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Doc Savage
Member
Well, I'm just getting back to good communications after viewing the event near Maryville, Tn. I can't add any words that would adequately describe the eclipse any better than many of you, but I kept an eye out for any fellow Tesla owners. I saw only one, a red X that was headed southbound on Hy 321. If it was any of you, that was me in the white S90D.
A day or so after the eclipse, we travelled over to the N. Carolina side, and I would like to thank the owner of that Mercedes sedan that decided to turn around in the middle of the road just after the summit. The length of time that it took him to maneuver his beast back and forth several times left me with the entire downslope with no traffic in front of me. I enjoyed the once in a lifetime ride with an open course.
Should that have been filed under "Tesla Moments"???
A day or so after the eclipse, we travelled over to the N. Carolina side, and I would like to thank the owner of that Mercedes sedan that decided to turn around in the middle of the road just after the summit. The length of time that it took him to maneuver his beast back and forth several times left me with the entire downslope with no traffic in front of me. I enjoyed the once in a lifetime ride with an open course.
Should that have been filed under "Tesla Moments"???
Something amusing to me were all the emergency alert texts my phone started getting just prior to the eclipse:
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^^^Sure, there are hardships... but I think most people will agree that releasing a media player that is far worse than any media player from 15 years ago... is way beyond a "hardship."
First world problems.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
This entire forum is a First World problem.
My wife and drove from Loveland CO to Gering NE to see the eclipse.
Our first plan was to drive to Arthur NE, but the weather looked better further West so we changed our minds and decided on Gering.
We thought driving north on I25 to Cheyenne WY would have lots of traffic (and there was lots of traffic).
We left home Monday morning at 407am fully charged (98%), drove highway 34 to I76 and charged at Brush CO Supercharger.
There were many cars on the road but no slowdowns or delays.
We charged for 13 minutes.
Brush has 8 chargers and 4 of the 8 were in use at 525am.
Next stop was Sydney NE Supercharger.
We arrived at 7am.
We were the only one charging.
We had breakfast at the Perkins restaurant next to the Tesla supercharger.
Charged to 97% since I did not know how much extra driving we might do.
We arrived at the Five Rocks Amphitheater in Gering NE at 913am.
We used 35% so we had 62% charge left to get back to Sydney; no anxiety.
The folks in Gering were the best hosts; free eclipse glasses, free water, food to purchase; we were very impressed.
Not a cloud in the sky; it was perfect viewing.
We left shortly after the eclipse and drove back to Sydney (4 of 8 chargers in use) and to Brush (5 of 8 chargers in use).
Again, many cars, but no slowdowns or delays.
I saw on the news that traffic through Cheyenne was horrible with several hours delay.
We were happy that we went to Gering NE.
Our first plan was to drive to Arthur NE, but the weather looked better further West so we changed our minds and decided on Gering.
We thought driving north on I25 to Cheyenne WY would have lots of traffic (and there was lots of traffic).
We left home Monday morning at 407am fully charged (98%), drove highway 34 to I76 and charged at Brush CO Supercharger.
There were many cars on the road but no slowdowns or delays.
We charged for 13 minutes.
Brush has 8 chargers and 4 of the 8 were in use at 525am.
Next stop was Sydney NE Supercharger.
We arrived at 7am.
We were the only one charging.
We had breakfast at the Perkins restaurant next to the Tesla supercharger.
Charged to 97% since I did not know how much extra driving we might do.
We arrived at the Five Rocks Amphitheater in Gering NE at 913am.
We used 35% so we had 62% charge left to get back to Sydney; no anxiety.
The folks in Gering were the best hosts; free eclipse glasses, free water, food to purchase; we were very impressed.
Not a cloud in the sky; it was perfect viewing.
We left shortly after the eclipse and drove back to Sydney (4 of 8 chargers in use) and to Brush (5 of 8 chargers in use).
Again, many cars, but no slowdowns or delays.
I saw on the news that traffic through Cheyenne was horrible with several hours delay.
We were happy that we went to Gering NE.
Very well done! We used the Superchargers in Loveland, CO on our way up to Torrington, WY after spending some time in the Front Range area. Although we truly appreciated the hospitality in Torrington and the great viewing from the hilltop airport, the southbound traffic after the eclipse was very bad. It would have been better if we had stayed further away from I-25.
Of course, that's water under the bridge. The question is, how should one plan to optimize the eclipse experience in April 2024 when North America again sees totality? While the most optimal viewing locations may be in Mexico, the best US locations for viewing seem most likely to be in Texas, ideally not far from the Rio Grande. We could very well see people from all over North America (and elsewhere) converging on that one area, thus producing more congestion than in the 2017 eclipse. On the other hand, if we're using fully autonomous vehicles by then, that might make the congestion more tolerable.
After witnessing totality in 2017, we don't think we'll want to miss future eclipses that are reasonably accessible.
The Babylonians and the Mayans independently discovered the Saros Cycle of 18 years and 10 days. Successive eclipses in each cycle are quite stable with respect to latitude, shape of path and length of totality. Unfortunately the longitude shifts 1/3 of the way around the world west each time. So these civilizations could predict the date of an eclipse but not its precise timing or where it might be total. It required Kepler and Newton's understanding of astrophysics and calculus to improve upon that.
When Exactly Will the Eclipse Happen? A Multimillenium Tale of Computation—Stephen Wolfram Blog
This was my 11th total solar eclipse and Liz O'Mara's 9th. We met online via common interest in skiing and eclipse chasing in July 2010. Unfortunately she lived in NY and was skiing in Chile after seeing the eclipse on Easter Island while I was skiing in New Zealand after viewing from the Paul Gauguin cruise ship off Tahiti. We met in person when her NYC ski club came to Mammoth in March 2011, and the rest is history. She moved to LA in 2013 and we have seen the last 5 eclipses together.
Before we knew of each other, we independently wanted to see the 2017 eclipse from the top of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort at 10,450 feet. We began pestering the resort in 2014 and they finally developed a plan for the tram a year ago. We organized tram tickets for 57 people and lodging in Teton Village for about half of them.
We did not take our Tesla on this trip due to the lengthened travel time from SoCal and the possibility we might have to drive some distance east or west on short notice if Jackson's weather forecast was unfavorable. As it was, only 40 of us went up the tram because Idaho's forecast was a slam dunk while ours was maybe 75% clear. But the scattered clouds moved through quickly and it was all clear on the mountain from about 9:30AM.
In July Liz and I thought this would be the most appropriate time and place to get married, but it took until August 6 before we found a retired judge to officiate. We were filmed by the Weather Channel.
We were also featured in a write-up for Outside magazine: https://www.outsideonline.com/2235826/j ... ld-eclipse
I did not see this thread until today. I was active on ski forums urging people to get into the totality zone and persuaded perhaps 10 of them to do so. I'm pleased this thread was effective in getting the word out too. We love our Tesla and use it for 3/4 of our driving including most ski trips to Mammoth. But this was a scenario where it could cause delays and complications, not chances we were willing to take.
We were also in Yellowstone for 5 days after the eclipse, spending 4 nights at Canyon Lodge. One night I saw an X75D from Ontario plugged into a 110V outlet near the front desk. There's a more patient traveler than we are! I inquired and found out that Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs are the only locations in the park with 220V charging. The other lodging locations are supposed to get them by next summer. I do think that the West Yellowstone Supercharger makes travel within the park viable, particularly since the speed limit is 45mph.
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