Plans for the solar eclipse

[DSMCy]

Come on guys, the earth is flat. Everyone will have the same experience.

Here's a site that, based on your zip code, will give you the exact time of the eclipse and the percentage of totality.
50266 (West Des Moines) is 95.2% at 1:08:18PM CST.

I'm mildly excited for it since its happening during the day and basically right over us. I'm not excited enough to drive south or plan anything crazy.

 

[Bryce7]

Driving my F-150 with lawn chairs out of Omaha down to the intersection of Hiway 50 and 34.

 

[PineClone]

Eclipse simulator

 

[carvers4math]

The wife and I have the day off. We didn't take it off for the eclipse, just because it fit our schedules. However, the more I hear about it, we'll probably try to find some out of the way place a little north of KC and take it in. Apparently St Joseph, MO has been marketing this for a loooong time and is gonna be overflowing with people so I'm gonna stay the hell outta that city.

I'm debating whether or not we pull our daughter out of school for it. I'm not big into pulling kids out of school unless it's for an appt or an emergency, but I may bend my rule a bit.

My MIL took husband out of school for the moon landing. I'm sure he learned more than he would have at school. Is this her first day of school for the year?

 

[VeloClone]

We have a friend that is hosting a family friendly eclipse party all weekend in MO north of KC. We are seriously considering taking the kids for it.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

My MIL took husband out of school for the moon landing. I'm sure he learned more than he would have at school. Is this her first day of school for the year?

3rd day. I want to pull her out of school. My wife is leaning the other way. My daughter will be 10, is only in 5th grade, is a very good student, and one day won't do a thing to her. I think I'll win this battle by the time the 21st rolls around.

 

[k123]

Hotel seems unnecessary to me, as you can drive 2 hrs to get "totality", and the total eclipse will last 90-180 seconds, and partial eclipse about 3 hours:
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html

My plan, weather pending, is just drive down I-35 to Missouri and take off for some dead end gravel road (I know, rural Missouri, taking my life into my own hands...). Seeing videos like this make me to not want to be near any other shouty human beings:

 

[carvers4math]

3rd day. I want to pull her out of school. My wife is leaning the other way. My daughter will be 10, is only in 5th grade, is a very good student, and one day won't do a thing to her. I think I'll win this battle by the time the 21st rolls around.

I think you should win that one, unless they have planned some things at school to include it. My high school kids don't start until the 23rd. They would be more difficult, they tie attendance and grades to whether they have to take semester tests. Our semester tests in no way prepare anyone for college finals and they prefer to have those days to work on their AP classes and not taking the semester tests for their normal high school classes.

 

[VeloClone]

3rd day. I want to pull her out of school. My wife is leaning the other way. My daughter will be 10, is only in 5th grade, is a very good student, and one day won't do a thing to her. I think I'll win this battle by the time the 21st rolls around.

I would bet she won't be the only one out. My wife is militant about not pulling our kids out of school for not totally necessary stuff, but there are a lot of parents who take a week long family vacation during the school year because it is convenient. I believe this is the biggest eclipse around here since the late 70's so it is probably a once in a lifetime experience for your family.

*Check that, there is another in 2024 that will hit the midwest but your kid might not be as interested by then. After that we are looking at 2045 and it is farther south.

 

[VeloClone]

My plan, weather pending, is just drive down I-35 to Missouri and take off for some dead end gravel road (I know, rural Missouri, taking my life into my own hands...). Seeing videos like this make me to not want to be near any other human beings:

You should be fine. The eclipse will protect you.

 

[MeanDean]

I don't remember any specifically from the 70's but seems like there was a pretty significant one in the summer of the moon landing, so 1969. Memory is a funny thing but it seems to me it was right in that very same time period.

It got pretty dark but don't think it was 100%. I think if you're in the 90% area you're going to get pretty much the whole effect.

The biggest memory I have of it is kind of odd. I was getting some saltine crackers out of the cupboard and there was a southern exposure window right there. The shadow of the cracker with each of the little punched holes EACH showed the shape of the eclipse through down onto the windowsill. I remember thinking how odd it was that is was coming through every hole in the cracker. Funny what a person remembers..

Edit: Went back and looked at the dates of significant solar eclipses in the 60's and 70's that affected Iowa - where I lived. There were none during any of the Apollo missions. So obviously my memory was flawed. 50 years and I can't even accurately remember the details. Time for the assisted living home...

 

[The_Architect]

 

[mj4cy]

The wife and I have the day off. We didn't take it off for the eclipse, just because it fit our schedules. However, the more I hear about it, we'll probably try to find some out of the way place a little north of KC and take it in. Apparently St Joseph, MO has been marketing this for a loooong time and is gonna be overflowing with people so I'm gonna stay the hell outta that city.

I'm debating whether or not we pull our daughter out of school for it. I'm not big into pulling kids out of school unless it's for an appt or an emergency, but I may bend my rule a bit.

I think a real life education experience is a good excuse!

 

[CyCloned]

My Brother in Law is retiring from his "if I tell you what I do, I'll have to kill you" job at Offutt Air Force Base, and is having a party southwest of Omaha. We don't have a motel yet, so what the OP is saying is a little concerning. May have to camp in their backyard. Need to do some research on filters for the camera.

 

[2020cy]

Hitting the eclipse in Columbia Misery on the way back from the Ozarks.

 

[SpokaneCY]

im going to stare at it until my retinas burn out.

I'll do that as I wait for the mothership that is coming to take us all home that's been hiding in the dark shadows of the moon.

 

[Acylum]

Planning on sacrificing a virgin- anybody know one?

 

[Bryce7]

If you are in the middle, it will last two minutes thirty seconds.

 

[cycopath25]

Stay right in my town (Thermopolis, WY) as it is going directly over us.

 

[CloneLawman]

Stay right in my town (Thermopolis, WY) as it is going directly over us.

I was hoping that the population of Thermopolis was 300 when I checked on google. Not to demean the City or anything.