April 8th Total Eclipse

Yep - for the 2017 eclipse I went to Ninety Six National Historic Site in South Carolina and had perfect weather, very quiet near a pond, open space/field with some tree nearby. Could not have gone better really.

This time heading to Sandusky OH and will find a spot near there along Lake Erie. Slightly better chance at clear skies near the water (in the general Northeast area - driving distance for me - as the NE often has cloud cover in April), will get close to 4 minutes of totality. I also picked there as I felt I could also decide to head southwest along the totality line depending on cloud conditions/forecasts and get pretty far.

I figured after 2017 that I'd seen it once and would not need to see this one, but decided it was worth another trip. Luckily I was able to get a room back in early May before people and hotels had caught on and got a decent rate.

If you haven't seen one before, it is very cool - keep in mind it doesn't get night-time dark but dusk/in the shade dark - photos are misleading. If you have a clear view of the horizon you should get a sunset like effect 360 degrees. What's fascinating to me is watching the pinpoints of light on the ground through the trees start to form crescent circles as the eclipse progresses. Its best if you can get to a natural area that isn't too crowded to try to hear birds/insects etc. react to it...

Where are you headed?

I found an old church ruin in D'Hanis, TX that I think will make for a nice picnic spot.  It's thankfully close enough I can just wake up my normal workday time and drive there for lunch and get back home for dinner.  That convenience is the clincher for me this time around.  This will be my first total eclipse, although I've seen 4-5 partials so far.

That far south in Texas should be a great place for it. 

It really is a different experience than a partial - not as big a difference as I had expected in terms of darkness, but definitely different and better, more surreal to see the sun totally disappear. 

We'll need to compare notes afterwards.

Next time in the US is the Dakotas in 2044 I think. I keep telling friends they ought to make an effort to see it...

At the point where I am starting to check the forecasts even though the accuracy this far out is suspect...

Turns out there is a small safari park very near where I will be. I am tempted to head there out of curiosity as to how the animals will react...

I’m fortunately very well placed to see it. Technically I could just go to the north end of Columbus and get a pretty good level of totality, but I think me and a few friends are going up to Marion, OH where one of them is from to spend the day. 

Drove down to Bowling Green, KY in 2017, first time experiencing an eclipse. Pretty cool time. 

So the eclipse went well from my location, although there were some high-level clouds near Sandusky, it was really perfect viewing conditions. I found a stone jetty/fishing pier and boat launch area on the Sandusky Bay that was not crowded at all but offered great views across the water. The high level clouds helped the darkness level - in 2017 was so cloudless that it didn't seem as dark as it was this time, much more dramatic.

Hope everyone had a good experience!

I got some neat pics of the ruined church I trucked out to; but it was graydome clouds all day long with breaks only early in the morning while I was driving, giving me false hopes.  This whole universe is a miserable shit-hole of broken promises!

@adrienveidt Yeah, Texas was really unlucky with the weather it seems. Sorry you missed out.

Conversely, now you have reason to stay alive another 20 years for the next one.

Posted by: @fac

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Conversely, now you have reason to stay alive another 20 years for the next one.

Bah!  CalrissianThisDealGetsWorseEveryTime.jpg