My family and I probably could have made it to Carbondale, IL, but I was a bit afraid we might not make it due to all the traffic. So I settled for a spot near the Ohio River in far (really far) Western KY. It was pegged for 3:06 of totality, at a Wildlife Management Area shoreside of a lake with a large cleared area to the west. (grain fields to attract waterfowl) All sorts of spots had modest groupings of cars and people — we went on to the small primitive (very) campground beside the lake and there were maybe 100 people there. I parked @ the edge and we walked about 50 yards to a spot with good bank access and no people. I laid out a small tarp for wifey and daughter-san to sit on, cast in a line for bluegill, and we settled in about 20 minutes B4 totality. Conditions were great - just a few thin high cirrus clouds, 75 deg., light wind.
This eclipse got noticeably darker than the one in 2017, in which totality lasted only a little over 2 minutes for us. The fall of darkness seemed more rapid and dramatic too, and the 360 deg. sunset was more evident too. Some dude back @ the group of cars started yelling “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” just as the “diamond ring” effect winked out. Had to chuckle at that. Less the sunlight, it definitely felt cooler. After some “wows!” and hoots for the 1st 15 seconds or so of darkness, things quieted down, until cheering started when the “diamond ring” reappeared. Back to the eclipse glasses... I took my last look about 30 minutes after totality ended, and we headed back home. A few people stuck around, I imagine to the very end (and one couple stayed to fish more), but my wife’s allergies were really firing up. :-(
All in all, yes, pretty cool indeed! It’d have been fun to watch it as part of a big crowd*, but, this was a “guaranteed we can get there”, and no traffic to fight afterward either. The joke in the area has been “5 hours to get to Carbondale from Chicago, but 15 hours if you are leaving Carbondale for Chicago right after the eclipse!”
*I wonder what the biggest crowd was? 50k were reported at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“50k were reported at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
I saw a report about people watching the eclipse today and it looked like a crowd at the Speedway and it turned out it was!
(Started going the 500 in ‘78 and have only missed 5!)
Born in Gary, Indiana. Same hospital as Michael Jackson...my only claim to fame.
Nice coverage!
Sounds wonderful. I have family living in Hot Springs, AR. Too bad I didn’t learn about this total sun eclipse a month ago. I wouldn’ve loved to visit.