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After learning from the mistakes I made seven years ago during the August 2017 total solar eclipse, I wasn’t going to repeat them. For the April 8, 2024 eclipse I looked and saw the closest full four-minute viewing location from here in the Twin Cities, MN, was in Bloomington, Indiana. This was about a 10-hour drive from our home. So a FULL YEAR in advance I made reservations at the Wyndham Travelodge, in Bloomington, IN. A single room with two queen beds for the wife and me, and our two teenage boys was $248, for a two night stay. I figured I’d head down on Sunday, April 7, and head back home on Tuesday, April 9th. Since Bloomington, was in the center of the totally path, I wouldn’t have to chase to enjoy the full glory of the eclipse providing the weather was clear.
Historically, the chance of a perfectly clear sky on April 8th, in Bloomington, IN was about 27%. I also knew that at that time of year we could not only run into crappy weather, but that it could be very bad with major tornado outbreaks or late winter blizzards. I made sure my big 4x4 pick-em-up truck was in tip top mechanical condition with brand new off-road tires. I also made sure my storm chasing/spotting gear was in perfect working condition.
Everything was set when I received an email notification in January of 2024 that my hotel reservations had been CANCELLED! I didn’t cancel them, so I called the hotel and was informed that the only person I could speak with about it was the owner of the place and that he had left on a week’s vacation and could not be reached! I was also informed that the reason for the cancellation was because my room had been given away to someone else who was willing to pay $1,400 per person, per night!!! I was now in practically the same position as in 2017, when all lodging was booked, and unlike 2017, all the camp grounds were not taking reservations, they were on a first come, first serve basis.
Being a member of AAA, I called them and they found me lodging in Avon, IN, which is a suburb of Indianapolis, IN, for $546 total for two nights for the four of us. They also guaranteed my room on a prepay basis, so if I didn’t show up, I would still be charged.
We left the house by 10am on Sunday morning. Traffic seemed heavier than usual for the time of day but no major delays thru Minnesota, in spite of the fact that it was raining; that all changed half way thru Wisconsin. Thank Heaven many Truckers were still using CB Radios in 2024. We got all the major traffic delay information well in advance—where they began—how long they were—and where they ended. All the delays were due to road construction combined with heavier than usual traffic and rain. Our longest delay was about 45 minutes and combining that with losing an hour because of time zone changes, we arrived at our lodging around 12:30 am. Local time. The nine hour drive had actually taken us 10.5 hours, and the rain was almost non-stop during our entire trip. It did not look good for Monday’s eclipse viewing.
Before going to bed, my son, Brandon, and I studied the weather charts and read some of the forecast discussions and decided on our chase destination 127 miles away in Vincennes, IN. We planned on getting up early and being on the road by 8am to make sure we had enough time in case of major congestion.
We woke up the next morning to perfectly clear skies and the sun shining in our hotel room! The weather had changed and no chasing was required! I did have to travel about 50 miles south of our location, to Bloomington, IN to be in the four-minute zone—the center of the eclipse path. Since the weather was fair all around, traffic was light and we had no travel issues. When we arrived in Bloomington, we found a lot of places were blocked off and others charging $100 fees to park in their lots. We used the GPS to find the nearest Walmart, and set up shop in their parking lot for free. With the eclipse peaking at 3:05pm local time, we had our spot staked out by 11:30am. There were a few other eclipse chasers scattered around the parking lot with us.
To kill some time I got on the Ham Radio and started scanning the local Repeaters. It wasn’t long before I found the local ARES group was running what they called a “Gridlock Net.” They were looking for reports of traffic jams and parking lot over-flows as well as other helpful information on navigating the eclipse event. I checked into the Net and as the day went on started giving out information about how many open parking spaces we still had left at our location. This seemly made time pass quickly and suddenly it was eclipse time. The skies were crystal clear except for a few wispy cirrus clouds high up and the temperature was 76°F. We had a glorious view and my son, Brandon, shot a wonderful video of the entire event. You can view his 7-minute video here:
After the eclipse was over we headed into downtown Bloomington to the Wonder Lab Museum, where a statue of Star Trek’s Captain Janeway is located. Bloomington, IN is the fictitious birthplace of Captain Janeway, which will be on May 20, 2336. We wanted to spend more time there, but they closed early and kicked us out due to the eclipse event. https://janewaystatue.com/
Next we headed into Indianapolis, IN, to the local Model Railroad Club, so I could do a video shoot of their layout for my YouTube Channel. It just so happened that they meet on Monday nights for operating sessions and I got myself invited. If you’re into trains or model trains, you can watch the 25-minute video I shot here:
After a good night’s sleep it was time to head home, but not before breakfast. We ate at a Bob Evans, just before hitting the Interstate for home. We were looking forward to getting home in a timely manner since we’d be gaining back that hour we’d lost due to the time zone change. It wasn’t very long before we realized our worst nightmare was ahead of us. Everyone else had also waited until Tuesday to head for home. It wasn’t long before we ran into the worse traffic congestion I have ever seen!
Normally it should take under three hours to travel the 180 miles up Interstate 65 from Indianapolis to Chicago; it took us SEVEN HOURS! At one point south of Chicago we had six or seven lanes of traffic in EACH direction, which was at a standstill, and if you looked both front and back as far as the eye could see, it was nothing but Semi-trucks, thousands of them surrounding us on all sides. And they were ANGRY! The CB Radio was full of nothing but cuss words about solar eclipse goers which the Truckers were referring to as the “3-minute-shyt-show.” They weren’t moving, so they weren’t making any money and they can only be driving for a limited number of hours per day. Because of the slowdown, all the Truck Stops and Rest Areas were full up as well; nowhere to park except the side of the road in some places.
We left the Indy area around 10am and it took us until 5pm to get thru Chicago. We still had another six+ hours of driving to get home. Fortunately traffic through Wisconsin was light on the way back and the construction we had experienced on the way down was opened up. We stopped in Madison, WI, for a late dinner at a Golden Skillet. I turned the driving over to the wife, Anita, for the rest of the way home as I was wiped out by that time.
The Storm Chase vehicle got us home safely on what I’ve decided is our LAST family vacation at about 1:30am local time. We had been on the road for 13.5 hours!
Thanks so much for sharing all the details of your epic solar eclipse adventure! It certainly sounds like you went above and beyond to plan and prepare. I'm glad the actual viewing turned out beautifully despite the travel troubles getting there and back.
Thanks so much for sharing all the details of your epic solar eclipse adventure! It certainly sounds like you went above and beyond to plan and prepare. I'm glad the actual viewing turned out beautifully despite the travel troubles getting there and back.
I started preparing a year in advance including putting in for a week off work to be sure I got it. It was all on faith as historically it was only a 27% chance of clear skies that day. I set up a meet with the model RR club just to make sure it wasn't a total bust, but it ended up being a spectacular success!
The drive home was grueling, but talking with the angry truckers on the CB Radio helped pass the time. The CB actually sounded like I was back in the late 1970's. I hadn't heard it that busy in about 30 years.
My 2017 Solar Eclipse Chase was even more spectacular, not because of the eclipse, but because of the severe weather I encountered. Unfortunately, I never posted it on this Board.
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