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Tim4d
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Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Aug 18th, 2017 at 2:20pm
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Two of my sons and I will make a dash for it starting about 4 a.m. Monday (because one son gets off work at 3:30 a.m.).  My initial target is the diner in Wedgefield, SC, (near Sumter) and/or the nearby Manchester State Forest, which appears to have a number of potential places to park, picnic and watch.  I picked the area thinking fewer people would go out into the "middle of nowhere" even though it is fairly close to interstate highways and Columbia.  After picking my destination, a web site predicting  "crowd size potential" (based on population centers and roads) agrees this area will be less crowded.  Now I see a cloud cover prediction map in the newspaper today that casts some doubt on that location.  The Weather Channel app predicts "intervals of clouds and sunshine".  Today's newspaper map gives better clear sky prediction for western reaches of NC and SC, so we might end up somewhere there but I have to start scoping out potential destinations.  No matter what it will be a dad and lads adventure.
  
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JoeM
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #1 - Aug 19th, 2017 at 10:37am
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Well you have an enjoyable safe trip, Tim.
I am going to settle for the 93% eclipse effect right here in Raleigh. Smiley
  
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Tim4d
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #2 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 10:18am
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12 plus hours of driving for 2.5 minutes of total eclipse and it was totally worth it! Amazing sight and sounds.  Getting there was easy.  Traffic leaving was a mess and we got home about 1:15 a.m.  We picnicked at a boat ramp under a bridge over the Saluda River, near the crossroads of Chappells, SC, and about a mile or less from the center line of totality.  I was impressed by the near total black and white appearance of the dark moon disk, dark space and streaming corona.  There was one spot that had some color, so that was likely sunlight peeking through moon topography.  Also how "small" it appeared, after seeing total eclipse photos and video enlarged to fill frames and screens.  The April 2024 eclipse path runs through Dallas where I have friends and family, so I may go there in 7 years.  Worth seeing twice.
  
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Tim4d
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #3 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 10:33am
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Waiting for start ... getting close ... I took one quick pano photo with phone camera but it just resulted in a black dot ... post total eclipse smiles and selfies.
  

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Tim4d
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #4 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 10:38am
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Son Nathan scored the shade-14 viewers from a street vendor who must have gathered up many free from libraries and such, then turned a nice profit day before the eclipse.
  
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Tim4d
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #5 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 11:22am
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Correction -- Our spot was about 5 miles away from the center line.  We passed up people who simply pulled off into a corn field  right where  the line crossed the two-lane road we used to get to the boat ramp.
  
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Scott LaBorde
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #6 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 3:41pm
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Thanks for the report Tim4d.  I ended up with the bandwagon to Charleston.  Unfortunately just at totality thick clouds swallowed the sun and everything afterwards.  Sad At least we had fun up until then.
  

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JoeM
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #7 - Aug 22nd, 2017 at 7:11pm
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Sounds, and looks Wink, like you had a great time, tim! Good enough!
I sat on the back deck with my glasses, not a cloud in the sky, and watched a beautiful rare event and listened to the birds trying to figure out what was going on with Bonnie Tyler singin' in the background! Cheesy
Hard to believe the next one is going to be so soon.
  
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Tim4d
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Re: Who Is Going to the Eclipse Totality Zone?
Reply #8 - Aug 23rd, 2017 at 3:38pm
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Yes, Joe, April 8, 2024!  I have family and friends in Dallas (in the totality zone) so I likely will plan a trip to Texas then.
  
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