2024 Solar Eclipse - MONDAY April 8 2024

So there's this, that the Mrs came across. It's where they have the fall smash-em-up circus... I mean local fair.... at the airport I mentioned above. It's a small field area right next to the airport. Not great or private in the least, but if someone is looking and just wants a legit place to plop for couple days it's there as an option. 10 minutes north of St Albans.
100$ / 200$

https://www.franklincountyfielddays.org/event-details/total-solar-eclipse-camping

"About the event
This is a three day two night event but you are able to come and go as you please. The price is one flat rate for the entire duration (even if you come late or leave early). A campsite purchased with amedities will include power hookups. There will be a limited amount of public bathrooms (there will be no showers) on the grounds. There will be two different vendors that campers can purchase food from.
All ticket sales are final and non refundable."


... haha 'amedities' is from their site...

 

That's kind of enticing actually. But $$$.

4.5 hours from home, so waiting until 8-9 would be tough :|

I saw something like a town in TX is declaring a state of emergency ahead of this (to free up funds, I am guessing, for traffic control and such). So we might want to actually come up with a plan and have a place to go, instead of winging it. And I don't know if a day trip will be in my future, I'm thinking I'll go up Saturday or Sunday, and then head back Monday night if the timing is fair, or wait until Tuesday AM.

 

I'm basically committed to Arkansas. So I'm out for any northern runs. sorry guys. Pairing it with some biking so it'll be a good overall trip.

 

Yeah the $ amounts ... I mean, I guess 100 isn't bad for 3day / 2night given the event, but to me it's not great "camping" just an outdoor motel near the highway and Swanton lol. Still better than 500 per night at some indoor places. And you get to see crazy guy from the little airport doing loops overhead in his single engine. Comes over our way quite often to do that. He crash landed on the highway a few years back.... good times...

 

I live in the Akron - Cleveland area and get off work at 2 just as the eclipse is beginning. The plan right now is to not take my lunch break and leave 30 minutes early at 1:30 and get home which is only 10 minutes away and go out in the front yard at home and see what happens with our eclipse sunglasses. My wife bought 10 pair for family and friends. After the eclipse we plan to head downtown Kent for the concert in the park. A tribute band will be playing Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon and having a laser show. Hotels in my area are all booked up and campgrounds as well. Other towns are having similar festivities as well in the area. Pop a cold one and enjoy.
It was 10-15 years ago we had another eclipse that wasn't so eventful in the middle of the day and my employer tried to make everyone stay inside and work. Nobody listened and eventually management came outside as well. At the same plant we had a local police officer murdered about 10 years ago and as his funeral procession came down the street past our factory and everyone walked off the job and went outside to watch. Sometimes people have to do what they have to do. Our employer got over it.

 

I’m front row here in VT actually have Mondays off!
Just gonna step outside got glasses for the whole bunch whom will be there anyway, wife does a dinner Mondays for kids and grandkids!
Last eclipse till 2044!

 

This is a huge deal in my area (Seneca county OH). Schools are closed, my work is even going to be close. The estimation is that our county is suppose to quadruple in population for this event. I will have to remember to get gas and food by the Wednesday before so avoid all the crazies coming it.

 

Same here St Albans has things going on made our news as well as other towns!
I got no plans of leaving my house until it’s over!!!!

 

My only hesitation to make it a weekend instead of a day trip is if the weather is absolute dog poopoo the day of, I can call it and just see the clouds from home. But if I make a weekend out of it, I'm stuck up there for it regardless. I guess I could high tail it home southbound around noon if the weather is jacked up and enjoy a weekend in the woods anyway.

TBD - We have a few ideas and thoughts about places to go.

 

Yea I think that's why it's a good idea to make this more of a trip around something else other than just the eclipse. Treat it as a weekend in the woods with the eclipse as a bonus if it happens.
That's why I'm ok w/ the Bentonville trip. If I get skunked on the eclipse, I still have a full 10 days of biking to look forward to.

 

Oh, you're going to Walmart town? Nice! I never went through there, I went through Little Rock and the Ozarks. There's a little town in the Ozarks called Mountain Home. If you're anywhere near there, it's great. I can only assume they're going to be SLAMMED for this though.



We have some ideas for VT, just asking around about gates and mud season. If this was in the summer when the gates are wide open, we have 4-5 spots that ain't nobody else finding, but if the gates are closed through Jun 1, we're locked out. Unless we parked somewhere and then walked in with our gear for 4-5 miles

 

What are the nighttime temperatures like way up there by Canada that time of year?

 

Yeah I want to hit Hannaford by Thursday, then block the driveway Friday evening. I already told the Mrs. that setup. Unfortunately we're dealing with out of state issues at the moment so hopefully some amount of the internet and landline phones will still work Sun / Mon. Woooooooot!


Side note-ish : Last year (was it?) during the partial eclipse I used my welding helmet to some success for viewing, if anyone needs a last minute method to watch.

 

I would say avg 40's for open field up this way. But it can be all over the place - today our daytime high is ~64 but will be ~12 tonight.

Just popped this up, shows avg for other weather stuff too, like cloudiness etc -

https://weatherspark.com/countries/US/VT

 

It's worth the visit if you like biking. Other than I'm not sure there's much a need to visit haha.

For the eclipse I'm hoping to hit some forest service roads a couple hours away, then move on to bentonville a couple days later after Buffalo River National Park. Want to explore that place a little and have a campsite booked for 2 nights.

 

Could be 55 degrees. Could be 10 and snowing. Could be raining and cloudy. Could be sunny.

Night time usually mid 30s to mid 40s is my guess. If I do an overnight trip, I'll probably use my in-truck platform with a couple sleeping bags and blankets. RTT won't be on the truck for this one. But it might be, who knows!

Bentonville is taking off! Walmart makes every supplier have a presence there, plus the MTB scene, it's a hot little place. If Walmart left, though, or didn't make suppliers come out there, it would probably fall off the radar.

 

The bike trails in Bentonville look pretty awesome. I plan on going when my kids get a little older.

 

100% lol

For sure! I was there once before in 2020 and can highly recommend. The cool part is being able to kinda float through the whole town all on mountain bike trails

 

Good point about blocking driveway we have people trying to park in ours during maple fest and the tractor parade!

 

OK, so I just want to ask, is there a consensus on where, when, and how to meet up for this at all? Are we making a meet out of it? Camping and lunch the day and morning beforehand?