nateman_doo
This is why I hate posting on my phone...

Making more work for us also.       ;)

 
These damn tourist are in for a sad day, cant see the sun through all the smoke....

nateman_doo

HAZMAN_THE_GREAT

 
I feel the same way about it as she does.

I love this model of society calling me into a "herd mentality" because I am treking 9 hours to see it.  I have had this booked almost a year in advance.
 
Some people only just care about what is in front of them, or their facebook feeds.  Most of us will only be alive to witness another 2 or 3 AT MOST in our lifetimes.  I don't plan to miss a single one.  
 
She is welcome to do her, but dont call the rest of us a herd for going to see a very rare celestial phenomenon.  It saddens me that I was alive for a pass of Halley's comet back in the 80's and I didnt really care at the time to even look at it.  I may not live long enough to see it again.  I am bringing my entire family when only my oldest daughter and I will be interested.  

She is 200% correct with the herd mentality. Plus Nate don't take it personally. I kind of get the idea you are and I hope not. Now with your situation I would not consider you in the herd mentality since you said you booked your reservations a year in advance. That right there shows you actually care for this sort of thing and what not.  But for the rest of the people who do it at the last minute I consider them in the herd mentality.  Seriously just REALLY think deep about it. Majority of people want to see this eclipse because its being hyped up for no reason all over the TV and social media. Its a monkey see, monkey do type of thing if you catch my drift. Besides from this, think about other things that society does in a herd mentality. After this eclipse there is going to be that Connor and Mayweather fight next Saturday. My brothers girlfriend wants to watch the fight even though she hates boxing or any fighting sport in general. She just wants to watch it cause everyone else wants to watch it. I guess she wants to fit in with the crowd to join the hype and conversation even though she does not care for the sport.  Also think about other events like the super bowl, or the new star wars movie that is coming out this fall, or premier TV shows that start their new season like Game of Thrones, or the launch of a new Iphone and Samsung phone, or the launch of the new xbox this fall, or just holidays people celebrate even though they have no idea why they are celebrating them in the first place. But I can only hope you have a idea and understand now why I agree with her and where she is coming from. 

My sister in law is this woman's target. She is dragging her family along only after hearing how we are doing it. We also planned a week vacation in nearby resorts. The eclipse was my main focus, but the rest of the family wants vacation. So it works out well for us.

Already started my journey... And wow the traffic is insane on route 81 South.

I'll be observing it. I'll be getting about 93 % totality where I live.
 
Should be an interesting event, and I've never really observed one. I'm not going through the trouble to get 100 % totality.
 
I have to agree with Hazman though, especially with the droves of people making a pilgrimage and paying the kind of money to book places to see this thing in full totality. It's ridiculous in my area. I really don't get the point if you're not seriously interested in it.

It's been HEAVY thunder storms all morning in Kansas City, but has just cleared up in the last 45  minutes or so. Still some broken cirrus clouds around to filter things out some from time to time, but we should get to see the whole show here. Unfortunately at home it's still raining and my wife and kids may miss out. But I'm hoping that it will clear up just in time.
 
*On a side note it's really funny driving around and seeing random groups of people in parking lots just staring into the sky lol.

Safe Travels on your way home

traffic right after,

 
Crappy cell pic,

 
Yeah, they got the above post fire controlled for now. Im new here, the wildfires seem to be the summer norm here.  Got a diamondring eclipse here, still pretty amazing, got to see Mars in the middle of the day, air temp dropped, and got to see just blue and white light spectrum...

 
+2 Nate, I wish eVGA would do something about us being able to load mobile pics to the forums, sometimes a manual edited hyperlink works sometimes...

 
                                      A totaled eclipse.      
 
 

Hopefully this works?

nateman_doo
Took that with my daughters 127km telescope, solar filter, and cell phone.

Nice Photo

Good news is if you can read this you got real solar shades and not fake ones.

Cool pictures guys. Are those sunspots or dirt on the lens Nateman?? :)  Brad ,what are you using to get such wide pics? I know you're the widescreen king...:)

notfordman
Cool pictures guys. Are those sunspots or dirt on the lens Nateman?? :)  Brad ,what are you using to get such wide pics? I know you're the widescreen king...:)

Standard pano setting on iphone camera.