As many others did, I did a large roadtrip for viewing the total solar eclipse. I had a vacation request on the books at work for 6.5 years since the last total eclipse happened to make sure I had the time off from work for viewing.
Some of the potential areas that I was targeting for my viewing included: with some relatives in San Antonio, in the Midwest somewhere like SE Missouri, or with some relatives in Vermont. I kept waffling as the forecasts along the path were changing last week. Late on Thursday, I made the final decision to do the trip to Vermont on Friday/Saturday (avoiding travel on the day before and the day of the eclipse), returning on Tuesday/Wednesday. As I was driving through Ohio on Saturday morning, it became apparent that the forecasts showed Missouri would likely be a good place to view. Already on the road and plans made to see family, there was no reason to head back. As I was enjoying time with the family after the eclipse, looking at the traffic on Apple Maps, I was happy to not be trying to make it any anywhere that evening!
One of the memes I saw on Saturday sure seemed like the most accurate forecast for the solar eclipse:
View attachment 1037906
ABRP plan says the round trip should have been something like 3,125 miles, but with supercharger hunting, the roundtrip was 3,590 miles, so 15% extra for the side trips. The car's trip meter said 1,118 kWh at 311 Wh/mi, so not bad for relatively high speed Interstate travel. Being able to complete the travel each day in two days kept me limited on the amount of side trips that I was wiling to take, especially for single stations. After I got back, I saw mention of the potential meetup near Lake Placid, but I had decided to skip that site since it would add an hour for the single site and I really was just stopping for the minimum time necessary with a majority of the stops being less than 5 minutes. I did try to focus on clearing larger cities as I drove through them, but limited the least direct routing.
All in all, a very fun trip. I'm ready for the eclipse cutting across the US in 2045. Weather permitting, that one will only require 30 minutes of travel time and many places will get 5 minutes of totality during the eclipse in 2045. Mark your calendars for August 12, 2045!
It's fun looking at the energy production from the solar panels on the house during the last two total eclipses (only partial eclipses at the house)! The production profiles on both days were almost identical, even though to the naked eye, you couldn't tell there was anything going on here at home.
View attachment 1037912
And now, for the all-important summary of new superchargers, including two firsts that were previously announced.
Check-ins for 2024-04-05
- Belton, MO (#196)
- Concordia, MO (#197)
- Columbia - W Broadway, MO (#198)
- Columbia - Clark Ln, MO (#199)
- St. Charles - Beale St, MO (#200)
- St. Louis - Riverview Dr, MO (#201)
- Collinsville, IL (#202)
- Edwardsville, IL (#203)
- Vandalia, IL (#204) (First to check-in)
- Effingham, IL (#205)
- Effingham - Avenue of Mid-America, IL (#206)
- Terre Haute, IN (#207)
- Indianapolis, IN (#208)
- Indianapolis - E Southport Rd, IN (#209)
- Spiceland, IN (#210)
- Richmond, IN (#211)
- Dayton, OH (#212)
- Beavercreek, OH (#213)
Check-ins for 2024-04-06
- Columbus - Hilliard Rome Rd, OH (#214)
- Dublin, OH (#215)
- Columbus - E Campus View Blvd, OH (#216)
- Polaris, OH (#217)
- Mt. Gilead, OH (#218)
- Ashland - Enterprise Pkwy, OH (#219)
- Seville, OH (#220)
- North Canton, OH (#221) (First to check-in)
- Macedonia, OH (#222)
- Willowick, OH (#223)
- Erie, PA (#224)
- Erie - Perry Hwy, PA (#225)
- Fredonia, NY (#226)
- Cheektowaga, NY (#227)
- Buffalo, NY (#228)
- Batavia, NY (#229)
- Waterloo, NY (#230)
- Syracuse, NY (#231)
- Syracuse - Destiny USA Dr, NY (#232)
- Verona, NY (#233)
- Malta, NY (#234)
Check-ins for 2024-04-07
- South Burlington, VT (#235)
- Williston, VT (#236)
Check-ins for 2024-04-09
- Plattsburgh, NY (#237)
- North Hudson, NY (#238)
- Chestertown, NY (#239)
- Queensbury, NY (#240)
- Gansevoort, NY (#241)
- Albany, NY (#242)
- Guilderland, NY (#243)
- Rotterdam, NY (#244)
- Oneonta, NY (#245)
- Binghamton, NY (#246)
- Kirkwood, NY (#247)
- Moosic, PA (#248)
- Wilkes-Barre Township, PA (#249)
- Bloomsburg, PA (#250)
- Williamsport, PA (#251)
- Mill Hall, PA (#252)
- Bellefonte, PA (#253)
- State College, PA (#254)
- Altoona, PA (#255)
- Claysburg, PA (#256)
- Somerset - Westbound Service Plaza, PA (#257)
- Somerset, PA (#258)
- New Stanton, PA (#259)
- Washington, PA (#260)
- Triadelphia - Gantzer Ridge Rd, WV (#261)
Check-ins for 2024-04-10
- Triadelphia, WV (#262)
- Cambridge, OH (#263)
- Grove City, OH (#264)
- Indianapolis - Waterway Blvd, IN (#265)
- Speedway, IN (#266)
- St. Louis, MO (#267)
- Brentwood, MO (#268)
- Fenton, MO (#269)
- Chesterfield - N Outer 40 Rd, MO (#270)
I’m with her.
