Some lessons from the eclipse trip

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  • spencer rifle

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    Led a bus trip to near Carbondale for the eclipse. I57 was somewhat congested on the way down, but we still got there in plenty of time. On the way back, the first 27 miles took us 3.5 hours. And it showed no signs of getting any better. We had extra food and water, and our own restroom. And GPS, along with several smart phones, which turned out be not worth too much. One of the riders had a rather detailed southern Illinois map. While the GPS was handy for telling us where the congestion was and about how long it would take, it was not good at finding realistic alternatives. We could see a parallel road it was recommending, but that traffic was moving no faster than the I57 parking lot.

    The only real way we found effective alternatives was with the map. We used the GPS to double check, but it kept trying to get us to go its way. We ended up on secondary (and smaller) roads to avoid the apocalyptic traffic jam and made "good" time. Took 7 hours to get there and 12 to get back. We talked to an Illinois cop around 10 PM and he said I57 was still jammed. Yow.
     
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    miguel

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    I have maps for my county, the surrounding counties and counties along the way to the most likely destination if we ever had to bail. Maps are great!
     

    IndyTom

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    If there is network available, Waze generally does a good job of identifying congestion and alternate routes. Google seems to be catching up, but the crowdsource function of Waze still seems to be a bit better. As for exiting during a SHTF situation, most are probably SOL without a serious 4x4 capability as the main and secondary routes are probably going to be parking lots. Driving in the median or on the shoulder (where possible) might be the only option and bridges would still be bottlenecks.
     

    SwikLS

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    6 hours down, 9 hours back for me. Drove I-69 from Bloomington to Evansville for the first time. A very scenic drive but as of right now there are no places to stop to use the bathroom. Evansville was congested but once I got through that traffic was fine.

    On the way back traffic was at a crawl on the north side of Hopkinsville. They were sending everyone up 41 so I couldn't get back on the Pennyrile Highway. Finally got going to Crofton and everything was smooth until about a mile before and then went back to a crawl. Made my way over to Pennyrile Hwy. which was slow too. I decided I wasnt going to try and cross the Ohio at Evansville and instead made my way over to Owensboro. Then took 231 up through Jasper and Loogootee back to I-69, and then back to Indy.

    Hopkinsvile to the Indiana border is supposed to be an hour and a half drive. It took me 5.5 hours. Then 4 hours from Owensboro to get home.
     

    churchmouse

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    K_W

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    We were in western KY... when we left at 5 PM ET, 4 PM Local, there was a GPS indicated 35 MILE traffic jam on Western Kentucky Highway from before I-69 east to "9007", luckily our exit was I 69 and we "only" had 6 miles of jam which still took over an hour, then at least another hour getting through 10 miles of jam from Hendersonville to the IN/KY bridge. 4 hr 20 indicated, took 5 hr 30 down and 9 hours back. Got home 2:20 went straight to bed at 2:45.
     

    spencer rifle

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    BluePig

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    Biggest problem is bridges across large bodies of water.
    Limited paths get congested quickly and can affect your plans.
    My worry living around a river is bridges and how quickly they plug up.
     

    Gluemanz28

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    I went outside the plant I was I down here in Knoxville, TN. Watched it with glasses the customer provided and was back inside within 5 minutes.

    Im not smart enough to have planned it so it was just plain luck.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    We did the sensible thing; booked a second night. Soooo glad I did. Our trip home this afternoon was relatively uneventful. (just normal road construction delays)

    And glad we did. Hotel visitor checked in last night as I was talking to the manager at the front desk while I retrieved a plunger (damned kids). "I came in from NWI. No kidding, I saw a 50 mile backup on 65NB. They were crawling." I thanked him for the info and then repaid him with a nugget worth its weight in gold after he asked desperately if there was any beer in the hotel he could buy; "Dude. We arent in IN. They sell cold beer in gas stations. You can get some right over there at the BP on the corner. Oh, and there are two liquor stores a half mile west."
     

    Cameramonkey

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    This is very interesting. This wasn't even any sort of emergency. Just imagine...

    Exactly. Here is the story of our little "emergency"

    Wife was mildly annoyed, but complied when I told her that we needed to pack to be self sufficient; enough snacks and whatnot to survive comfy for several days. That meant a loaf of bread, a jar of PB, and various snacks. (like cheap frosted oatmeal cookies :drool:) Oh, and a couple gallons of water. I was concerned with a "run" on restaurants and such due to an unanticipated influx of visitors. I had visions of ill prepared restaurants running out of food and gridlock on the surface streets. We would survive on PB&J so no worries. At the time I made the request on Saturday, I was watching crowds in OR overwhelm the local small town infrastructure.

    As we headed south on 65 Sunday afternoon around lunchtime, we stopped at the big Elizabethtown exit. The Wendy's was a-holes and elbows. People lined up to the door. It was crazy. On my way to the car to grab something, I held the door for a worker who had an armload of bags of frozen chicken patties and other various sauces and toppings. They were slammed so hard a worker had to go grab stock from another slower store. I literally thought "what have we gotten ourselves into?". it further reinforced my plans when the wife, who was standing in line for the womens room with our daughter said "the drive thru is short. Take the boy and hit it. I'll text the order." (SOP for us)

    I was 3rd in line with no txt from her on what to order. I tried to txt her that I didnt get the order yet and to hurry, and saw that the text wouldnt send. All the "kids" waiting here in the area were tying up the towers and we couldnt communicate. I couldnt even call her. I eventually had to drive past the speaker and pick the girls up and make a second pass with them in the van to get our food. 20 mins and as many miles later, the text messages delivered. :facepalm:

    Luckily that was the extent of the chaos we saw. Our trip ended with a whimper. The crowds (except for the die hard eclipse chasers) moved on, and Mrs Monkey and I had a lovely dinner at the mexican restaurant next door to the hotel while the kids chilled in the room with a pizza and Nickelodeon. (their choice)

    CSB: One guy we met had been to something like 14 eclipses. He said he was just short of experiencing a full hour of totality. As a skydiver who appreciates the chase, (we chase hours of freefall, accumulated 15-75 seconds at a time) I was in awe. I get it.
     

    bwframe

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    ...As we headed south on 65 Sunday afternoon around lunchtime, we stopped at the big Elizabethtown exit. The Wendy's was a-holes and elbows. People lined up to the door. It was crazy. On my way to the car to grab something, I held the door for a worker who had an armload of bags of frozen chicken patties and other various sauces and toppings. They were slammed so hard a worker had to go grab stock from another slower store. I literally thought "what have we gotten ourselves into?". it further reinforced my plans when the wife, who was standing in line for the womens room with our daughter said "the drive thru is short. Take the boy and hit it. I'll text the order." (SOP for us)

    I was 3rd in line with no txt from her on what to order. I tried to txt her that I didnt get the order yet and to hurry, and saw that the text wouldnt send. All the "kids" waiting here in the area were tying up the towers and we couldnt communicate. I couldnt even call her. I eventually had to drive past the speaker and pick the girls up and make a second pass with them in the van to get our food. 20 mins and as many miles later, the text messages delivered. :facepalm:...

    This is golden information along with the premise of the whole thread.

    Hmm...

    ...more emergency food in vehicle to keep everyone happy driving by the exit...
    ...FRS radios for close communication...
    ...porta potty...

    Along with updated map book and a mindset to avoid crowds. All things I need to evaluate for my own trips.

    Again, what if this was an emergency rather than people voluntarily going the same pathways?
     
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    bobjones223

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    Led a bus trip to near Carbondale for the eclipse. I57 was somewhat congested on the way down, but we still got there in plenty of time. On the way back, the first 27 miles took us 3.5 hours. And it showed no signs of getting any better. We had extra food and water, and our own restroom. And GPS, along with several smart phones, which turned out be not worth too much. One of the riders had a rather detailed southern Illinois map. While the GPS was handy for telling us where the congestion was and about how long it would take, it was not good at finding realistic alternatives. We could see a parallel road it was recommending, but that traffic was moving no faster than the I57 parking lot.

    The only real way we found effective alternatives was with the map. We used the GPS to double check, but it kept trying to get us to go its way. We ended up on secondary (and smaller) roads to avoid the apocalyptic traffic jam and made "good" time. Took 7 hours to get there and 12 to get back. We talked to an Illinois cop around 10 PM and he said I57 was still jammed. Yow.


    Did you get a Winston's Bagel while you were there???????

    If not you really missed out on the Carbondale experience!!

    Go Salukis!!!
     

    KittySlayer

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    Biggest problem is bridges across large bodies of water.
    Limited paths get congested quickly and can affect your plans.
    My worry living around a river is bridges and how quickly they plug up.

    I have two rivers between my work and home (that is three miles away). I have identified and traveled all ten bridges that could get me across including two walking bridges and a rail road bridge across the rivers. Also have a kayak rental place where I could boat across.

    If the New Madrid earthquake is on your list of fears there are bridges everywhere. You cannot drive for more than a couple of miles on just about any road without crossing a small bridge/culvert that could become impassible in a motor vehicle.
     

    rhino

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    Mar 18, 2008
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    I admire your forethought and planning and appreciate that you shared with us!

    The provisions you listed were per person, right? Haha!

    Your issues with the mobile phones is interesting and in retrospect, not a surprise. That makes a strong case for having a few FMRS or GMRS radios among your groups for short range communications.


    Exactly. Here is the story of our little "emergency"

    Wife was mildly annoyed, but complied when I told her that we needed to pack to be self sufficient; enough snacks and whatnot to survive comfy for several days. That meant a loaf of bread, a jar of PB, and various snacks. (like cheap frosted oatmeal cookies :drool:) Oh, and a couple gallons of water. I was concerned with a "run" on restaurants and such due to an unanticipated influx of visitors. I had visions of ill prepared restaurants running out of food and gridlock on the surface streets. We would survive on PB&J so no worries. At the time I made the request on Saturday, I was watching crowds in OR overwhelm the local small town infrastructure.

    As we headed south on 65 Sunday afternoon around lunchtime, we stopped at the big Elizabethtown exit. The Wendy's was a-holes and elbows. People lined up to the door. It was crazy. On my way to the car to grab something, I held the door for a worker who had an armload of bags of frozen chicken patties and other various sauces and toppings. They were slammed so hard a worker had to go grab stock from another slower store. I literally thought "what have we gotten ourselves into?". it further reinforced my plans when the wife, who was standing in line for the womens room with our daughter said "the drive thru is short. Take the boy and hit it. I'll text the order." (SOP for us)

    I was 3rd in line with no txt from her on what to order. I tried to txt her that I didnt get the order yet and to hurry, and saw that the text wouldnt send. All the "kids" waiting here in the area were tying up the towers and we couldnt communicate. I couldnt even call her. I eventually had to drive past the speaker and pick the girls up and make a second pass with them in the van to get our food. 20 mins and as many miles later, the text messages delivered. :facepalm:

    Luckily that was the extent of the chaos we saw. Our trip ended with a whimper. The crowds (except for the die hard eclipse chasers) moved on, and Mrs Monkey and I had a lovely dinner at the mexican restaurant next door to the hotel while the kids chilled in the room with a pizza and Nickelodeon. (their choice)

    CSB: One guy we met had been to something like 14 eclipses. He said he was just short of experiencing a full hour of totality. As a skydiver who appreciates the chase, (we chase hours of freefall, accumulated 15-75 seconds at a time) I was in awe. I get it.
     
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