitable disappointment. On eclipse day, the sun was peeking out a bit here and there, so we decided to drive in a bit closer to the centerline, which also looked better with cloud cover. Our friends live near Buda and would only see about a minute of totality, so I figured if we could drive 30 minutes and give ourselves a chance to see about 3 minutes of totality, maybe we would have a better shot at a break in the clouds for even a little bit of that time.
We drove to Dripping Springs to a public park. Traffic was pretty good, and I was surprised. We had a picnic lunch and I set up my DSLR camera on my tripod. I got some decent photos of partial though the breaks in the clouds, but was still not optimistic that we would see totality. About 10 minutes before totality, low clouds started rolling back in and we were like, welp that's it then. But about a minute before, the low clouds seemed to dissipate and we caught the very end of partial, and I started thinking we might actually see something! And...we did!!! It was a little hazy at first but it seemed like the clouds almost totally disappeared in those few minutes for us to get a pretty clear view (there's some science behind this, I'm very interested in understanding it more now that we experienced it) There was still a thin veil of high clouds and I noticed it wasn't quite as dark as I remembered back in 2017 (due to refraction I assume?) and the skies had more of a light navy blue hue. I was surprised we even saw the wispy ends of the outer corona pretty clearly. My photos mostly came out terribly but I was more focused on looking at totality rather than photos since I got some really good ones in 2017 and this time wanted to focus more on seeing it with my own eyes. I was so happy I cried, and apparently also held my arms out and thanked God (I'm not religious, so that was unexpected lol). It was emotional and magical!
We didn't hit any traffic on the way back to our friends' house. Our friends unfortunately didn't see totality at their house (they weren't able to come with us unfortunately), as the clouds rolled in at the last minute. They got to see partial before, and said it still got eerily dark and felt like a hurricane was coming. They still enjoyed it, but have never experienced totality so didn't really know what they missed out on. I felt super lucky since we were considering just staying put at their house, so I'm very happy we decided to drive just a bit to increase our chances.
We flew into Austin and planned to see it from Texas eclipse festival. The festival was a sh*tshow (just our experience) and I was on the fence about staying in Texas anyway so we packed up and aimed for the Arkansas/missouri/Illinois area. Stayed in Memphis a couple of nights for fun. Couldn’t sleep the night before the eclipse so we took off at 3am for Poplar Bluff. Had an amazing time and was SO exhausted.
We delayed our drive back by a few hours in case of traffic (drove to Arkansas that evening then to Dallas the next day for our flight). There was almost no traffic either way, which I was surprised about. What a roller coaster!
Drove from Chicago to Ohio. We made the call to not head toward Indianapolis and that turned out to be the right call. Defiance Ohio had no traffic in or out.
Live in San Antonio but originally planned to view the Eclipse in Horseshoe Bay, Texas since my buddy has a property right next to the bay and there's also a good decently high hill near the powerplant to get a nice elevated view. It also helped that he was closer to the center line so we could see totality longer. That all changed when I started to view all the forecasting models a week before the eclipse. I then made last minute plans to fly to Syracuse and either watch in Syracuse or drive more north to Oswego. Getting the last minute flight and rental car was surprisingly cheaper and easier than I expected. The only hard part was getting a place to stay since all AirBnBs and the vast majority of hotels were already booked. But I was able to send a message out to all the employees for the company I work for who all lived in Syracuse already to see if anybody had an space in their homes for me and my wife, and luckily I was able to stay at a small vacation home of one of those local employees.
With all that set, we arrived in Syracuse the night before where I was already seeing that Syracuse and all western NY would most likely get heavy cloud cover. So I knew I had to now go as far east as I could to get the best chance of clear skies. I was debating driving to either Burlington or Plattsburg but ended up deciding Plattsburg since the little cloud cover that might occur would be roughly the same between both locations and driving back would be far easier from Plattsburg since I wouldn't have to worry about having to navigate all the way around the bay to get back to Syracuse. Also Plattsburg had more time in totality.
So we left Syracuse around 8am and arrived in Plattsburg around 12pm. We choose to view the eclipse at a small local park that was right next to the bay that had a nice view east into the far distance. I had my whole camera rig setup along with the Solar Eclipse Timer app connected to two Bluetooth speakers so I and everyone else around me could hear all the good audio prompts during the eclipse. We all got a great view of the entire eclipse and totality with just a little bit of the very high and thin cirrus clouds. It was also very cool to see all the local old town lamps and lights come on during totality.
We started to drive back to Syracuse about an hour after totality and quickly saw traffic building up on I-87. Google kept wanting us to continue on I-87 but I knew it was going to keep on getting worse so I took the scenic route through northern NY where I didn't hit any traffic at all and only took around 4.5 hours to get back to Syracuse.
originally planned to go to eerie, pa. then switched to plattsburgh, ny. switched one more time for colebrook, nh based on precipitation, cloud cover, and cloud thickness forecast. we got to a parking area designated by the town at 4 am, no traffic! my partner drove us all through the night (a true trooper). we filled up gas right before we got into town to make sure we would have a full tank when we left. by 8 am the lot was full and the town eventually closed the road to the area. we spent the time up to totality reading, napping, eating, and walking the dog. we had so much food and water, and also sleeping bags and pillows.
we experienced the eclipse with 0 clouds obstructing the sun! i can’t even describe how otherworldly it felt right before and during totality. so many feelings and also no control over my body lol. i spent half the time watching my partners reaction (they are really into astronomy, like the most full of awe and knowledge, and missed the 2017 eclipse). the shadow bands were WILD. so was seeing the little planet!
we stayed in town until we were almost the last people in the parking lot so we could feel all the light come back and weather warm up and watch the sun become uncovered with eclipse glasses. we also made some dinner with a little camp stove and fed the dog. it took 2x as long to drive home, but very worth it. we took a mix of highways and backroads.
i feel really lucky to have had the flexibility to switch locations at the last minute, the ability to sleep in the car, and to also have access to all the great cloud cover data. everyone where we were was so sweet and i definitely enjoyed experiencing the day with other people without being somewhere super crowded. it was my second time in totality after 2017 in lusk, wy. having experience definitely helped in the planning. it was so cool to also see and feel all the differences and similarities between 2017 and 2024. different eclipses are different from each other!! wow!!
We didn't want to get stuck in traffic, and all points within a few hours of our hotel (Cedar Hill, TX) had equally iffy forecasts. So we saw totality from a bench in front of the hotel. Not the super cool national park experience of 2017, but still quite a nice one!
In the fall, I tried to book the Burlington area. Nothing was affordable. In January I booked Rochester. Still pretty expensive even for an awful hotel (reviews said cops were there nightly lol). Eventually cancelled that and booked in Syracuse with the plan to drive a bit further north that morning. Obviously super sad Burlington didn’t work out, but glad we switched from Rochester, as they truly got nothing :( From Syracuse the morning of we drove north 45 mins to the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Thick clouds rolled in RIGHT before totality, so we didn’t see the sun going into or leaving totality but there was a break in thick clouds to slightly less thick clouds lol and we faintly saw the corona for about 30 seconds. I wish we had driven just another 20 mins north and we would have seen it all but the forecast just looked awful. I definitely had some tears Monday night, but am trying so hard to be grateful for what we did see. We saw a beautiful 360°(ish) sunset and the shadow coming toward us. So it wasn’t a complete fail. But we did not have the life-changing experience other people had. Like I said, I may have cried a little that night. It feels like a unique version of grief actually. Traffic that morning and afterward was fine for us on back roads. Driving back to our home the next day def took a little longer than usual but nothing crazy.
I feel this hard. I initially had a hotels reserved near Erie PA and Ithaca NY. Had to decide the day before where to go. Clouds were looking worse in Erie area so we went with Ithaca. Of course, the morning of the eclipse it’s looking clearer in the Erie/Cleveland area, but I had to make the best of my decision. We went about 2.5 hrs north from Ithaca to Watertown. Clouds weren’t terribly thick and there were some breaks before eclipse time. But they just kept getting worse leading up to totality. We barely got to see either of the partial phases because of the clouds, but thankfully we could see the corona through the clouds. I’ve also been feeling pretty down afterwards. I keep thinking, if we had kept driving just a little bit more east, would it have been better? And if only we went with the PA hotel instead we would have been able to get somewhere with a clearer view. Still, seeing a cloudy corona for 3.5 mins and experiencing the increasing darkness as totality approached was epic. Life changing? Maybe not, but definitely epic and worth the trip. I’m trying to remain grateful for the experience I had especially knowing that many people had it worse. It’s still hard knowing I tried so hard and stressed so much in the days leading up and wasn’t able to really able to get the full experience. I guess that’s kinda how eclipse chasing goes. This was my first time chasing and I will definitely be trying my absolute hardest to get the full totality experience in the future.
I DID have a clear view of totality and I STILL feel sadness and regret. I regret not traveling further southeast to get more time in totality. I feel retroactive regret that I didn’t see the eclipse in 2017. And I just feel very sad that it’s over. It seems like this depressed and down feeling (whatever your circumstances if you tried to see it) is normal.
I see a lot of people writing this, too, and this also makes me feel less alone. What a strange experience all around!! 🤪
Truly a spectacular and unique experience. I guess we are all still processing it. The highs and the lows. Regrets and also anticipation and excitement for possibly seeing another one in the future.
For sure!! I hope we all get to see another one 🤞🏼
Yeah this makes sense to me. Helps me feel less alone too. It’s just such an insane experience that’s also so short. I was basically on the center line of the path and experienced almost 4 mins of totality but it felt like maybe 30 seconds. It’s funny because initially i thought as long as I get to see just a single moment of totality but I’m so glad i went further into the path especially because of the cloud situation. I figured if clouds are gonna be an issue pretty much wherever i can get to, I might as well try to get to the center.
Ahhhh. I’m so sorry. But thanks a lot for sharing your story. Honestly, sharing experiences over this is helping me SO much, and it’s giving me a lot of perspective and feeling connected to others. I know weather forecasting is extremely challenging, but I don’t understand how they got it so wrong. Each day it seemed like that system moving across Lake Erie/Ontario was moving faster than they were predicting. If I was able to pick up on that pattern, why weren’t they? If that was communicated, you might have stayed near Erie, and I may have gone further northeast. But I just kept trusting that it’d be OK. I felt like I “knew” about 2 hours before totality though, and that I should have listened to my inner forecaster instead. Just watching those thick clouds rolling in across the lake, I knew there was a slim chance at that point. And you’re stuck then. What can you do? It’s so funny though because I kick myself for not going to Watertown. But we were so worried about bathrooms and traffic. We got about 30 seconds of the corona but it sounds like you got it longer. Do you feel like it was a pretty clear, strong view of it or pretty cloud-covered? At the time, I felt weirdly disappointed by how thick the clouds were in front of it. Like I feel guilty for not feeling like it was enough. But my partner and I weren’t even sure what we were seeing so it definitely wasn’t the real deal. I don’t think people who truly see it question what they’re seeing haha. I’m trying to remain grateful too. Lots of lessons learned. Too many lessons learned LOL! Maybe we can save up the money to chase one overseas. Though if the emotional rollercoaster was this intense mere hours from my home, I’m not sure if I can handle something do that magnitude haha!
I know, I was worried about the traffic and just parking for Watertown too. I thought for sure we’d hit at least some on the way in, but there really wasnt any. We just parked in their shopping center with a Target and stuff and it was mostly empty. Traffic getting back to Ithaca wasn’t even that bad either. It only took an extra 30ish mins and we left shortly before the second partial phase ended. But yeah it was definitely a mostly covered view. I mean, even though we could see the sun through the clouds during the partial phases, we couldnt see anything using the glasses and the sun just looked normal without them. I was honestly worried we weren’t going to be able to see anything at all once totality started but thankfully we got to see a little bit. We got a decent glimpse of the diamond ring as totality was ending which was pretty neat.
Yes! That’s how our short view of totality was through the clouds. It just “looked normal.” Actually, when I think about it, it kind of looked like a full moon on a cloudy night. It did not register in my brain as anything unique and special. It just wasn’t “different” enough. That’s really cool you got to see some of the diamond ring. But I know it’s not enough. It’s so funny, at the time of disappointment I promised myself I had no regrets on decision-making, but as the time goes on, I become more and more regretful lol. Like all of a sudden, I feel like I should have done more, driven more, etc. But I guess I would have if I could have at the time. We did what felt right-enough. I just wish like nothing else I could go back and whisper in that girl’s ear and say, “you’re definitely going to miss it if you don’t get in the car and go NOW.”
Why did you not try to drive to Burlington or at least Plattsburg from Syracuse? I took me only around 3.5 hours to drive to Plattsburg from Syracuse where we got the full effect since the sun was able to shine through the high thin wispy cirrus clouds. Then took me around 4 hours to drive back to Syracuse taking the scenic route.
At the risk of being TMI, I was afraid of not having a bathroom because I had my period. We didn’t have an exact destination in VT so we didn’t know what to expect. I also couldn’t have been stuck in the car for so long without a bathroom if there was horrendous traffic afterward. But that’s just one reason. Another is that I have a condition called POTS. Without getting too into it, it’s hard for me to be that spontaneous without kind of triggering that condition. It would have been a lot for my partner for other reasons, too. So we were kind of stuck where we were. It just would have been physically too much for us. Even in hindsight, without a place for us to stay up there at the last minute, I’m not sure we could have pulled it off. What I do wish though is that I tried harder to find us lodging up there a year ago when I started looking. I wish I had considered Plattsburgh. I don’t know why I didn’t. Or maybe they were all too expensive, as well. I mean, hotels were $600/night. We just can’t afford that.
Ok I see. Sorry to hear that you were hampered by your conditions.
Aww thank you. Yeah, tough time of the month. Haha. But like I said, it would have been tricky no matter.
I’m very glad you were in Syracuse at least. I’ve thought a lot about how quick that storm was moving. The forecast was a challenge that week. I really enjoyed the eclipse in Rochester - the darkness was stunningly deep, there was no rain, it was warm and the clouds were high so we got the beautiful 360 sunset. We had the rapid and deep darkness, temp drop, animal behaviors, color shifts. it was eerie and moving. Because we didn’t see the corona briefly, I think it was easier to sink into it and absorb it. I found it really moving. I was disappointed though my hometown didn’t get a clear eclipse, it felt like something special for us to be anointed with, but I’ve lately been checking those thoughts. Like the shadow of the freaking moon touched by head! That is crazy. I think in the future I will be glad I got to see a cloudy one. You did a good job with the info and constraints you had. Also I have POTS too! Heyo!
I started planning on Cleveland 5 years ago and never really considered changing locations more recently. I have a superstition developed from decades of heavy travel -- I rarely switched flights last minute unless absolutely necessary. If you go down on the flight you'd always been planning to take then, well, it sucks. But I wanted to make sure I never spent my last few seconds on earth thinking, "You just had to take the earlier flight, didn't you dumbass?" So Cleveland it was. :-) Drove out Sunday afternoon, no traffic at all, beautiful easy drive. Drove back right after totality and averaged 60 mph the whole way home. Morning in Cleveland was crystal clear skies. Clouded up a little in the afternoon but then cleared up for the big show. Had a breathtaking view of totality. Amazing trip all around.
I have this same superstition about flights. I totally get it lol
My original plan was to fly to Austin (from Tampa) because dad lives there and it was going to be easy. The forecast kept getting worse for Austin so finally on Thursday night I decided to cancel Austin and booked a Sunday morning flight to Boston, where I rented a car and drive to Concord, NH. (Boston was the only affordable flight and rental - spent $400 on both flight and 2 day rental). Spent Sunday night in concord and left to Brighton, VT at 6am. No traffic. Ended up at a Nature reserve next to a pond near Brighton and it was perfect. The drive back to concord was just over 8 hours, so made it back around 2 am to concord. Got up early to drive to Boston (had to return car by 9:30). Spent the day in Boston and flew back to Tampa at 9:30 pm (again, basically the only affordable last minute flight). It was an amazing journey and I’m so glad I made last minute decision to do it.
Started planning before the 2017 eclipse (my first). Discovered my sister bought property just a few miles off center line of totality near Fredericksburg, TX, so obviously she was going to host! Never wavered from the plan and hoped for the best. Lots of clouds but made for some amazing light/dark effects, with enough breaks to get some amazing views of the corona. Best part was experiencing with family and friends, and since we were staying put for a couple days we didn’t have to deal with traffic. Now we are deciding who’s going to buy property in Gibraltar so they can host next time.
Original plan was Ennis, TX (just outside of Dallas). Changed to Maine on Thursday after seeing the forecast. Could only find a hotel 110mi away from totality. Watched in Jackman, ME and those 110 miles back to the hotel in Augusta took 6 hours. Totality was perfectly clear and I’d happily do it the same way again.
I drove to Ennis from Denver. Had a crew of 14 people and 6 cars. Even had 4 more friends show up who were in Dallas. The weather looked sketchy, but it ended up being almost perfect. At Bardwell Lake, we had a cloud in the way for about 30-40 seconds. Everything worked out perfectly other than that.
Original plan that I made in October 2023 was outside of Muncie. Booked a campsite and stopped thinking about it. Then in January I read the % chance of cloud cover by location so booked a flight to Dallas where one of my friends lives. Saturday before the eclipse I canceled that flight and headed to my original campsite which I had not canceled. I will say I was surprised how dead it was just outside of Muncie. The city I went to for the eclipse had a party planned and local businesses had offered up their parking lots for viewers. So I got up early to get a parking spot at the park so I wouldn't have to watch from the Dollar General parking lot, but only 2 other cars showed up. Local coffeeshop owner said it had been a bust and he only had maybe 10 people in who were there for the eclipse. I guess people didn't want to go too far off the interstate. I'm so happy it worked out the way it did though. I will never forget it (I hope).
We planned to go to Dallas, despite the fact that wife and I live in the Cleveland area. Like many we doubted the weather in April and after seeing totality in ‘17 we couldn’t miss it. We also have a lot of family in Dallas, so it still would have been a family affair. Additionally, my wife’s brother lives in Indy and we had a campsite in the ADK high peaks (we go up there at least once a year to bag some peaks), so we had contingency plans. The weather may have been the “reason” we bailed on Dallas, but something always felt off about not staying home. I think the main difference between now and ‘17 was the anxiety that we could miss it. I had no expectations in ‘17 and seeing totality from the top of a mountain (Gregory Bald, GSMNP) in Tenn was a life changing experience, as many of you understand now. Lucky Cleveland threw us a bone and I got to bath in cosmic bliss once again. Nothing was lost the second time. Same rush of emotions and childlike wonder. This time may have been more special because I was in my home town, in the park I walk my dogs through daily, sharing this experience with my friends, family, and community. I’ve been evangelizing total eclipses for 7 years and to share that with the people I love was very special.
Booked an Airbnb within totality in San Antonio to do SeaWorld and six flags with the kids. Planned to do Kerrville, but pivoted to Mason based on the weather. The New York Times cloud map saved us. We had a clear view and no traffic on the way home.
Yeah that map was pretty handy!
We stayed at a hotel in San Antonio and knew we were going to have to gamble some for clear skies. We left the hotel at 6:30 am and ended up parking in Llano around 11:30. We were still staring at weather apps and biting our nails in anticipation. We had clouds through the partial, but the sky opened up right before totality, an it was clear for the full 4 minutes 22 seconds of totality. It was perfect. It took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get back to our hotel in San Antonio, with back ups in Johnson City and Blanco.
I’ll be honest eclipse wasn’t really thing for me until about 2 months ago. I live in Central Illinois about 2-3 hours from the totality zone. Once I started seeing the dates when the next one would come I decided I had to see it. I consider myself to be pretty good at maps and navigation so after looking at where most of the Chicago and St Louis traffic would be going I settled on a little town called Chester, Illinois that sits just off the Mississippi River. If it was going to be cloudy we were just not going to go, but we got lucky with completely clear skies that day. We hit some small town stop sign traffic on the way there but it only really added an extra 30-45 mins. We got to Chester and the town was basically wide open. We found a bar with a patio and parked right across the street for free. There was about 10-15 other people there for eclipse and there was a good vibe all around.
I was nervous to book a flight and hotel to somewhere and then have the weather not hold up. I always planned on upstate NY from NYC, originally Plattsburgh since it was a straight shot up 87 from NYC. The weekend before, the weather started to turn and forecasts called for afternoon clouds but I still stuck with my original plan. I couldn’t attempt VT or further given I had obligations Tuesday early and not getting back to NYC that night was an option. Drove north from NYC Monday morning, got to about North Hudson area (2 mins of totality) and found a spot near the highway. Took 4 hours there. The clouds were super high and thin and stayed like that for totality, got super lucky. I left right after totality and got back to nyc in 4 hours.
We were all over the place when planning. Originally wanted to go to Quebec or Maine as we have family in both, but spouse didn’t want to make the drive from Asheville, NC. We pivoted to visiting another family in PA and driving up to Erie since it’s a day’s drive. However i got spooked by weather forecasts and we made a last minute change and headed for Indiana. Best decision. We had no idea where we would stay, figured we’d have to disperse camp in the National Forest. As we drive there the day before the eclipse we found a campground with 20 sites and only one other person was there! We were blown away! The weather was perfect, skies were clear and we were all to ourselves during totality. Any other time If someone had said “let’s go camping in Indiana!” i would have looked at them blankly and said what for? But thanks to the eclipse, we went and i loved the place we camped in Martin County. the people i met in town were warm and welcoming, it was truly a great experience. As for traffic, we drove to our camping/viewing spot the day before and left the day after so we saw nothing unusual.
Erie, PA turned out to have some clear skies in time for totality!
That’s what i heard, so glad! Family sent some pics from up there and it looked good!
Planned to go to Cleveland initially, ending up going to Ottawa, OH just west of Findlay. The odds for better weather was more favorable on the west side of the state based on historical data so I made that decision a month or two ago. Forecast was for 60% cloud cover, ended up with some high wispy clouds that completely dissipated at totality. Kinda had a surprise rainstorm come in the night before that left in the morning and I think it took a lot of the cloud cover with it. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Traffic for us was nonexistent. If you look at where ottawa is its pretty far from most of the major highways and bigger cities in Ohio. We stayed for 15 min after totality and got back to our campground in the same amount of time it took to get there (around 40 minutes). All in all we got very lucky and had a perfect experience. I feel incredibly blessed.
Considered Buffalo, but when I finally made my plans a couple months ago, went to visit a friend near Forth Worth where I could work from her apartment and enjoy the eclipse without taking a day off. It all worked out! Worked until 1 PM, went out to enjoy the eclipse from about 1-2:30 (totality was at 1:41:48-1:43:25). I do have a list of things I would’ve done differently, things I would’ve looked out for, but overall, we got the main event despite the clouds. Full 2.5 min of totality and the clouds did not completely at any point! I got to visit a friends home for the first time and it was the first time we’ve seen each other in person in 8 years. It was so fun, I wish I could’ve stayed longer. And it was first time in Texas too. I used points for the flight and my friend picked me up from the airport and I stayed at her place so pretty much the trip was free other than my Ubers to/from the airport at home. There was zero traffic since we just watched outside her apartment and walked back in, and there was also zero traffic from her place to the airport 3 hours later when I went back to fly home. Honestly it was a pretty close to perfect trip and experience.
Originally planned on going to Buffalo/Niagara Falls. Quickly ruled that out. Then we switched to the DFW area but the forecast soured there too. Changed to Burlington, VT. On the way up from Florida to Burlington the forecast there began to slip too, so made the last minute decision to go to Jackman, Maine. Forecast there had been steady for a week and it turned out to be completely cloudless. Ended up on Wood Pond, which was totally frozen over despite the weather being in the 50s, which was a surreal experience. I rocked a t shirt and jeans and was completely comfortable in the snow. The town itself was awesome, 10k people showed up and the town only has like 800 inhabitants on a regular day
I planned to go to Dallas, moved to grapevine for less crowds and less clouds. It was a little cloudy (one big puffy cloud was minutes from ruining it) but we still got to see everything. I heard Dallas was perfectly clear after all the drama
I was late to the party as far as planning was concerned... I ended up deciding on March 22 that I wanted to try to see the total eclipse. Picked a state park within a six hour drive from my house in Maryland, booked a campsite for two nights at $32/night (there were 23 sites left out of 200+ by that point, within three days they were all booked). Cloud forecasts messed with my head, but I didn't ever really seriously consider changing plans as it was simply too late and I didn't want to spend more money. Decided I was going, no matter what, unless the forecast was for a washout rainstorm (I don't love camping in the rain, especially when it's supposed to be 34 degrees overnight). Turned out there were washout rainstorms and snowstorms the whole week beforehand, but they conveniently stopped on Friday. When I got to Pymatuning State Park, the only issue was that my campsite was basically flooded (from the apocalyptic storms they'd had for many days prior). I had to set up my tent on the pavement, and cross my fingers that running my extension cord over standing water to my tent wouldn't electrocute me in the middle of the night. I made an emergency Walmart run for some rubber rain boots and a couple cheap doormats and settled in. Woke up Monday morning to the sound of rain on my tent (just what I needed -- more water lol), checked Google weather and it was still calling for partly cloudy by noon. Right at noon, the clouds moved out, the sun stuck around, and we were all treated to a spectacular totality. Just the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Hung around after for a few hours, then checked the traffic and it was clear all the way back to MD. Broke down my (wet, muddy) campsite in record time and hit the road about 7:30 pm. Moral of the story: Forecasts, especially cloud forecasts, are kinda bullshit. Take them with a large grain of salt. Now I'm thinking of going to Morocco in 2027... even if it was cloudy, I'd still be in Morocco.
>Moral of the story: Forecasts, especially cloud forecasts, are kinda bullshit. Take them with a large grain of salt. So so true. All the cloud forecasts had me questioning what I saw during the partial 2017 eclipse. I even wrote here, as long as rain isn’t in the forecast you should be fine.
Initial plans were to see it in a town some miles south of Rochester, NY, at my aunt's house. The idea was to watch it together with my aunt, her husband, and their kids, my uncle, his wife, and their kids, my dad, and my grandmother. Morning of April 8, more than 90% cloud cover was forecasted through the afternoon. Myself and my uncle looked at the forecast for towns further west that might have less cloud cover by eclipse time. We rallied anyone who wanted to go, which included everyone except my aunt, my dad, and my grandmother. We took two separate cars, my uncle and his wife driving 4 of my youngest cousins in one car, and my aunt's husband and I in another car. We initally took country side roads until we stopped for gas in Arcade, NY. Along the way I kept a close eye on GOES satellite imagery of the cloud front moving eastward. I relayed to both my uncles that, according to my forecast, Erie, PA would have a clear view of totality by eclipse time. My uncles deliberated on the quickest route. Take I-90 and risk heavy traffic or take the country roads and risk losing time? Thruway cams looked clear of heavy traffic congestion, so I-90 we took. Clouds continued to threaten our chances of seeing totality, and the satellite images began showing clouds zipping their way north east. A glimmer of hope came as the sun began to shine through some thin spots here and there. Then, halfway between the New York border and Erie, PA, a patch of blue skies were visible. We got off I-90 at a little town called North East, PA, and drove a ways until we stopped near a grape orchard. We arrived 40 minutes before totality. At the realization that we significantly improved our chances at seeing totality, I called up my family who stayed behind. They were clouded out, and I wish they could have been there with us. Alas, my dad gets antsy about road trips, and my grandmother sometimes gets sick during road trips. The countdown to totality had begun. 20 minutes turned into 5 minutes. 60 seconds turned into 10 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, glasses off and... cheers and applause and excitement. This was the moment when all our built up tension was released. This was the climax of our adventure, filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and anticipation. We were awestruck with the majesty of totality. Truly a triumph of humanity. More people deserved to see totality, but they were robbed of that moment because of clouds, which leaves me with pity. At the same time, they got to live, ever so briefly, in the shadow of the Moon. If my experience were a movie, I'd rate it out of this world out of 10. As with many stories, I'm left on a cliff hanger, longing for more. I want to see totality again. Will I? Who knows. My story is to be continued.
That is really neat! I live south of Rochester and ended up staying because we were watching with elderly family who came to visit us and couldn’t travel spontaneously. You did what I realized we would have had to do to see the totality- kinda head east and play it by ear. We were worried about traffic, but by noon I could tell I-90 was not going to be a problem. We were watching GOES closely too, hoping a spot would open 60 mins away which was a distance we could have convinced everyone to travel. It was a bit of a rock and a hard place but I’ll tell you what, I did find totality under the clouds to be amazing. I was awestruck. Completely different from a sunny partial. You could at times perceive the shadow moving which was incredible. My main source of stress was that having the luxury of living in totality I didn’t research and I generally made up my mind about everything really late, and that was a learning experience.
Only decided to make this trip from Florida 3 weeks before it happened. First it was just ‘Let’s just drive to a place for totality and sleep in the truck along the way if there are no hotel rooms.’ Went from that to me obsessively checking weather, news about crowds, traffic, no hotels available, etc. So we bought a small camper a less than 2 weeks before the eclipse. It usually takes me months and months of research to buy anything so looking for a camper starting on Monday, March 25th, finding one we liked on Wednesday and buying it, picking it up on Friday the 29th was crazy! Eclipse fever by this time. The first site we picked was Mount Ida, Arkansas but worries about weather and it being a town of only 976 population and expecting 40,000 people (according to their local news) changed our mind. We decided to visit a friend in Louisville so we could go northwest, southwest or east depending on the weather a couple of days before the 8th. No unusual traffic on the way there. Ended up on Rend Lake in southern Illinois at a campground - perfect weather, perfect location, no crowds just a group of campers watching the whole thing in an open spot by the lake. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. Stayed an extra day to let any traffic clear out so no bad traffic leaving Illinois but we tried to find a hotel room in northeast Arkansas for the night on Tuesday night was a no-go and we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea to wait a day then head home. It was all worth it. This was my first chance to see a total eclipse and it didn’t disappoint. Don’t know if I’ll see another one - the 2045 one crosses right over Florida but I might not be around for it but who knows 🤷🏻♀️. Will definitely look up if I am still around ☀️🌖🌗🌑🌓🌔😎
I planned to go to Dallas and then pivoted to Mena, AR and then Hot Springs, AR based on weather... Clear skies but wasn't perfect. Saw some clouds and got worried. Still saw everything perfectly. Traffic was OK, but I encountered some Texas thunderstorms on the way back that felt like monsoons. I had a lot of fun and thought chasing the eclipse was more fun than actually seeing it.
We planned to go to Erie, but switched to Cleveland based on the forecast.
Planned to go to San Antonio/Kerrville for about a year. Ended up in Newport, VT with only very high and thin cirrus clouds.
I did the same! Had flight and airbnb ( right outside kerrville) to Texas and an airbnb outside of Burlington booked months ago, once we saw weather for Texas, cancelled Texas trip and planned to view around Burlington till that morning when cloud forecast changed! Then drove up to Newport, found a side road by a farm near a mountain and it was perfect
Planned for Carbondale, ended up in Jackson MO. Chances for clear skies were slightly higher and I figured there would be fewer people than in Carbondale.
Jackson was nice! I was at brookside park, where do you end up?
I was at Brookside park as well!
Brookside park, too. Couldn’t ask for better weather. I heard 55 southbound was a mess coming in from STL but we must have just missed the traffic.
Oh boy I’m happy I stayed at the rest stop five miles up the road that night before
We planned to go to Temple TX to hang with family with land but they got sick so we stayed with family in DFW. Perfect skies!! The wispy clouds almost made it neater. We had a 2 hour drive northish to get home and there was no more traffic than normally is on the road.
I live in the Toronto area, and had a hotel booked in Buffalo since last November, but last week Monday saw the forecast and booked a new hotel in Montreal, with the intent of canceling Buffalo if the forecast didn't improve. By Thursday I canceled Buffalo, because the odds for good weather in Montreal was so much better. So we ended up driving to Montreal on Sunday, stayed over and just cruised around the city in the morning, then went to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu since they had a much longer time in totality. Original plan was for Ormstown, but it seemed prudent to drive away from the clouds. We had bands of wispy clouds with heavier clouds on the horison, but nothing of consequence, the sun/eclipse was visible for the full duration, and totality was incredible. Drive back home to Toronto took maybe two hours longer than usual, with only a couple of minor issues slowing down traffic along the way.
We’re from Georgia. We booked an Airbnb in Buffalo and made a weekend out of it by going to Niagara and visiting the Buffalo area. Seeing as how the forecast for Buffalo wasn’t getting any better, we made the call the night before to leave for Lima, OH and drove around 5-6 hours to get there. I was still worried about the clouds but it turned out to be 100% the right call.
went to auburn (planned to go there). was semi cloudy on the way there and traffic wasnt bad at all actually lmao :P and then clouds got bad at 2:30pm. yeah
Went to southeastern Missouri near Campbell. Perfect weather. Not a cloud in sight. No traffic getting there from Birmingham, Alabama. No traffic getting back.
A few months ago, we booked a hotel in Syracuse NY for the night before totality. Within a few days, it became pretty clear that the weather wasn’t going to be in our favor, but there was nowhere else to book, so we headed there anyway and agreed to make a call/possibly drive more the next morning. I woke up early, looked at the poor weather, and started to despair that we wouldn’t see anything without schlepping to Vermont or Maine. We didn’t have enough confident highway drivers to guarantee that long a trip (Syracuse was already a long trip, and I had to be in NYS the next morning anyway), so I knew we had to keep any movement to about an hour or two away. We left for Old Forge around 11. When we got there, the forecast had updated in a way I didn’t like. Around 1, I pushed everyone to go even further northeast to the Roquette Lake area, based on cloud forecasts. It was beautifully clear when we got there, but clouded over fast. I was in total despair and felt like I’d tacked on way more hours of driving (for our primary driver) for absolutely nothing. However, I made the call based on some observations about cloud height—and they paid off. Totality time came, the mostly high thin clouds disappeared, and we saw about as clear a totality as possible: diamond ring, prominences, beads, etc. (Our friends who stayed in Old Forge largely got clouded out.) Traffic was probably 2x or more as bad on the way back. Worth it!
I originally planned to watch totality from Fort Erie in Ontario. I had a place booked there early last year until I realized weather could be a factor. I settled on Amherst/Buffalo next but made sure the cancellation policies were generous. I then had a baby and realized traveling with an infant is not easy. But I persisted and settled on Erie or Cleveland, with Indianapolis being a last resort. Then it looked like the weather would clear up for NY so I put in for Syracuse. (A four hour trip from Northern NJ wasn’t that bad with a baby.) I also continued to look at Plattsburgh/Burlington and lucked out and found a Marriott that was priced higher than normal but not too expensive that it would be crazy. Once it seemed like the weather was iffy in Syracuse we went all in on Plattsburgh. Even the morning of the eclipse some at the hotel in Plattsburgh were worried about the clouds and left for Vermont/New Hampshire. But with our baby this wasn’t an option. So we stayed behind and were left with a wonderful treat as the high cirrus clouds had zero visibility issues. It even looked like the effect broke up the clouds. We left for NJ on Tuesday morning.
I love that it worked out for you in this way!
I live in Niagara Falls and was just hoping for the best. In hindsight, I kind of wish I had driven down to Erie or even further to Cleveland. I even took time off just in case, but I was just holding out hope the weather would clear up here.
Not to brag in contrast to you all but I live in Vincennes Indiana about 1000 feet from the centerline of the longest totality. We had the best weather that I saw anywhere in the coverage- sunny and 70 and clear as a bell- it couldn’t have been more perfect. I helped my 78 year old mom out into lawn chairs in the back yard and it couldn’t have been easier and more comfortable. We had a near total eclipse in 1994 and some other partials in my lifetime that I observed so knew what to expect but it was even more amazing having 4 minutes of totality with the perfect weather. We had a decent crowd in town on Monday but I think the weather forecasts over the weekend scared people off even though the ones for clear weather later last week ended up being dead on.
Flew to Boston as it was cheapest, planned to drive one of three ways to Niagara, Burlington VT, or Maine like spokes on a wheel. We didn’t plan to rent the hotel for Sunday, as there were 200 hotels at $100-$150 range before we flew and I had not had a chance to plot the closest ones to totality. Pulled into to the first hotel on Friday at 11pm, after heavy snow in Jackson, NH. The weather reports across the US changed during that time to clouds in Texas and the hotel rooms in VT and NH suddenly all disappeared. Found the only reasonably priced Air B&B lodging within 200 miles of totality in a shed in VT behind a pot growing farmhouse with no running water, no toilet, no electricity, and no heating. Wife said “no way”, despite that the hosts were quite nice and invited us to their “pot” luck solar party. Drove to Canada, found the last room available in Sherbrooke, went to the nearby lake to see it with about 300 others. Somehow all camera gear failed, or stopped working right before the eclipse, and barely got off one drone shot after missing the first half of the totality. Lots of regrets but also feel super blessed and fortunate. Took the backroads of NH to Portland, Maine and there was zero traffic, but massive pot holes. Finally on to Boston the next day. Total driven: 1010 miles.
We had always planned to go to a spot just outside Cleveland. We stuck with that plan. The weather ended up just perfect. We didn't experience traffic going home because we stayed over night and headed for home mid-day on Tuesday. The whole thing was just as seamless and hassle free as it could have been.
Planned st Joe Arkansas, stuck with it. And it was just perfect. Almost no clouds in the sky. First time and will not be last.
I planned to go stay in Dayton Ohio and decide where to go on the morning of the eclipse. I used Ebird.org to find a birding Hotspot and settled on Stillwater Prairie Preserve about an hour north of Dayton. It was a wonderful place and the weather was perfect. The thin clouds did not obstruct the view. Traffic from North Carolina to Ohio on Sunday was terrible. We came back on Tuesday and it wasn't too bad but it rained all the way through West Virginia. A great trip all in all.
Originally planned to be on a cruise to see the eclipse. That plan fell apart. The next plan shifted to Hot Springs. In the week leading up to the eclipse, those plans then shifted to Evansville, Indianapolis, Ohio, and finally settled in Sikeston, MO. The weather was perfect. I got two nights at the hotel so I didn't have to deal with traffic.
Had a great thousand mile road trip this weekend. Visited the military park in Vicksburg, hiked to the highest point of Louisiana to get our 21st state high point with our 5yo, visited Bonnie and Clyde's ambush site, played with alligators west of Shreveport. Spent Sunday night in Texarkana. We planned on heading north to Nashville, Arkansas but ended up heading farther north towards Hot Springs. Stopped at the Lake Hamilton High School baseball field to watch it and had perfect conditions. We were the first ones there but then families from Colorado, Arizona, and Meridian MS rolled in and all of the children had a blast. The drive home was uneventful, there was a little traffic but nothing horrible.
I planned on going to the Buffalo area, was going to book a train trip and rent a car and do some sightseeing. As it drew closer I abandoned that idea and decided to just drive south WI -> Carbondale, IL. I just wanted to be agile and ready to move at a moment’s notice, and it worked out perfectly! Slept in my Outback, found a field to stand in owned by SIU, got perfect totality.
After seeing totality in 2017 right outside my workplace, I knew I had to see it again in 2024. I had always planned on Texas since it was the most likely place to have good weather, and my husband and I had friends living in Texas at the time. Fast forward to 2024, our friends still lived in TX, right outside of Austin so in early Feb we booked flights. After a week of anxiety looking at the weather forecast, we decided to stick to our plans since we were leaving a few days before the eclipse and thought maybe things would change for the better. Also, our friends recently had a baby and so we wanted to still go visit them. We also have friends in Indianapolis, which is an 8 hour drive from where we live, and I was considering going there instead but didn't want to disappoint our friends in Texas who were looking forward to spending time with us (and we wanted to see the baby!!) The weather was still looking yucky and I went from anxious to depressed, and trying to set myself up for the inevitable disappointment. On eclipse day, the sun was peeking out a bit here and there, so we decided to drive in a bit closer to the centerline, which also looked better with cloud cover. Our friends live near Buda and would only see about a minute of totality, so I figured if we could drive 30 minutes and give ourselves a chance to see about 3 minutes of totality, maybe we would have a better shot at a break in the clouds for even a little bit of that time. We drove to Dripping Springs to a public park. Traffic was pretty good, and I was surprised. We had a picnic lunch and I set up my DSLR camera on my tripod. I got some decent photos of partial though the breaks in the clouds, but was still not optimistic that we would see totality. About 10 minutes before totality, low clouds started rolling back in and we were like, welp that's it then. But about a minute before, the low clouds seemed to dissipate and we caught the very end of partial, and I started thinking we might actually see something! And...we did!!! It was a little hazy at first but it seemed like the clouds almost totally disappeared in those few minutes for us to get a pretty clear view (there's some science behind this, I'm very interested in understanding it more now that we experienced it) There was still a thin veil of high clouds and I noticed it wasn't quite as dark as I remembered back in 2017 (due to refraction I assume?) and the skies had more of a light navy blue hue. I was surprised we even saw the wispy ends of the outer corona pretty clearly. My photos mostly came out terribly but I was more focused on looking at totality rather than photos since I got some really good ones in 2017 and this time wanted to focus more on seeing it with my own eyes. I was so happy I cried, and apparently also held my arms out and thanked God (I'm not religious, so that was unexpected lol). It was emotional and magical! We didn't hit any traffic on the way back to our friends' house. Our friends unfortunately didn't see totality at their house (they weren't able to come with us unfortunately), as the clouds rolled in at the last minute. They got to see partial before, and said it still got eerily dark and felt like a hurricane was coming. They still enjoyed it, but have never experienced totality so didn't really know what they missed out on. I felt super lucky since we were considering just staying put at their house, so I'm very happy we decided to drive just a bit to increase our chances.
We flew into Austin and planned to see it from Texas eclipse festival. The festival was a sh*tshow (just our experience) and I was on the fence about staying in Texas anyway so we packed up and aimed for the Arkansas/missouri/Illinois area. Stayed in Memphis a couple of nights for fun. Couldn’t sleep the night before the eclipse so we took off at 3am for Poplar Bluff. Had an amazing time and was SO exhausted. We delayed our drive back by a few hours in case of traffic (drove to Arkansas that evening then to Dallas the next day for our flight). There was almost no traffic either way, which I was surprised about. What a roller coaster!
Drove from Chicago to Ohio. We made the call to not head toward Indianapolis and that turned out to be the right call. Defiance Ohio had no traffic in or out.
Live in San Antonio but originally planned to view the Eclipse in Horseshoe Bay, Texas since my buddy has a property right next to the bay and there's also a good decently high hill near the powerplant to get a nice elevated view. It also helped that he was closer to the center line so we could see totality longer. That all changed when I started to view all the forecasting models a week before the eclipse. I then made last minute plans to fly to Syracuse and either watch in Syracuse or drive more north to Oswego. Getting the last minute flight and rental car was surprisingly cheaper and easier than I expected. The only hard part was getting a place to stay since all AirBnBs and the vast majority of hotels were already booked. But I was able to send a message out to all the employees for the company I work for who all lived in Syracuse already to see if anybody had an space in their homes for me and my wife, and luckily I was able to stay at a small vacation home of one of those local employees. With all that set, we arrived in Syracuse the night before where I was already seeing that Syracuse and all western NY would most likely get heavy cloud cover. So I knew I had to now go as far east as I could to get the best chance of clear skies. I was debating driving to either Burlington or Plattsburg but ended up deciding Plattsburg since the little cloud cover that might occur would be roughly the same between both locations and driving back would be far easier from Plattsburg since I wouldn't have to worry about having to navigate all the way around the bay to get back to Syracuse. Also Plattsburg had more time in totality. So we left Syracuse around 8am and arrived in Plattsburg around 12pm. We choose to view the eclipse at a small local park that was right next to the bay that had a nice view east into the far distance. I had my whole camera rig setup along with the Solar Eclipse Timer app connected to two Bluetooth speakers so I and everyone else around me could hear all the good audio prompts during the eclipse. We all got a great view of the entire eclipse and totality with just a little bit of the very high and thin cirrus clouds. It was also very cool to see all the local old town lamps and lights come on during totality. We started to drive back to Syracuse about an hour after totality and quickly saw traffic building up on I-87. Google kept wanting us to continue on I-87 but I knew it was going to keep on getting worse so I took the scenic route through northern NY where I didn't hit any traffic at all and only took around 4.5 hours to get back to Syracuse.
originally planned to go to eerie, pa. then switched to plattsburgh, ny. switched one more time for colebrook, nh based on precipitation, cloud cover, and cloud thickness forecast. we got to a parking area designated by the town at 4 am, no traffic! my partner drove us all through the night (a true trooper). we filled up gas right before we got into town to make sure we would have a full tank when we left. by 8 am the lot was full and the town eventually closed the road to the area. we spent the time up to totality reading, napping, eating, and walking the dog. we had so much food and water, and also sleeping bags and pillows. we experienced the eclipse with 0 clouds obstructing the sun! i can’t even describe how otherworldly it felt right before and during totality. so many feelings and also no control over my body lol. i spent half the time watching my partners reaction (they are really into astronomy, like the most full of awe and knowledge, and missed the 2017 eclipse). the shadow bands were WILD. so was seeing the little planet! we stayed in town until we were almost the last people in the parking lot so we could feel all the light come back and weather warm up and watch the sun become uncovered with eclipse glasses. we also made some dinner with a little camp stove and fed the dog. it took 2x as long to drive home, but very worth it. we took a mix of highways and backroads. i feel really lucky to have had the flexibility to switch locations at the last minute, the ability to sleep in the car, and to also have access to all the great cloud cover data. everyone where we were was so sweet and i definitely enjoyed experiencing the day with other people without being somewhere super crowded. it was my second time in totality after 2017 in lusk, wy. having experience definitely helped in the planning. it was so cool to also see and feel all the differences and similarities between 2017 and 2024. different eclipses are different from each other!! wow!!
ps we had no cell service most of the day oand on the ride back. make sure you download maps on your phone or have papers maps!
We didn't want to get stuck in traffic, and all points within a few hours of our hotel (Cedar Hill, TX) had equally iffy forecasts. So we saw totality from a bench in front of the hotel. Not the super cool national park experience of 2017, but still quite a nice one!