Reservations Made for the Great American Eclipse

A couple of days ago, I mentioned the Great American Eclipse coming up on August 21.  Seemed like a great excuse to plan a long weekend. If you do any internet exploration about this topic you will quickly discover that this is going to be quite an event! Entire websites have sprung up dedicated to this particular eclipse. If you check YouTube all you'll find now are videos about total solar eclipses in such exotic locations as Indonesia or Iceland. August 21, 2017, offers us a unique opportunity right in our own backyards!

One of our favorite places in Georgia is the Clayton/Dillard area in the extreme northeast corner of the state. Who can resist the southern cookin' feast at the Dillard House Restaurant in the beautiful Dillard valley!? Dillard also just happens to be directly under the path of the eclipse. I began my search for a camping location in the immediate Clayton/Dillard area. No luck!  Surprisingly there are few RV park options in the area and those that I found were already booked solid. I expanded my search, cross-referencing maps of RV parks with solar eclipse maps - slowly extending my search into North Carolina, Tennesee, and South Carolina. Interestingly, even non-descript/poorly-reviewed campgrounds were showing BOOKED. I guess my idea of a long-eclipse-weekend was not so original!

Then I decided to narrow my search and look closer to home. Specifically, Blairsville, Georgia which is a comfortably within the TOTAL eclipse path and only 50 miles up the road from Jasper. Here I found Crossing Creeks RV Resort. Their catch-phrase is "welcome to extraordinary!"  Judging by the pictures on their website, I can't argue with their claim! Pricey - yes ($75/night for a standard campsite). Snooty - possibly (if your rig is older than 10 years, you must submit photos for management approval). Nonetheless, it's absolutely beautiful and they had a nice spot for us. We're going up Saturday morning and come home Tuesday. Our site is nice and open so we should be able to sit on our very own patio with a glass of wine while enjoying the astronomical spectacle!

Check out the website for Crossing Creeks RV Resort:

http://www.crossingcreeksrvresort.com/

Road Trip for the Great American Eclipse

I read this article earlier today (link below) and immediately decided that a long-weekend road trip is definitely in order in August! Carol & I are fortunate to be very close to the path of a significant astronomical event - The Great American Eclipse!

On Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse will be visible from the USA for the first time since 1979. The path of this eclipse will travel from coast to coast across the United States, with the moon's shadow racing from Oregon at 10:21 AM (local time) and exiting the US near Charleston, South Carolina 94 minutes later.

This is the first time a total solar eclipse has gone from one American coast to the other since 1918. It will also be the first time in U.S. history that a total solar eclipse will make landfall exclusively on U.S. soil, meaning it will not be visible from any other country.

Carol & I are happily very close to the path of this event as it slices across extreme northeast Georgia. From our home, we would be able to view the eclipse at about 98%, but if we drive a mere fifty miles northeast, we will be comfortably in the direct path of the eclipse at 2:34 PM on August 21 and have the once in a life-time experience of solar eclipse TOTALITY!

August 21 is a Monday which makes the timing perfect to plan a long weekend with the RV. I thought others of you might like to make similar plans, depending upon your location. The entire country will experience a partial eclipse that Monday, but if you can get to the 70-mile wide swath of totality, it should be well worth the effort.

The link below shares an excellent article that gives you state by state info about when and where to view this once in a lifetime event. What a great excuse to go camping! Let's pray for good weather!

http://www.space.com/35495-where-to-see-2017-total-solar-eclipse.html

One other note:  to commemorate this event, the US Postal Service is issuing a special "thermal" stamp with a release date of June 20.  When you press your finger on this stamp, it will react to your body heat and change from a picture of a total solar eclipse to a picture of the moon.  How cool is that?

http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/4/28/15467182/us-total-eclipse-august-21-commemorative-stamp

Design of new "heat-reactive" stamp due to be issued June 20, 2017