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  #51  
Old 08-23-2017, 01:23 PM
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The traffic on 95 north was Epic and I hate that word. No accidents just too many cars all at once. We accordioned along well past the NC border. Had a nice chat with Eric S while he was doing the same on 75. Added almost 4 hours to the trip total but was expected and planned for. The kids made nests and rocked some reading, bugged dad some and I busted out some saved up podcasts and made the requisite stop while still in NC for some of the good fireworks. Based on 2 data points I think the best way to do an eclipse is to go somewhere that is interesting on its own and in the path of totality. That way there is no rush to go and things to do before and after. Most people that witness a total say it is worth it. This was total #2 for me and I was focused on making sure the kids were all set and looking in the right directions at the right times to see all the cool stuff. I was just as gobsmacked as the first time and almost forgot to get the promised family photo. It really is something all in its own and you can't reproduce the experience in any way at all. Anything from 1% to 99% is still simply not a Total. No excuse to not plan ahead ether.

Seeing as this thread is all geeked up anyway there will be a TV show worth watching tonight.

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/201...oyager-mission

Both craft are still working as planned and both have left the influence of our star. They are unique machines built in the time of 8-tracks and platform shoes. In fact 8 tracks are incorporated into the recording gear on both machines. Quite likely long after we humans are gone they will still be traveling.

One thing that sets humans apart from all other known life is that we have left the bounds of earth. Humans only temporally and for short distances. Our true shinning achievement is the machines that do our bidding for us. It is the highest order of "tool maker". The celestial machines we send forth are our eyes and ears going places that we cannot. From Voyagers visiting the outer planets and then on to find and record the edge of the solar system to Hubble looking back to the near beginning of the universe. We are frail little animals, bare in skin, short in tooth and claw but we are giants by our hand. The way I look at it is unknowns are only unknown once but answers add up and live on for all recorded history. We humans devise and send forth our machines to do our bidding in the one true endeavor, the quest of knowledge. (I know I know, around here it is "Racing everything else is just waiting")

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Last edited by Vicegrip; 08-23-2017 at 01:39 PM.
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  #52  
Old 08-23-2017, 01:29 PM
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Atacama desert, Chile, summer 2019...
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Old 08-23-2017, 02:17 PM
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Actually, there are two coming up in Chile in the next three years. I've been to Chile a half dozen times and it is a nice place to visit.

The next US eclipse in April 2024 looks to be very problematic weatherwise.

One of my favorite memories of the recent eclipse was the yelp of astonishment and joy expressed by hundreds of people hanging out together in a Walmart parking lot. You can read all about these things and see all the pictures, but totality still has a shock effect when seen with your own eyes. This was a bit of a waltz down memory lane for me. My last total eclipse viewing was in 1970. I was 17.
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  #54  
Old 08-23-2017, 02:32 PM
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Ben and I are talking about Chile--we'll see. Chile, Peru, and the Galapagos are on my bucket list, and might make a real trip out of it. Gonna build up those frequent-flier miles!
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Old 08-23-2017, 03:09 PM
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I agree with Vicegrip on the 95 traffic out of South Carolina. Took Route 1 most of the way. Probably slower than 95 even with the traffic but more enjoyable.

Great to see the totality. I thought the darkness was much more interesting than looking at the sun.

No way my wife was wearing a welding helmet nor letting me wear one so I went looking for replacement filters. Could only find welding shade number 11 at Robert's Oxygen. Worked just fine although adding a set of sunglasses to the #11 was helpful at times.
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Old 08-23-2017, 09:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ovfd911 View Post
With traffic as it was, we made the decision to go East rather than face I-75 to Niota. We were in a mowed field in Tellico Plains, TN near the Smoky Mountains "Tail of the Dragon". All of the stories of animals doing strange things are true. People too! I highly suggest a road trip for the 2024 event. In this field of people in just 6 cars I met a builder who is doing a job in my Oxford, MD. (Do doo, do dooh!) It was worth the insane traffic. Do you agree Tim and Eric?
Glad to see you made it Tim, Eric will have to respond about the traffic as I never left my back yard....very lucky this time. I had the pleasure of hosting the event and was tasked with keeping everyone fed and as comfortable as I could, although I did expect to have more, it was definitely an event I would travel to see again. The totality was as weird as it could be, 92 and sunny to 78 and pitch dark in less that a few minutes, then daylight in seconds is something you have to experience to appreciate.
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Old 08-23-2017, 09:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trytryagain View Post
Actually, there are two coming up in Chile in the next three years. I've been to Chile a half dozen times and it is a nice place to visit.

The next US eclipse in April 2024 looks to be very problematic weatherwise.

One of my favorite memories of the recent eclipse was the yelp of astonishment and joy expressed by hundreds of people hanging out together in a Walmart parking lot. You can read all about these things and see all the pictures, but totality still has a shock effect when seen with your own eyes. This was a bit of a waltz down memory lane for me. My last total eclipse viewing was in 1970. I was 17.
Agreed, In my video, if you listen closely you can hear all the neighbors and I have to assume people in the surrounding hills all cry out when the totality hits.
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  #58  
Old 08-24-2017, 10:59 AM
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Sorry for the delayed response, I left Tennessee right after totality on Monday and just arrived home... My description of the traffic was to imagine a giant python with its tail in DC and its head in TN; the python swallowed a pig and I was part of the pig as it was slowly digested and many hours later pooped out in Fairfax! Fairfax to Niota is 522 miles, 7.5 hours without traffic; for me it was 11 hours down and 12 hours back for a total of 23 hours driving in a 34 hour span. And yes, it was worth it! My sincere appreciation to Tim for offering to share his home and family for celestial spectacle; thank you, Tim!

Kurt, Jim and others are spot-on regarding the essence of totality - the experience is binary: totality or (next to) nothing. It is an experience difficult to accurately convey to anyone who didn't feel it themselves or witness it with their own eyes. It was magical; profoundly beautiful and amazing. Fun chat with Kurt recounting the experience that helped keep me awake on the solo drive.

I've seen lots of amazing photos, but nothing that captured what I saw with my own eyes, either unaided or through binoculars. The deepest black and perfectly round circle of the moon, the brilliant corona with three "wisps" extending multiple diameters of the sun into space, and the orange lines/flames, surrounded by light blue sky and an adjacent star. Breadth and depth of light and colors that cameras just can't capture. When the "diamond ring" appeared after totality, it was sooo seductive that there was a compelling desire to stare at it; the point of light was so pure, so white and so bright; intoxicating, wow!

The long drive back had one interesting element: watching the stream of traffic mysteriously splitting off and taking obscure exits for long jaunts through the countryside with the promise from google/waze/GPS that it would be quicker - even if heading in the wrong ordinal direction. Got me thinking about how Google could really screw with people by sending them on wild goose chases as they blindly follow every direction (or if hacked could intentionally cluster an area a la the Italian Job). Also feel bad for the peaceful country homesteads that typically have 3 cars a day pass by to having their tranquility shattered by a never-ending stream of cars mysteriously appearing out of nowhere. An interesting social consequence, and something new to consider when buying property near a major route.
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Last edited by Eric S; 08-24-2017 at 12:32 PM.
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  #59  
Old 08-24-2017, 12:48 PM
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Nice write-up, Eric! That "adjacent star" was Mercury. It can be seen at 8 o'clock (to the sun) on my photo, post #40 on this thread.

Agree - photos cannot capture the beauty of the image at totality. Our eyes have a much greater depth of brightness capture than camera sensors (or film). And the moon is an "almost"-perfect disk, as you can see by Baily's beads, when the mountains of the moon break up the smoothness of the finest arc of sun:

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Old 08-26-2017, 12:13 PM
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Dad and I canceled our road trip due to some family health problems, but observed anyway. Here's my best photo.
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