Roadtrip #9: Eclipse of the Central East

It is time…

The Summer of 2017 brings another family roadtrip escapade. On Friday, August 11th, my parents and I will be jumping on a flight once more, bound for St. Louis, Missouri. From there we will rent our minivan and spend 16 days in a clockwise motion around at least 9 central eastern states (possibly more). This thread will keep the usual journals logged as our days unfold, provided we’re graced with an internet connection. There won’t be much speed-running this time around. In fact, only half of our travels will be in “roadtrip mode” while the other half will focus around visiting Dad’s extended family, concentrated in Kentucky and Alabama.

Normally we make a point to avoid traveling during the hot summer and opt for spring or fall instead, but this is a special exception. The primary and highest-priority goal will be the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21st. This entire road trip has been designed around those 160 seconds of dwelling in the moon’s shadow, which none of us ever had the privilege to bear witness. Our destination for this event is the small town of Spring City, Tennessee, which sits on the eclipse centerline, and where they’re expecting up to 10,000 people. This target could change depending on weather or traffic, so we’ll need to be on alert in case contingency plans need to be executed for maximum viewing odds.

Secondary goals will be the St. Louis Gateway Arch, visiting everything Abe Lincoln in Springfield, IL, and the Ford Museum in Detroit, MI. Tertiaries include all the state capitols as we come across them. It’s quite possible this will be our first major roadtrip without hitting a single National Park or Monument, as you can see by our proposed route on Google Maps.

Here’s what’s in store:

Day 0 (Aug 11) - Travel Day, fly to (STL) St. Louis - Gateway Arch - stay in Troy, IL
Day 1 (Aug 12) - Springfield, IL (Abe Lincoln Day 1)
Day 2 (Aug 13) - Springfield, IL (Abe Lincoln Day 2) - stay in Danville, IL
Day 3 (Aug 14) - Indianapolis, IN - stay in Goldwater, MI
Day 4 (Aug 15) - Lansing, MI - Jackson, MI - stay in Livonia, MI
Day 5 (Aug 16) - Detroit, MI - Ford Museum - stay in Marion, OH
Day 6 (Aug 17) - Columbus, OH - arrive in Whitesburg, KY (4 nights)
Day 7-9 (Aug 18-20) - Family visits in Kentucky and Virginia
Day 10 (Aug 21) - Spring City, TN - Solar Eclipse - arrive in Madison, AL (4 nights)
Day 11-13 (Aug 22-24) - Family visits in Alabama
Day 14 (Aug 25) - Nashville/Memphis, TN (??)
Day 15 (Aug 26) - Sikeston, MO
Day 16 (Aug 27) - Travel Day, fly home (SAN)

I’ve been struggling to come up with a plan for Days 14-15 after leaving Madison, AL (near Huntsville). We all visited Memphis, TN some years back so we’re not itching to go there again, and no one has much interest in country music so Nashville isn’t exactly on our A-list either (although it is another capitol I could knock off the bucket list). Could there be something in the fringes of Mississippi and Arkansas to check out (any excuse to mark off more states for my folks)? There’s also a Land Between the Lakes NRA straddling western Tennessee/Kentucky, although from what I’ve researched I can’t tell if it’s a worthy highlight or just a meh place to drive through. I’m truly stuck with this one. Whatever is decided, we need to be in Sikeston, MO by the end of Day 15 in order to launch us back to St. Louis for our flight home. Any of you with ideas for this area, we’re open to hearing it!

Ah yes, and of course where would you be without our vast collection of past roadtrips:

RT01 - Summer 2005 - 48 States in 30 Days [Website] [Pics]
RT02 - Fall 2006 - The Great West [Thread] [Pics]
RT02a - Spring 2007 - Las Vegas, NV and back [Pics]
RT03 - Spring 2007 - The National Parks of Utah [Thread] [Pics]
RT03a - Fall 2007 - San Francisco, CA and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT03b - Spring 2008 - Cambria, CA and back [Pics]
RT04 - Fall 2008 - New Mexico and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival [Thread] [Pics]
RT04a - Spring 2009 - Sedona, AZ and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT05 - Fall 2009 - Washington, D.C. and the New England states [Thread] [Pics]
RT06 - Fall 2011 - Victoria, BC and the Pacific Coast [Thread] [Pics]
RT06a - Spring 2012 - The CA Mojave Desert and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT07 - Spring 2013 - Alaska and the Arctic Frontier [Thread] [Pics]
RT08 - Fall 2014 - The Upper Midwest [Thread] [Pics]
RT08a - Spring 2017 - The Hawaiian Islands and back [Thread] [Pics]

The show will begin momentarily…

US Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville AL, near the border of TN/AL?



Donna

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

US Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville AL, near the border of TN/AL?

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Been there many a time in my younger days when visiting my grandparents in Hazel Green, AL. It's looking more like Nashville after all for our remaining time on the road this round.

We begin our tale waking up at 5:00am PDT to prep for the ride to San Diego airport (SAN). Unfortunately Southwest canned their flights to St. Louis (STL) from John Wayne (SNA) starting this year, forcing us to divert south instead. Another unfortunate side effect is that no local shuttle service would come pick us up from that far away. Ultimately found a deal for long-term parking at a nearby garage, so we drove down ourselves, leaving at 6:00am and going through the airport rigamarole. (We learned from last time and did Early Bird boarding so had our pick of seats.) Wheels were up at 9:35am PDT, and back down to STL at 2:35pm CDT, exactly 3 hours. RT09 begins.

Our minivan rental was brand spanking new, with less than 900 miles to its name. We made straight for our first hotel using I-270 east, over the river and state line to Troy, IL but didn't stick around for long. Suitcases were unloaded and we immediately headed back west along I-55 to a Walmart for 16 days worth of foodstuffs. There was just enough time remaining to dash back over the Mississippi River and to our first destination, the Gateway Arch, arriving just before 7:00pm.

At this time the grounds of the Arch are under major renovations, with much of it closed off. The main visitor center is stationed at the Old Courthouse, just to the west. Here mom bought her own lifetime senior pass for $10 (before the price goes up to $80 at the end of this month!) and also got our souvenirs. Since my parents decided not to try braving the many steps to the Tram, I was left to run among the path (snapping pics along the way) in order to make the 7:30pm ride to the top. Each car of the tram can fit 5 people in a hollow space (not for the claustraphobic!) and it takes 4 minutes to ascend to the upper parabola. Once at the top, a few more steps will grant you entry to the viewing area. There's a set of windows on each side for looking out (or down if you please). Of course I timed my visit to coincide with the setting sun, and thus got some marvelous pics of the city underneath the hues of red and orange. Perfect!

After descending down and out, then retrieving the van from the parking garage, navigating back out of town was rather annoying. There's a number of one way streets and of course there was a Cardinals baseball game going on a block away, bringing its own form of downtown chaos. I had to circle around a number of blocks in order to pick up my folks at Kiener Plaza. Back over I-55 we went, to a Cracker Barrel for dinner and finally back at the hotel by 10:00pm.

Man, what a day. And there's still 16 more to go! (I'm sure the pace will slow as we settle into the groove...)

As I have been in traffic caused by a Cards game, it is similar to Orange County CA traffic during rush hour. My condolences, but my congrats on getting sunset photos from the top of the Arch. I'm sure I'm not alone in my wish to see those pics!

Have fun, and safe travels!


Donna

Despite the 2 hour shift, we managed to wake up at 7:00am CDT and start the day in timely fashion. We left Troy, IL behind and headed north on I-55, which didn't take long to reach the Illinois capital of Springfield before 10:30am. We siphoned off to I-55 Business which turned out to be part of the Historic Route 66 leading directly into downtown. Normally it would be hot and humid this time of year but the current particular weather pattern is making for a cooler and pleasant weekend.

We parked caddy corner from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and began there, passing by the historic Union Station. Mom is a huge Lincoln fan and has been looking forward to this part of the trip for a while. The Museum itself is probably the best of the few that I've personally seen, with exhibits focusing on Abe's early years before politics, leading up to his inauguration, heavily focusing on the civil war, the outcome of that war, and his own tragic end. The two media presentations were quite impressive, one being a hologram-type show, and the other a triple-screen feature with sound effects that rumble your seat. Of course exiting the museum they make you walk through the gift shop with many a temptation. (It's like they know my mom!)

We left there and walked 2 blocks south for a bite, then across the street to the Old State Capitol, used as the first state house in the mid-1800s (including Lincoln's term). Inside were two floors filled with old antiques and clocks that still ran. Senate and House chambers were on the 2nd floor, where you could actually walk up to the podium (without touching anything of course). Back outside there was a flag-lowering ceremony using a mock Civil War color guard, which we caught heading out.

It was around 3:00pm at this point, which meant time to check into our hotel a few miles away. After settling in, I wanted to head back out and see the official state capitol for another notch in that belt. Unfortunately I confused the closings of the old state house (5:00pm) with the new (3:00pm), and thus turned away by the guards upon attempting to enter. We still walked the perimeter getting decent shots where we could, so that's good enough. For dinner we tried a buffet place called the Pizza Ranch, with all kinds of pizzas to choose from, even dessert apple/cherry/cinnamon pizzas (I die for those!) to top off the evening.

More Lincoln ahead...

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Originally Posted by Kinless

Could there be something in the fringes of Mississippi and Arkansas to check out (any excuse to mark off more states for my folks)? There’s also a Land Between the Lakes NRA straddling western Tennessee/Kentucky, although from what I’ve researched I can’t tell if it’s a worthy highlight or just a meh place to drive through.

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I've always enjoyed my time at Land Between the Lakes. At the very least, the Elk and Bison range is well worth driving through. There is also the Civil War site, Fort Donalson just to the south of the park.

You might also consider driving part of the Natchez Trace, or do a little exploration of the culturally unique Mississippi Delta which would be two very good reasons to add that state to your list.

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Could there be something in the fringes of Mississippi and Arkansas to check out

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Don't overlook Hot Springs NP. Well, not strictly a *park*, but some very interestoing historical bath houses and hot springs. Take your bathers with you!

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

I've always enjoyed my time at Land Between the Lakes. At the very least, the Elk and Bison range is well worth driving through. There is also the Civil War site, Fort Donalson just to the south of the park.

You might also consider driving part of the Natchez Trace, or do a little exploration of the culturally unique Mississippi Delta which would be two very good reasons to add that state to your list.

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

Don't overlook Hot Springs NP. Well, not strictly a *park*, but some very interestoing historical bath houses and hot springs. Take your bathers with you!

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Unless something comes up, we're probably driving through Nashville after all (meaning Mississippi and Arkansas are out) but we could definitely drive through Land of the Lakes NRA on the way to Sikeston, MO for a look-see.

With our hotel on the southern fringes of Springfield, there wasn't much need to hurry out for a Sunday morning. We checked out after a hot breakfast and made for the next establishment, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. We pulled up to the visitor center at 9:35am CDT and of course did gift shop business first, then walked back out and over to the benches for our free 10:10am tour with ranger Kellie. She took us into the house that Abe Lincoln lived in for many years prior to his political career. We spent 25 minutes traversing the various rooms, upstairs and down. A good number of the furniture and decor were authentic Lincoln family heirlooms, and the Park Service has done a commendable job keeping this place restored and in proper looking condition. After taking pics of the exterior we came back to the visitor center for one of the 20-minute presentations in their theater.

On to the final Springfield destination, the Lincoln Tomb. A few miles north of the town is Oak Ridge Cemetery, over 150 years old, where first settlers and former governors are also interred in addition to Lincoln. The signs guided us to a parking spot near Lincoln's obelisk marker extending 117 feet up. After rubbing the nose on the bronze statue in front, we headed inside where there's a square passage, with marble hallways leading to the back of the tomb. Here is where you'll find Lincoln's illuminated marker surrounded by state flags, and also where his wife and two sons are buried. They have this place well looked after.

This concludes Springfield! Retracting back south to downtown brought us to Madison Street (IL 97) where we turned east. That eventually led to the western terminus of I-72, beginning our trek away from the state capital and back out into the plains of Illinois. Besides a rest stop, we stayed the course (with a brief change to I-57 north to I-74 east) finally stopping for the day in Danville, IL just before 3:00pm CDT, with our hotel less than a mile from the Indiana border (and time zone change). I actually used this to our advantage to find the state line signs off nearby Hwy 136 and stop for some decent close-ups instead of attempting blurry shots on the freeway. Our dinner for the evening was Steak 'n Shake (delish!) in downtown.

Our plans to visit some extended family in Indianapolis fell through at the last minute, so besides the capitol building we won't be dallying too long on this leg. Maybe we'll find something else interesting along the path.

An earlier start was necessary today, considering the impending time change waiting for us at the Indiana state line the moment we hop back on I-74. It took about 90 minutes to reach Indianapolis, but before heading downtown, since we were already passing it on the way, decided to make a pit stop (pun intended) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, billed as the largest racetrack in the world, and home to the annual Indy 500. We're not auto racing fans, but still felt like it was something for a quick peek regardless, taking a few pics of the track and grounds.

Next up, the capitol building. It was a bit of a challenge parking with one way streets and construction, but before long we ascended up the steps, through security, and into the bowels of this historic structure. I deem it to be one of the more impressive capitols I've seen with its architecture. It was in between official tour times so had to do with walking around ourselves, gawking at the decor, taking a peek in the Senate/House chamber galleries, and posing in front of the Governor's office. An hour is all that's needed for the curious.

Two blocks to the east of the state house is a super tall Soldiers and Sailors monument, surrounded by a ginormous roundabout. We would have been happy to stop and check this place out, but our timing was sour being the lunch hour, with no convenient parking spaces. Oh well, time to go up and out. Interstates took turns leading us out of the city, from I-65 south to I-70 east to I-465 north, and finally the start of I-69 north.

We thought our time in Indiana was complete, but brochures at a rest area led us to reveal one more stop for the day. Apparently the famous 1950s actor James Dean grew up in the small town of Fairmount, IN. Mom was one of his biggest fans so it only seemed like common sense to drive 5 miles off the interstate. The James Dean museum and gallery was discovered here, with the guy running it to give us a map with all the highlights of the town and anything James Dean related. We only had time to check out the north side, taking pictures of the house he grew up in, the church he attended, the motorcycle shop where he used to hang, and of course his final resting place in the adjacent cemetery. Mom was thrilled to find this diamond in the rough attraction.

OK we're REALLY done for today. Back on I-69 to continue north (finally coming across road construction, although not as inhibiting as past trips), eventually crossing into the state of Michigan and landing a hotel in Coldwater, MI minutes later, just after 5:00pm EDT.

So far, so good!

I haven't been to Michigan in 12 years (since RT01), Dad hasn't been back in 45 years, and Mom has never been. Time for some exploring!

A brief downpour scraped by during our hotel breakfast, but that's the only rain we've seen on the entire trip. For the most part, weather has been exemplary and well-timed. I only hope that lasts through eclipse day.

It's back on I-69 north from Coldwater, MI, and continuing upstate to yet another capitol city, Lansing, MI (three states in a row!) courtesy of I-496. We pulled up to the front of the capitol just before 10:00am EDT, looking just as impressive as the last few. Luckily we arrived right in time for the next tour, and since no one else was waiting, it turned into a private tour for the three of us. Stephanie the guide took us to multiple floors for a comprehensive walkthrough of the architecture, assembly rooms, and office of the governor (the highlights I planned on looking for anyway, tour or no). We only needed an hour for the skinny. This was the farthest north we travel on this trip.

Back down we go continuing east on I-496, and over to Hwy 127 south to return to the interstate that eventually leads to Detroit. However as an aside, we stopped in Grass Lake so Dad could visit some 1st cousins not seen in many a year. We spent 3 hours having lunch and shooting the breeze over at their multi-acre property. After that it was a refuel and back on I-94, leading us to our next hotel in Allen Park. The Best Western here is victorian-themed with an overwhelming number of vintage automotive pictures up and down the hallways (fitting, seeing as where we were) and an excellent in-house restaurant.

One more day of Michigan to come...

I'm not sure if the time change finally caught up with us, or if it was that nighttime cocktail, but we were all conked out until after 7:30am EDT. We did need the extra sleep, that's for sure, but didn't end up leaving the hotel until 10:00am, unfortunate on a day with so much to accomplish!

Luckily our next destination was just a few miles down the road. We pulled into the parking lot of the Henry Ford museum. There are so many other nearby attractions to visit besides just the museum, you could easily spend a few days trying to knock everything out. I purchased online tickets the previous day for two of those things, the museum itself and also the adjacent Greenfield Village. Since the latter was outside, I thought better to get that out of the way first before high temperatures of the day came around.

Greenfield Village is a mishmash of authentic old houses/buildings/structures that represent what it would have been like to walk the streets of an eastern colonial town before and during the industrial revolution. There were several districts each displaying different factions such as agriculture, crafts, railroad, mechanical/electrical, and of course the history of Henry Ford, including the actual house he lived in. It was a big place, probably too big for my folks, as it was a struggle to walk these long distances. We kept it simple and went in short legs with sitting breaks, mostly sticking to just the crafts, railroad, and Henry Ford sections, which alone took about 90 minutes. There are also rides in horse carriages, trains, and Model T Fords, but that was an extra cost on top of the tickets.

Now that it was getting warm we headed inside to the air-conditioned museum. This was also a lot of potential walking so we kept to select exhibits we wanted to see, mostly the automative areas, beginning with the first Ford models from the turn of the century to today. There were no shortage of vehicles young and old, standard and racing. We also found a Civil War exhibit containing the actual Lincoln Rocker that Abe himself was sitting in when assassinated (and even found out the story why Ford had it and not the Smithsonian in DC). This was close to a 2 hour stretch. We spent an additional 30 minutes cruising the gift shop (of course) but kept purchases light.

It was almost 2:00pm when we finally left. Dad had lived here in Detroit during the 1950s so we were now driving to a few places he remembered from those days. Interstates 94 and 96 helped us find our way near downtown. The house he used to live in was no longer there (just an empty lot now). We also went over to Bell Isle (found on the Detroit river straddling the US/Canadian border) and found the large fountain there, with great views of the Detroit skyline. Finally we decided to use the tunnel to cross under the river, into Windsor, Ontario, Canada (bring $10.00 and your passports if you plan on doing this). We spent about 15 minutes just driving up and down the main roads while looking at the local residences. Trying to find a local park to hang out for a few minutes ended up as too challenging by itself, so I gave up and headed back over the Ambassador Bridge to the USA. Yay, we made our roadtrip international!

We stopped at the Michigan welcome center for a quick bathroom break, and found out from the guide that I-75 South (which I was going to use) was closed for some miles due to bridge construction. The alternate route was a surface road back to I-94 and bypassing the closure with US 24, which of course had to land right during rush hour. What great timing.

Eventually we got to the open portion of I-75, using that to head away from Detroit, and across the border to Ohio. But it was another stretch on US 23 until reaching the town of Marion, OH, arriving at 7:30pm (but still before sunset). The Ponderosa Steak House, a buffet joint that just opened in the last 10 days, was our meal.

Pretty sure that was the last of our crazy days on this trip. We'll be ratcheting down after tomorrow...

Another late start, but that's all right, there's just one thing on the agenda today. We left our Marion, OH hotel just before 10:00am EDT, and arrived at the capitol in Columbus, OH an hour later. US 23 would be the artery of choice today for getting around. Luckily there was underground parking directly below the capitol so it wasn't much effort to find a spot and take the elevator up.

We made it just in time for the 11:00am tour. Including us, a group of 10 was formed and we were once again taken around all the highlights, including the rotunda and assembly chambers for both Senate and House. Mom had to use the elevator most of time due to the plethora of stairs, but there was still plenty to see even with that handicap. The governor's office was in a separate building so that had to be skipped. Otherwise, it's just like the last few capitols, but still interesting to see the unique architecture for each. At the end we were led back to the basement with some select exhibits and of course a gift shop, which comes in real handy when trying to finish your state shotglass collection.

Sometime after 12:00pm, Columbus was a memory as we continued south on US 23. We found a place to fill up as well as shooting back and forth over the bridge for Ohio and Kentucky state line signs to capture. Not much else was happening on this leg, other than taking 4.5 hours to reach our destination. We finally arrived at Dad's friend's in his birth town of Mayking, KY just before 6:00pm. We appreciate them putting us up for the next few nights.

Time to do some local exploring and visiting. Since we're not driving too much, I may or may not bother with daily updates, at least not until eclipse day. Will let you know how it all turns out.

How close to the total eclipse will you be on this trip?

Going to memorable for millions of people, no matter what.

Mark

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Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist

How close to the total eclipse will you be on this trip?

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Spring City, TN will be less than a mile from the eclipse centerline, so pending clear views we will enjoy 2 minutes 40 seconds of totality. They're calling for partly cloudy skies with 20-25% cover, so it'll be a crapshoot as to whether a wayward cloud drifts in at the wrong place/time.

Just posting a brief recap of our family visits.

On Friday we kept to local Mayking, KY visiting cousins and other extended family. Minimal driving.

On Saturday we visited one of Dad's old streets he lived on and remembered from the 1950s. We also crossed over into Virginia and headed to Keokee, VA for a family dinner. That makes 7 states visited so far.

Today, Sunday, we went with our hosting friends and drove through the nearby towns of Whitesburg, KY and used Hwy 119 to explore south as far as Cumberland, KY. We've all been here before, but a number of years ago. Hardly anything was open since they actually observe Sundays around here. We treated them for dinner in appreciation for their hospitality. Other than doing a prep fuel and getting ice, no mileage on our minivan.

Eclipse day is going to be insane. No idea how traffic or cloud cover will turn out, so our route will be very dynamic. We'll be observing Google Maps traffic on the fly and make sure to avoid major cities or interstates (I-75, I-40) should they turn red on the map. If our luck holds, it'll be a 4-hour trip.

If.

(Warning: long post. Go brew your coffee for this one.)

We had bid farewell to our Kentucky hosts the night before, since we didn't want to wake them sneaking out of the house at 4:45am EDT, promptly racing down Hwy 119 toward the Tennessee valley. I was concerned about the masses holding freeways hostage, but the paranoia about being stuck in gridlock was for naught, with smooth sailing all the way through using US 25E crossing into Tennessee, and with assurances from the GPS it was still the fastest route, used interstates I-75 and I-40 through Knoxville, TN to find our way to the primary road of the day, US 27.

We arrived in Spring City, TN by 9:00am (amusingly enough they marked the eclipse centerline just outside of town). The crowds were visibly starting to pick up, so I dropped my folks off at Veteran's Park to the south and went into town to find parking. Let me tell you that Spring City was well prepared and organized for today's special event. They had multiple areas of designated parking all throughout town, running school buses as shuttles and police controlling traffic flow. I found a spot, secured the minivan and hauled my photo equipment onto the bus, meeting the parents back at the park around 10:00am.

There were a few hours left to kill. Luckily Dad found a shady spot under a tree, near a concrete basketball court for my tripod setup (and near portable toilets for them). A nearby church group was gracious enough to lend us a folding chair for mom (since I'm a terrible planner like that) while Dad and I made do with a beach towel on the grass and picnic supplies to keep us fed. By the time 1:00pm rolled around, thousands were at the park enjoying the festivities. Many were local southerners (who are always super friendly) but we talked to quite a few out-of-state travelers as well. Some seemed to be thrilled that we were from SoCal. I could see thunderheads rearing up on the horizon to the east, but luckily that's where they stayed.

And so it begins.

Contact 1 (C1) where the moon first touches the sun started at 1:03pm, mostly uneventful and not much to see at this point. I was using automated software on my laptop to control the camera so I didn't have to fiddle with it during totality, but somehow I ended up becoming the unofficial commentator with the local crowd since the software's countdown to events was spot on. We spent the next 90 minutes all taking peeks through our solar glasses at the increasing bite of the moon. Although 20-25% cloud cover was predicted, there was hardly anything beyond a few light wisps. Excellent!

Minutes before totality started, crickets and frogs began their nightly routine, and daylight softened to the point it looked like a 5000K LED light dimly shining down on us. As I was telling everyone to take off their glasses/filters at 15 seconds before, those mysterious shadow bands shimmered on the ground, which in itself was exciting. The whoops and hollers from the crowd amplified as we reached totality (C2) at 2:31:36pm.

The halo. Oh the halo was so magnificent I couldn't help but join in on the whooping. The automated software was doing its job so I didn't have to worry about the camera. Basked in the dim twilight, train horns started sounding off, fireworks were being launched to the side, and several planes in the sky could be seen circling around the town. The planet of Venus was easily visible, and a 360° view of a sunset horizon made for a spectacular moment. It was an absolute true epiphany for me.

Totality lasted 2 minutes, 40 seconds. The diamond ring of the sun peeked out (C3), with more shadow bands on the ground as the moon began uncovering our solar friend. Everyone was still in amazement from what they just witnessed. (I reminded everyone glasses/filters back on at 15 seconds after just in case.) I let the software take a few more shots of the partial down to 90% covered before calling it done. Buses were lined up to take people out of here but we were too busy packing up to catch any of them. We said our goodbyes to the people around us (they all appreciated my commentary and countdowns). The line of vehicles out of the park was predictably at a standstill. By the time another shuttle came around over an hour later, the last of the eclipse (C4) was finishing up the entire 3-hour event. Getting back to the van, we stopped at city hall but they were out of their T-shirts so we walked out with only eclipse-themed postcards.

Northbound US 27 was a complete mess, even with the traffic cops doing their best. Luckily we were heading south so it wasn't a problem getting out of town. I thought we had it made.

Ohhhhhhhh no. The next town of Dayton, TN introduced us to a whole new meaning of gridlock. Turning to Google Maps showed miles and miles of deep red all the way down US 27 to Chattanooga, TN. After crawling 12 miles in an hour, enough was enough and it was time for action! I turned off onto a backroad (the street was literally called Back Valley Road) and bypassed all that traffic noise, while at the same time enjoying the countryside and lined trees along this simple path. Within 20 minutes I reached Hwy 111 and used that to sidestep over to the adjacent north-south highway, crossing back over into Central Time and thankfully gaining that extra hour back.

The rest of our Tennessee time was spent on US 127 and Hwy 28, avoiding Chattanooga altogether. We spent a few moments on I-24 west and promptly switched to US 72, carrying us to our destination state of Alabama. The sun wasn't done yet, as it set in front of us while traveling westward. We stopped at another Steak 'n Shake in Huntsville, AL for dinner, and finally arrived at my uncle's in Madison, AL at 8:45pm CDT. A 17-hour day.

Easily one of the top 5 memorable experiences in my 12 years of tripping. Mark your calendars for April 2024 and plan it now. It's totally worth doing.

We're spending this week with my uncle who I haven't seen in years, so with more family time abound, updates will be light until we're on the road again.

Oh, and here's some of my pics for you, courtesy of Solar Eclipse Maestro (or view the high-res versions on my Flickr):

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4371/...b05831da87.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/...f7edb65aa3.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4368/...39fa01e66a.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4333/...27653a3438.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4435/...e83905e610.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4352/...64a5953d64.jpg

Thanks for sharing that great experience, and the pics. Brings back so many memories of about 35 years ago when we had a totall eclipse downunder.. That was long before digital cameras and the internet. We took the children well away from civilization and any artificial light pollution, to a remote area in the hills northwest of Melbourne. I have never forgotten the noise all the wildlife made in their confusion.. The sun gone in the middle of the day! It was pitch dark ..... other than that circle in the sky - like your fifth photo. It also made me wonder how civilizations coped with such events, thousands of years ago. You can't blame them for having thought the world was coming to an end.

Thanks again - much appreciated.

Lifey

Very nicely done! Next best thing to being there...thanks for sharing!

Rick

YES, very cool. Thanks for the report.

Mark

With one exception, no miles were put on the van this week, with my uncle taking us everywhere. When we weren't going somewhere it was a time to relax, catch up on life and reminisce about the good 'ol days.

On Tuesday, I had a chance to visit several cousins in Huntsville, AL with an early dinner at one of their homes.

On Wednesday, we took a drive to Hazel Green, AL where my late grandparents and uncle used to live (all places I remembered as a kid), including a visit to the cemeteries where they are interred.

On Thursday, I took the minivan to complete a solo mission to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Although I've been there several times in my younger days, the last time was in the 1990s so I thought to check out what's changed. Without having to compensate for my folks' walking abilities, I was able to do the whole enchilada in 6.5 hours: all main exhibits, the Davidson Center housing the Saturn V and Apollo 16 vehicles, the rocket yards, one of the IMAX dome movies, and a bus tour to the Marshall Space Flight Center, primarily featuring their current communications with the International Space Shuttle (ISS). A nice little encore to the space theme happening this week.

We originally planned to head out today (Friday) to Nashville, but only being 80 miles away, it was decided to stick around with family one more day for a final splash and go up early Saturday instead. We went over to Huntsville, AL once more for visiting additional cousins, in between going out for breakfast and an early dinner. I've spent the rest of the day prepping luggage and the minivan for the final 48 hours of our road trip.

Wrapping up soon!

We bade a hearty farewell to my Alabama uncle and departed at 8:00am CDT, using US 72 to connect with I-65 and head north into Tennessee. Two hours later we reach our first stop of the day on the outskirts of Nashville, TN: the Grand Ole Opry.

As mentioned before, I'm not much of a country music fan. But as a performing musician myself, I can appreciate some of the great legacies that were born here. We all opted for the 10:30am backstage tour and took a gander behind the stage, in the dressing rooms, the green room and even got to go on stage and stand on "the circle" (where all performers stand) with tourist's picture being taken. (Of course we paid extra for a set of that picture, another clever tourist operation.)

Next was downtown. We headed to Capitol Hill and found the final state capitol for this trip, although it was covered in scaffolding so pictures weren't great, and we didn't have time for any tours today. Moving on, we tracked down Broadway and 5th street. The security guy from the Opry told us to take a look at the original Opry house (aka Ryman Auditorium) located here. I would have been happy with just pictures of it, but dang, we unwittingly drove into the heart of what makes Nashville tick, a row of venues with massive crowds of people. Oh yes, this is a Saturday during the lunch hour. My timing is impeccable! We drove on with nary a click of the camera.

I-24 helped out with our escape northwest. I was thinking to try fitting in one more thing. I detoured through Clarksville, TN and found US 79 to take us directly west to some federal parks. We just happened upon Fort Donelson National Battlefield, one of the important civil war sites. We did a quick loop but as it took a while to get here, kept this visit brief.

Farther down the road was "The Trace" highway that took us into Land Between the Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area, nestled snugly in between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. This park is more for the hikers, bikers, campers, and boaters. We were just driving through to see what could be seen. Other than a few bison fields, it wasn't much for viewing. The Visitor Center had a cool planetarium dome but we didn't have time for any shows, and had to impatiently wait 30 minutes for the gift shop to switch to their evening shift before we could buy anything. We also paid $5.00 to enter an exclusive Bison & Elk viewing area, but the buffalo were keeping their distance and the elk were a no-show. Yeah, I could have skipped this place haha.

We cut out of there using US 68 and found our I-24 friend again. We exited off US 60 and continued to the extreme western tip of Kentucky. This part was more interesting. We turned to US 51 in Wickliffe, KY which took us over two major bridges, the first over the Ohio River and into the extreme southern tip of Illinois, and a minute later the second bridge over the Mississippi River and into Missouri. This is right where the two rivers converge, and were it not for lack of time would have liked to stick around here more.

We raced to our final destination of Sikeston, MO, checking in at almost 8:00pm, and crossing the street to a Ruby Tuesday for dinner (which we don't have on the west coast).

The end is nigh.

WHAT? You didn't go to Lambert's when you were in Sikeston, MO? To heck with the Ruby Tuesday, that's everywhere (except here in CA). But Lambert's only has 3 or 4 locations, period, with the mother cafe' being in Sikeston (the original).


Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

WHAT? You didn't go to Lambert's when you were in Sikeston, MO? To heck with the Ruby Tuesday, that's everywhere (except here in CA). But Lambert's only has 3 or 4 locations, period, with the mother cafe' being in Sikeston (the original).


Donna

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My feelings exactly! Gotta get some of those throwed rolls!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

WHAT? You didn't go to Lambert's when you were in Sikeston, MO? To heck with the Ruby Tuesday, that's everywhere (except here in CA). But Lambert's only has 3 or 4 locations, period, with the mother cafe' being in Sikeston (the original).

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by glc

My feelings exactly! Gotta get some of those throwed rolls!

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LOL we knew nothing about it, none of us had been in this area before, nor ever heard of a Lambert's. Sikeston, MO was on the itinerary in the first post but no one said anything. The hilarious part is that I did see it driving by on US 62, but half of their lighted sign was burnt out. Looked uninviting so I didn't give it a second thought. I'll know for next time (if there is one).

Mostly uneventful, but I have to close this out proper.

We moseyed on out of the hotel around 9:00am CDT, making sure our luggage and other gear were in order. We did stop for 2nd breakfast at a Fried Pie Shop we found down the road the night before. I've had these stuffed fruit pies in Texas/Oklahoma and they're oh so good, wish they had those shops in CA. Dad bought 5 of them to take home on the flight.

It was time for I-55 north, with smooth sailing the whole way through, save for one rest stop where we unpacked the flex cooler and threw out what couldn't be taken on the plane. Reaching St. Louis, MO we circled around using I-270, ramping off a few exits early to find gas, and then cut up to Alamo car rental using US 67. We were a little behind schedule but a 20-minute delayed flight proved most valuable. We shuttled to STL with all our luggage, found the gate, and boarded the flight, wheels up at 2:40pm CDT, officially ending elapsed time. Landed at 3:55pm PDT, shuttled to the garage and made parole with long term parking, arriving at my folk's home (San Juan Capistrano, CA) just over an hour later.

The END!

Final post on its way...

Another doozie of a roadtrip has completed. This has been the longest one (duration-wise) with my folks to date. Obviously such a feat is easier to achieve when half the time is staying/visiting with friends and family. Got to see a plethora of cousins, some of which I never knew I had, and also received a crash course lesson in the whole paternal family history. All other goals set for this trip were easily completed, especially the primary one on 08/21/2017 @ 2:31:36pm EDT. :)

Overall the weather greatly cooperated during our rounds. Usually mid- to late- August is brutal for the Central Eastern states, but a nice cold front led the charge prior to our arrival and lingered perfectly. Despite a few pockets of hot'n'humid, and a couple early morning cloudbursts, it ended up clearer and cooler than expected, making the outdoors rather pleasant for those days we needed it.

Thanks to reward points, we completely rode free on fuel for the rental car, as well as most of our foodstuffs/supplies. In addition to the free nights with friends/family, our last night in a hotel was also complementary with accrued points. Airfare and the rental ate up most of the budget, but it was definitely one of our cheaper trips, at least for this extended length of traveling.

Favorite Places: I don’t know about “places” per se, but I can definitely tell you what my favorite event was, haha. (See Day 10 if you can’t figure it out.) Spring City, TN welcomed its eclipse guests with open arms and made sure that everyone felt welcome, so in that sense it became one of my favorite “places” for the trip. I also found the Gateway Arch in St. Louis another worthy contender in my book. Yeah, it’s a little touristy and there’s still a lot of construction in the area, but it’s the highlight of the many things you could do in downtown. An honorable mention would be the bridges flying over the conjoining Ohio/Mississippi Rivers where the MO/IL/KY tri-state point is. Oh, if only I had more time to go back there…

Least Desirables: Hmm, I have to think about this one. There wasn’t any place in particular that disgusted me. Our Danville, IL hotel was pretty old and not in the best condition, but I’m more tolerant than Mom is. Of course there was also Land Between the Lakes NRA, which I’m sure is great for the recreationists but didn’t really offer much to casual travelers like us. Even the buffalo ranges were disappointing. Our time could have been better spent elsewhere.

What’s next? I’m afraid that future large trips like this one may have to be shelved for my folks due to their age, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have smaller plans in the works. For Spring 2018 I’m contemplating another sub-roadtrip to Arizona/Utah, driving to Lake Powell in Glen Canyon NRA and renting a houseboat for up to a week. I remember steering through that place on the Utah trip (RT03) and always wanted to go back. Another potential for Fall 2018 would be to return to my brother/sister in Plano, TX with a 2-3 day mini trip over to Shreveport, LA. (That would complete another state for both parents.) Neither of these are definite, but I’ll try and keep that roadtrip bug buzzing for as long as is feasible.


Statistics:

Total Miles: 2,347
Total Stops: 24
Total Elapsed Time: 16 days, 5 minutes (wheels down to wheels up at St. Louis Airport [STL])

Total U.S. States: 9
Total U.S. Capitols: 5
Total National Parks/Monuments: 0 (not counting Historic Sites, Battlefields or Recreation Areas)

Type of Rental Vehicle: 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan
Gallons of Fuel: 105.257 (22.3 MPG)

Total Cost of Trip: $1,800 (includes my share of airfare, parking, car rental, lodging, food, souvenirs, and park/tour fees)


Pictures:

I must be getting lazy with my old age, or maybe just pickier. I only managed 586 clicks, and after deleting bad ones and separating out the eclipse-specific automated shots, whittled it down to 370 keepers. (Mom had better luck taking over 1400 pictures, so I “borrowed” a few of hers for the album.) These 80 photos should give you the rundown of all we seen and done. To keep consistent with past albums, I’ve excluded family photos/visits in order to keep focus on the roadtrip theme. Head to one of the following:

1) The RTA PhotoShare Galleries
2) Facebook (no account necessary)
3) Flickr (slideshow-friendly with the occasional ad in between)

You may notice past road trip albums in the vicinity. Feel free to take a gander.

See you next year(?)

No more tripping for 2017. Gotta replenish funds and all that lovely stuff. Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Joey,

Thanks for the wrap-up and the photos.

Mark

Thanks for the detailed report.