ice1972

I used Google Maps and downloaded the areas where I thought I'd be out of cell service.....worked very well....

Ya I tried to find the shadow bands but didn't have anything light enough to see....I wasn't too worried about it....I remember at about the 2min 15sec mark looking away and peering west and saw this onrushing light.....that was very memorable.....here it comes I thought and then I looked up and the ring popped and it was all over.....and I remember thinking damn it was so short but so tremendous....

Yep.....here's something I was disappointed in - lol I mean it's dumb but whatever - as a newb to the whole experience I still had my glasses on as totality approached and the first diamond ring popped.....and then I kept them on too long and it went total and I still had them on.....it was magnificent and stunning when I took off the glasses but I wanted to see it go total without the glasses.....sort of how when the diamond ring came back as totality ended I watched that with the naked eye well into the diamond ring until it was too bright.....next time I'll know....that second diamond ring was epic.....

Exactly......you can't know what the big deal is until you actually see it....how many times today did I have to explain the difference between being in a partial - even 95% partial - and being in totality......they stared at me with blank eyes....like deer in the headlights....the disbelief was palpable....some laughed, some gently shook their head up and down, some called me weird.....nobody in the office has ever seen one....it's like a club....you pretty much know that everybody you interact now is likely to have never seen totality.....I'm proud I killed my self to see it....the meh folks are so lol

I was reviewing the evolution of solar eclipses as they advance through the Saros cycle and I didn't know the duration of totality gets longer as the cycle approaches its midpoint and then it slowly decreases in time as it progresses to the end of the cycle....for example the one on Monday was part of Saros 145 and the 2min 30sec of totality is short compared to the max in the cycle of 7min 12sec on June 25, 2522......southern Africa - Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe......that would be awesome

I want to chase every total eclipse now......they are very hard to chase even when its right in your own backyard......its part of why it is so amazing once you get yourself in position and all that work pays off.......CHILE!!!

Legit there were people in the park where I was breaking down their equipment the second the diamond ring effect signifying the end of totality was over....other people chilled and were very much less interested in it......I mean lets face it.....the ending partial phase is like riding the carousel right after you just got off Kingda Ka....

I like this idea a lot but for me that would have been impossible since I had to divert so far......maybe an RV is the way to go.....lol

It's funny how the partial phase after totality is so meh after the main show is over......I stuck around until maybe 50% then I bailed too.....

Whats really interesting is how when I got to the Marshall exit off I-70 to assess my position I felt like I was still not southeast enough......so I headed to Columbia.....turns out maybe it was ok in Marshall......based on your report.....and the cu field didn't get in your way either.......so great it worked out for a lot of folks

Time lapse......

While I didn't really focus too much on capturing the moment with anything other than my two eyes and brain I did manage to pull off a few shots and a time lapse from my iPad that I set and forget.....here's three shots I managed to pull off with my iPhone.....I didn't have any photo equipment with me so my phone was my only option..... In totality.....I had to edit the original photo and turn up highlights to get the ring.....the photo original just looks like the sun on any normal day..... Looking east at totality..... Looking west at totality..... The time lapse i need to upload to YouTube.....I thought it was cool and it does show how the cu field dissipated as totality approached.....stand by

Damn I was wondering if my choice to bail on NE was the correct one.....seems it would have been fine.....lol.....I was going to target Ravenna which is just a bit further NW OF Grand Island....

Same....I knew I was going but got lazy and didn't plan it out until late and it was a meh plan in the end that got thrown in the fire ultimately......when I decided to fly I should have just flown all the way to Oregon but I wanted to be in the longer totality zone....not that it matters much.....oh well I got an amazing show and a marathon experience I won't soon forget

Seems like everybody and I mean everybody on this board that committed to witnessing this incredible thing didnwhatever it took to make it happen.....I was nervous I would not get there but in the end I made it.....nice work everybody.....I feel so blessed to have seen that.....I don't ever say that about anything....peace

Isn't it crazy how as diligent and prepared you try to be and think you are you have to keep adapting all the way up to zero time.....I booked into and out of Madison WI as it was the cheapest I could find and accepted that I'd have to drive pretty far....initial target was Ravenna NE but it became clear that was out by last night.....so sitting in my hotel room in Omaha I figured I'd drive southeast into central MO and assess visible satellite once I got to around Marshall......so when I pulled off 70 into a fireworks station - they love their fireworks in MO apparently - the sun was obscured quite a bit so I fired up COD weather and visible was just coming in and it looked like a good spot might be Ashland - about 40 miles more east and south.....so I bolted but couldn't find a decent public spot there so went back to Columbia and found an awesome soccer field full of folks with wide open 360 views......sun was only behind light haze.....which didn't matter in the end and the 2.5 minute experience - all of it really - was totally worth it......I'm hooked

It would be nice if confidence in cloud cover in an April eclipse in New England was higher.....I've already told my wife we're headed to at least Texas.....after today you gotta do whatever you can to get in a spot where totality happens combined with low prob cloud cover.....that was brutal today.....would have been nice today to not have had to drive 350 miles to get to clear totality.....but I would totally do it again....lol

No question....the approaching darkness from the west and the birds and wind thing were all real and the stars and planets thing....Venus in this case was awesome....and how the cu field dissipated....all of it was just so fantastic....I stayed the entire 3 hours....my glasses appear to not be fakes....keeping those for 2024.....

Somstarted in Omaha headed south on 29 to 70 and got to Columbia MO.....then straight north through super rural MO into Iowa to Iowa City....hell of a day....like a chess match...playing with the clouds trying to get to a clear spot....amazing few days

I just got back to my hotel in Iowa City.....there were a couple backups leaving Columbia MO but I think I was outside the major ****....took 5 hrs still

Damn dude.....

There's no question that all the work I put in today to get myself into the centerline and the miles I had to drive to do that was worth it.....for 2.5 minutes....some might say "are you insane that you drove 600 miles today for 2.5 minutes?".....and I would say "I see you've never seen totality.....next".....

Lol....pretty much

I also loved watching the incoming lightness from the west.....that was cool

And Fella everything you said I noticed too.....all of sudden there was no more cu around....we still had the high haze but I could still make out the corona....really great.... also I didn't notice the birds until I heard start chirping again.....the diamond ring effect is awesome....man I'm hooked....Aruba right?