I apparently live in a prime viewing area. All the hotels around were already sold out months ago by people coming from all over the country to watch it here. It's crazy. People have started renting out their yards as places to watch. We could probably make some pretty good money doing that, we're out in the country with big fields we could put a lot of people in, but we don't really want so many strangers around the place. I don't think we're going to be watching from home ourselves anyway so definitely don't want people here if we're gone.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:03 pm
by Catspaw
Whoa, I didn't realize that it was such a big deal that hotels book up months ahead of time and stuff like that! Hopefully lots of people will get a good view after making big plans!
As the previous paragraph has probably clued most people in to, I have no plans at this point. It's one of those things that sounds cool, but I'm still content to see somebody else's awesome picture of it than to go out of my way to try to see it myself.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:26 pm
by snubs
I just realized I work on the 21st, so it is very unlikely I will be seeing anything anyway. boo.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 8:14 pm
by bookworm
I think everyone will see it whether they're specifically watching or not... the day is going to turn to night right? I thought that's why it's such a big deal.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 6:48 pm
by Catspaw
This link makes it sound a little less dramatic than that, depending on where you are at the time of the eclipse. There is a ton of info for anybody wondering about times and locations for what they might see!
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:22 pm
by Mariogeek
I live in Oregon so everybody is selling cheap little glasses to view it, and the campgrounds and hotels are maxed out for that day.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:00 pm
by Parakeet
We bought a small box of eclipse glasses and we're going to a nearby city where there will be a full eclipse. We're staying in a hotel, watching a baseball game and visiting a science museum that's doing some sort of event or something for the eclipse.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:42 pm
by GJ
Parakeet wrote:We bought a small box of eclipse glasses and we're going to a nearby city where there will be a full eclipse. We're staying in a hotel, watching a baseball game and visiting a science museum that's doing some sort of event or something for the eclipse.
That's cool! I love baseball games.
I have relatives in Bend and we're considering staying with them for the week. I don't know if the timing would work, and the traffic will be awful, though it would be amazing, probably.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 7:07 pm
by The Old Judge
My locale is set right in the path of totality. Our county has approximately 230,000 residents. The weekend of the eclipse will surge that to a minimum of 500,000. The vast majority of the schools have shut down due to the utter gridlock that will happen on that Monday. Where we live, people actually are renting out their porches to people around the country for sizable sums of money so people may have an unobscured view of the event. Police are now estimating that the number of people within our county may top one million.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:13 pm
by bookworm
Same here; upwards of a million people expected, authorities anticipating the freeways to be gridlocked for up to a week after and advising locals to stock up on supplies because if all those people are stuck here for days they'll run the stores dry and trucks won't be able to get through to restock.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 7:23 pm
by Catspaw
Whoa, that is totally crazy! I knew that it was a big deal, but what bookworm and The Old Judge said still surprised me. That is a lot of people. I hope you guys get to enjoy the eclipse and that the overall hassle isn't too bad! Good for local stores etc. I guess!
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:15 pm
by bookworm
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:07 pm
by Laurie
I'll be watching on Science Channel.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:28 pm
by bookworm
This is the article that comic references. Pretty interesting.
The upcoming solar eclipse is poised to become the "most photographed, most shared, most tweeted event in human history," in the words of one astronomer. Millions of people will watch it, potentially overwhelming the cities and towns along the eclipse's path of totality.
According to Google, interest in the eclipse has exploded nationwide in the past few months, mirroring national media attention. The county-level search data above, provided by Google, paints a striking picture: Interest in the eclipse is concentrated in the path of totality that cuts through the middle of the country, receding sharply the farther you go from that path.
The searches are an uncanny virtual reflection of the eclipse itself. Experts say the difference between a total eclipse (viewable only in the path of totality) and a partial one (everywhere else) is quite literally the difference between night and day. Web users in counties within the path of the totality are looking up information on the eclipse five to 10 times more often than those well outside, according to Google's data.
In the past week, interest was highest in rural Clark County, Idaho, which lies directly in the eclipse's path. Nearby Idaho Falls plans to hold a four-day outdoor country music festival it's calling Moonfest.
Nebraska's Pawnee and Banner counties, situated at opposite ends of the state, show the next-highest amount of interest. Banner county lies just outside the path of totality, while Pawnee is directly within it.
Rounding out the top five counties are Rabun and Towns counties in northeast Georgia, both squarely within the eclipse's path.
In the past week, people searching the Web for the event are mostly looking up basic facts — a map of the eclipse's path, its exact time and information on the special glasses you'll need to avoid burning your eyeballs while looking at it.
The physical world asserts itself in our virtual lives in myriad ways. Searches for seasonal affective disorder follow a north-south gradient, for instance, and you can use Google searches to track everything from flu season to mosquito hatchings.
The eclipse searches are perhaps the most striking example of this phenomenon yet, as millions of Americans along an invisible celestial path tap their keyboards together, unknown to one another.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:12 pm
by Catspaw
Those are fascinating infographics! Thanks for sharing, bookworm.
Re: The Eclipse
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:18 pm
by Mariogeek
GJ wrote:
I have relatives in Bend and we're considering staying with them for the week. I don't know if the timing would work, and the traffic will be awful, though it would be amazing, probably.
No way! Someone I know? I lived in Bend until March. They are expecting upwards of 80,000 people. I am actually in the car on the way home from visiting some friends there. We aren't staying for the eclipse.
Hopefully lots of people will get a good view after making big plans! 
It's one of those things that sounds cool, but I'm still content to see somebody else's awesome picture of it than to go out of my way to try to see it myself.
