[hopfenundmalz]

A partial eclipse is like sex without an orgasm.

That may be crass, but that sums it up.

[MDixon]

Either make it into the zone or don't bother.

100% THIS^^^^

[Visor]

   I'm glad we decided to watch it all from the back yard. We started drinking homebrews about half an hour before totality and didn't quit until well after dark. According to the local rag, the highway out of town was bumper to bumper both directions, and I guess it only got worse when people made it to the interstate. The population of the county more than doubled over the event. We saw more than a dozen private planes fly in just before the eclipse, most flew back out with a couple hours.

[erockrph]

Totality in 2024 will be about 3 hours north of me, so I may try to make it.  Early April may be tough since there will still be considerable snow on the ground up there and the weather this time of the year isn't the best.  It will also be my son's projected last year of college, so who knows if I'll even have gas money to spare to drive up.

My son will be in 8th Grade, and I will gladly pull him out of school for this. I need to check if the Balsams are booking rooms for 2024 yet..

[chumley]

My wife and I drove down to West Yellowstone the day before and got a hotel room.....for $350!  Yikes!

But it was well worth it.  We headed west on U.S. 20 aiming for Ashton, Idaho.  Shortly outside of Island Park, we hit terrible traffic.  With her phone, the wife found a gravel road that we turned off on, and drove for 25 miles.  That in itself was pretty cool.  I was glad I took the pickup and not the car.

Yes, I agree that it isn't worth bothering unless its total.

One note of interest, though. One of my friends who stayed home went fishing during the eclipse.  He said the trout bit like crazy during it, he hooked 5 nice ones.

[santoch]

we hit terrible traffic.  With her phone, the wife found a gravel road that we turned off on, and drove for 25 miles.  That in itself was pretty cool.  I was glad I took the pickup and not the car.

Just don't do that in the winter. Blindly following GPS is how folks die out in the mountains (and the desert).