I’m aiming for WY
I’m located in Franklin, Tennessee which is 11 miles south of eclipse totality … we’re expected to have 99.7% obscuration. The school where I work has purchased viewing glasses for all students, faculty, and staff.
Bald Mountain, Idaho
D and I are hiking up to the shelter at Mt. Leconte in the Smoky Mountains. The parking lot when we come down on Monday will be just inside the full eclipse area. My goal is to get to the parking lot by 1:30 or so to see the full eclipse. We purchased some glasses to be able to watch it.
@SplashMom, I cannot urge you strongly enough to drive up to see totality. The school should be doing everything it can to get the entire school to drive at least those 11 miles.
My dad is involved with the astronomy club in his town and has landed a gated viewing site for the astronomy club on the totality line in SC. They are beyond excited. They plan to be at teh site by 7 am to avoid the worst of the traffic. One of S1’s friends who just landed a post-doc in astrobiology in Atlanta (not relevant to the eclipse, but he’s very knowledgeable) is going to meet up with them. They had initially planned to do an event with a school in SC, but the principal backed out, citing the risk to the kids (party pooper). Perfect chance to teach real science!
Dad keeps trying to get me to come down. It’s a nine hour drive in regular traffic to that part of SC (and to go to his house first is overshooting the location by two hours each way there and then to the site). I suspect that it will be a 15 hour drive that weekend. Both my brothers and one of my sisters will be at the site with my dad. My other sister lives in west central KY, about 40 miles from totality. I’m sure they will be heading down there with friends.
My dad’s hometown is St. Joseph, MO, and they have been planning events and tent sites at the airport for almost two years. Campsites are going for $100/night plus $30 pp. He has been having a ball keeping up with what’s happening there. One of his astronomy buddies gave him a big box of viewing glasses for the eclipse, and he sent a bunch to one of my cousins, whose church is having an event. (They will be 10 mi. north of St. Joe.)
We just have 89% where we live. My son lives in SC and will have 100% - so tempted to descend on him for a visit (3 birds with one stone - get to see son, meet the girlfriend, see the eclipse - oh, and get a beach fix so that’s 4)! Probably not as I just got back to work after visiting family in England plus I’m not sure my husband could deal with the 1200 mile drive right now. 
Hopinsville, KY is the epicenter for this eclipse and this WaPo article is interesting in terms of discussing the economic impact they are expecting. It’s about an hour away from where I live and my college roommate was from “Hoptown,” as many Kentuckians call it. Her family were farmers and D’s good college friend from Hopkinsville has connections to the military with Fort Campbell being nearby. This should be a much needed nice boost for them.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/07/26/how-the-coming-solar-eclipse-has-brought-hope-to-my-struggling-kentucky-hometown/?utm_term=.fe0148839121
In the news it was mentioned to be aware of counterfeit eclipse glasses being sold.
It will be a big bummer if a tropical system moves into the FL/AL border and travels north across the Southeast for this event. I don’t see anything on the long-range wx models but they only go out to Aug 10th right now. Another good sign is that the ultra-long range model from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center shows a large cool air mass over the central/eastern US through the 14th.
I ordered some paper glasses (pack of 5) that will arrive tomorrow. They were $12 and change, then yesterday went up to $16, and are now $18. Many other sellers only guarantee delivery in time for the eclipse if you pay some premium shipping. Ripoff! Our paper says you can pick up a pr of the paper glasses at the local library.
We are heading to Asheville for a fun weekend with friends and will drive into the “zone of totality” Monday. Hope the weather cooperates!
I ordered a 5 pack from Amazon and they came in a huge box! I hate that.
Bought my glasses today. Lowe’s carries the American Paper Optics brand.
I got this crazy idea to have a mirror custom made for my hallway because I can’t find what I’m looking for. So I went to a frame shop. Which was selling eclipse glasses. Really, they are everywhere.
I bought plastic framed glasses off Amazon a month or so ago. I think my elderly dad will be more likely to keep them on than the paper ones. I can’t let Dad miss the eclipse; he’s engineer who worked in the space program in the 60’s. If it’s a good day for him, he’ll talk about the calculations to get a picture of the Earthrise from the Lunar Orbiter. If it’s a bad day, he’ll wonder why it’s getting dark so early.
At my daughter’s school, it is the first day of class. They are having a big party at the rooftop observatory, have the special glasses and a filter for the telescope. Of course they will have all the scientists to explain every second of what is happening. They are also having the whole thing streamed into one of the classrooms so you can watch it starting in Oregon and finishing in SC.
She won’t go because that’s how she is.
Also purchased my glasses from Lowes (American Paper Optics). They had a lot. Approx. $2 each. A tad more than buying in bulk, but not sweating Amazon delivery back-order.
Ugh, the long-range weather models now show a hurricane approaching the Southeast on the 13th or 14th. Most runs show it grazing PR on the north and then into the Bahamas. The latest run has it going through Miami and then into the eastern FL Panhandle. Other runs show it hitting farther north on the FL Atlantic coast.
Note: long-range forecasts are notoriously unreliable in the details but are pretty good with the general pattern, so I’d expect a hurricane to form in the Atlantic and move towards Puerto Rico. After that, it gets fuzzy. The NHC gives the low, off Africa, an 80% chance of becoming organized in the next 5 days: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
I have plans to take a daytrip from Charlotte area to visit a friend in Columbia SC (in the middle of zone of totality) but I am afraid traffic might be gridlocked, maybe for days? I can imagine millions converging on that area from north and south, and just pulling over to the shoulder when they get to the zone. It could be really bad. Will have to play it by ear.
I saw the March 1970 total eclipse with my then boyfriend, now husband, from Virginia Beach. We both still think of it as one of the most memorable events of our lives, and that was at a time when there were no viewing glasses available and we had to watch the lead-up and wind-down looking down at a piece of paper with a hole cut in it. Bottom line, you should travel to where there will be totality if you possibly can. Deal with traffic, crowds, etc. Absorb the wonders of the universe. You won’t regret it. Go!