In Search of Totality

We had witnessed the 2017 Eclipse and soon after started making plans for the 2024 Eclipse. This total eclipse would be much closer and within a 2 hour drive from home. As the day of the eclipse drew closer, the weather forecast started calling for high thin clouds and then chances of rain for the big event. When we started our drive on the morning of the 8th, it was sunny and we saw this Bald Eagle feeding along the edge of the highway, within a couple of miles of our home. I turned around to get a photo of the eagle and it flew into this tree.

Having been through the 2017 Eclipse, my plan was to look for a location with lots of parking, easy access to a return route and access to rest rooms. My logistics planning zeroed in on the south bound rest area on I-390 at the Mount Morris, NY. We arrived at the rest area at 10:00AM and only found a half dozen cars. As we waited for the start of the eclipse, we got to know some of the other people and found their planning also used the same criteria which selected this rest area. By 2:00PM the rest area was full and overflowing.

Our little viewing area ready for the big event. We were still able to see the sun peak through the clouds.

By 2:00PM the clouds got thicker as the eclipse started.

The clouds blocked viewing the eclipse but around 3:15PM the sky started to turn darker. It was the start of totality. We couldn't see the Sun being blocked by the Moon, but I did record a video of what happened. My video was 6 minutes long and I changed the video play speed to reduce it to half a minute.

Shortly after totality, this hot air balloon drifted by the rest area.

Traffic on I-390 leaving the rest area wasn't bad until we reached road construction at Dansville, NY. After leaving the road construction area, the traffic was heavy until Corning, NY.