
When would you leave in my situation? (Hyperbole welcome)
#1
Posted 06 April 2024 - 08:37 PM
Maine DOT listed the road as moderate anticipated traffic. Every hotel by the town, Sugarloaf, is booked solid. There are other towns further northeast that are pushing 3:20. Even 3:30 if you drive to the top of Moosehead Lake.
Those who’ve been around eclipses, what are your guesses? I was thinking of leaving between 5 and 6 AM Monday. Is that crazily optimistic? 4? 3? Now?
#2
Posted 06 April 2024 - 08:38 PM
#3
Posted 07 April 2024 - 09:16 AM
I would go earlier than later.
- Matt78 likes this
#4
Posted 07 April 2024 - 09:30 AM
You asked for hyperbole, so here goes:
I don't deal well with crowds. I'd leave on Sunday and find a place to sleep, even if it was just in my car. On Monday morning, I would pick a spot to set up a folding chair and hang out through totality.
I don't know what the roads are like in your area. I was at the Oregon Star Party in 2017. OSP is about 25 miles off the nearest highway on Forest Service roads. It's normally about a 40 minute drive from the highway to the OSP site.
In addition to OSP, there was a large festival just to our south, on the same Forest Service roads. I am a regular attendee of OSP and always arrive on site at least a week ahead of the event with my RV, so I was up there by myself for a while enjoying some quiet solitude. As folks were arriving in the final days ahead of the eclipse, I was chatting with people about their experience driving in. I was consistently hearing that it was taking 5 to 6 hours to get to the site from the highway.
Now our situation was a little bit special, due to the confluence of the large (70,000 attendance) festival and the narrow Forest Service roads, but the above was our experience.
YMMV...
#5
Posted 07 April 2024 - 11:17 AM
You asked for hyperbole, so here goes:
I don't deal well with crowds. I'd leave on Sunday and find a place to sleep, even if it was just in my car. On Monday morning, I would pick a spot to set up a folding chair and hang out through totality.
I don't know what the roads are like in your area. I was at the Oregon Star Party in 2017. OSP is about 25 miles off the nearest highway on Forest Service roads. It's normally about a 40 minute drive from the highway to the OSP site.
In addition to OSP, there was a large festival just to our south, on the same Forest Service roads. I am a regular attendee of OSP and always arrive on site at least a week ahead of the event with my RV, so I was up there by myself for a while enjoying some quiet solitude. As folks were arriving in the final days ahead of the eclipse, I was chatting with people about their experience driving in. I was consistently hearing that it was taking 5 to 6 hours to get to the site from the highway.
Now our situation was a little bit special, due to the confluence of the large (70,000 attendance) festival and the narrow Forest Service roads, but the above was our experience.
YMMV...
I appreciate your thoughts. I’ve considered the possibility of car sleeping. I think my daughter could just about stretch out in the back seat, I might get a few hours at most. If we end up taking my 82 year old mother on law I think we can rule that out. Better to leave at 3 am than to try to sleep four in a little crossover. Knowing her though, she’d probably sleep better in the car than I would. Good luck in your travels!