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I heard from a co-worker who plans to travel to Oregon that some of the hotel rooms in the path of the umbra are sometimes > 2-3k USD for the night(s) prior to

I heard from a co-worker who plans to travel to Oregon that some of the hotel rooms in the path of the umbra are sometimes > 2-3k USD for the night(s) prior to the eclipse.

irrational 9y ago
Washington or Oregon? Why would you stay in Washington? The roads into the area of totality in Oregon on that day will be horrendous. It would probably be faster to walk. Fortunately our church has a camp almost smack on the totality line so we are staying at a cabin there for a few days around the event to avoid the traffic.
Amorymeltzer 9y ago
Gimlet's Every Little Thing podcast did a bit on the eclipse a month or two ago — there were towns booked solid then, I imagine it's only tougher now.
DamnYuppie 9y ago
I am on a project in Bend, OR and the city is booked solid for that week. The camp grounds are booked as well. Your best bet would be to rent an RV and boondock out on the BLM land around town. Yes the hotel prices are very high, but I hadn't seen any that high.
- sixQuarks 9y ago
  I actually have an RV and live in Portland. Where do you recommend boondocking close to Portland?
  - DamnYuppie 9y ago
    Anywhere along 20 before Millican. Or along SW George Millican HWY which is a connector between 20 and Prineville.
    - sixQuarks 9y ago
      thanks
- woodson 9y ago
  I'm thinking of driving south from Hood River towards Madras; OR-26 between Government Camp and Madras is probably going to be backed up, though (or so I imagine).
JPKab 9y ago
I think Oregon is a bad spot to view it. The weather (yes, even in summer) is too unpredictable and it's too close to populated coastal areas. Wyoming is the way to go, or western Nebraska. Don't expect to get hotels, but camping on a rancher's land is easy, and the arid climate in the summer minimizes chances of cloud cover.
- jasode 9y ago
  >, or western Nebraska. I'll be in eastern Nebraska (Omaha) and will drive south on I-80 towards the eclipse path and hopefully pull off to the side and park somewhere. What's hard to plan for is whether too many other Nebraskans will have the exact same idea which means I have to camp out a ridiculous 12 hours before the event to secure a spot -- or give up entirely.
  - Retric 9y ago
    The ideal location is 70 miles wide and 2100 miles long. I don't think viewing space is going to be much of an issue. PS: Sure, the closer to the center the longer the total eclipse lasts. But, you still end up seeing the same thing.
    - jasode 9y ago
      >The ideal location is 70 miles wide True but I was trying to minimize the distance from Omaha airport since I have to catch a flight 5 hours later. It will be interesting to see how many of the ~500,000 Omaha residents will be on that stretch of I-80!
      - camiller 9y ago
        from I-80 (in Lincoln) take highway 77 south towards Beatrice. The closer you get to Beatrice the longer the totality. Lincoln will get about 1 min, Beatrice gets 2:35.
      - eclipsePrepper 9y ago
        I highly recommend rescheduling your flight.. seriously. Right before and right after the eclipse roads will be slammed! One article from Missouri said to expect Florida hurricane evacuation level traffic. If you still want to try to fly, bring LOTS of water in case you are stuck in traffic for hours.
metalliqaz 9y ago
That's a lot to bet on good weather.
pklausler 9y ago
OPB says that Oregon expects a million visitors for the eclipse. If you don't already have solid bookings, don't even try. I have to drive about 15 miles south from my house to get deep into the totality, and I know all the back roads, and I still expect epic gridlock.
- BarkMore 9y ago
  A high school graduation at the Expo center in Redmond is enough to cause 97 to backup. The eclipse backup will indeed be epic.
learc83 9y ago
I don't see the point of booking something without knowing the weather unless you don't care about throwing it away and going somewhere else. My initial plan was to book several hotels in different areas, but it seems like every hotel inside the path of totality requires a 2 week notice to cancel (and this was months ago). Since I'm about 1.5 hours from the path of totality in Georgia, my current plan is to drive out at like 3AM (before the roads have a chance to get packed) and just stay in the area. If it looks like the weather isn't going to cooperate, I'm going to leave a day earlier. Get a hotel outside of the path of totality, and do the same thing I was planning to do at home (leave at 3AM to drive into it).
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  I'm in New York. I'm more than 1.5 hours away from the totality, so I'm going to have to head south and hope - although, I'm in the somewhat enviable position of just being able to sleep in a car... as long as someone cracks the window and leaves me a bowl of water. On the other hand, the totality will pass in the very early afternoon, so I can probably just head back once it's over.
  - bradleyjg 9y ago
    Are you thinking Greenville? Columbia? Somewhere off I-95?
    - pavel_lishin 9y ago
      Yeah, I was looking at Georgia and South Carolina - seems like the most reasonable destination. A train is going to take me 16 hours, minimum - and a car will take 12. I might just go ahead and book a flight, but then I still need a car.
- Florin_Andrei 9y ago
  Book it months in advance, and then the price is normal. That's what I did. I'll be in Salem.
jzawodn 9y ago
Yeah, it's crazy. I waited too long to plan and we're flying (ourselves) up to Idaho Falls and paying like $700/night. Selection was really bad and virtually every other town I tried had zero availability at any price!
- Crisco 9y ago
  Yeah, I'm from Idaho Falls and know someone that is renting out their house for $8k a night. I tried to convince my parents that they should do the same thing with their house, but they'd rather stay in house and not worry about traffic those days. Most of the town is going to close down for a few days around the eclipse because of all the visitors.
  - aaroninsf 9y ago
    Say, many friends and I are all converging to camp just outside Pocatello with the intention to drive up first thing that morning, either up 15, to 33, or over to Rexburg/Idaho Falls area... ...would you have any advice on where you think we might want to go (assuming we're not fighting clouds)? We could only get our campground on the night of the 20th, so don't have time to do reconnaissance as we would have wished; the main thing is just to make sure we get somewhere with a view of some kind. (I lived in Utah as a kid and came up through the area many times but can't correlate my ancient memories with places...) All ears!
    - Crisco 9y ago
      I'm not sure how busy they'll be, but the Menan Butte and the Rexburg Bench could both provide some good views. Of course the Butte is in the desert and will be pretty hot and isolated, but if you bring your own shade and are wary of snakes you should be fine. It'll be right in the center of the path (or as close as you can get eyeballing it) so you'd get about as much time possible. My grandparents live a two minute drive from the base of the Butte, so that's probably where I'll go.
digitalsushi 9y ago
We're some New Hampshire tech bumpkins who got a hotel in Charleston SC for 15% of that. We're going to leave our phones and cameras inside, and just hang out by the pool with some cold beverages and experience the eclipse as it unfurls. Granted, it's not quite in the center, but I think it should be close enough to make the trip worth making. I suppose in a panic, we could drive about 40 miles north. Should we?
- ralfd 9y ago
  At the pool? Go to the beach!
d-sc 9y ago
Can confirm: The company I work for just opened a hotel in Oregon and the nightly rates we are getting that weekend are very high.
jen729w 9y ago
We're travelling all the way from Australia for this (thanks to my epic girlfriend). Got a roadside motel in Pleasant View, ~50 miles from maximum totality (Hopkinsville), for <$200. Only booked it the other week. Not expecting it to be anything flash, but there's stuff out there. Don't be put off!

I heard from a co-worker who plans to travel to Oregon that some of the hotel rooms in the path of the umbra are sometimes > 2-3k USD for the night(s) prior to the eclipse.

irrational 9y ago

Washington or Oregon? Why would you stay in Washington? The roads into the area of totality in Oregon on that day will be horrendous. It would probably be faster to walk. Fortunately our church has a camp almost smack on the totality line so we are staying at a cabin there for a few days around the event to avoid the traffic.

Amorymeltzer 9y ago

Gimlet's Every Little Thing podcast did a bit on the eclipse a month or two ago — there were towns booked solid then, I imagine it's only tougher now.

DamnYuppie 9y ago

I am on a project in Bend, OR and the city is booked solid for that week. The camp grounds are booked as well. Your best bet would be to rent an RV and boondock out on the BLM land around town. Yes the hotel prices are very high, but I hadn't seen any that high.

sixQuarks 9y ago
I actually have an RV and live in Portland. Where do you recommend boondocking close to Portland?
- DamnYuppie 9y ago
  Anywhere along 20 before Millican. Or along SW George Millican HWY which is a connector between 20 and Prineville.
  - sixQuarks 9y ago
    thanks
woodson 9y ago
I'm thinking of driving south from Hood River towards Madras; OR-26 between Government Camp and Madras is probably going to be backed up, though (or so I imagine).

JPKab 9y ago

I think Oregon is a bad spot to view it. The weather (yes, even in summer) is too unpredictable and it's too close to populated coastal areas. Wyoming is the way to go, or western Nebraska. Don't expect to get hotels, but camping on a rancher's land is easy, and the arid climate in the summer minimizes chances of cloud cover.

jasode 9y ago
>, or western Nebraska. I'll be in eastern Nebraska (Omaha) and will drive south on I-80 towards the eclipse path and hopefully pull off to the side and park somewhere. What's hard to plan for is whether too many other Nebraskans will have the exact same idea which means I have to camp out a ridiculous 12 hours before the event to secure a spot -- or give up entirely.
- Retric 9y ago
  The ideal location is 70 miles wide and 2100 miles long. I don't think viewing space is going to be much of an issue. PS: Sure, the closer to the center the longer the total eclipse lasts. But, you still end up seeing the same thing.
  - jasode 9y ago
    >The ideal location is 70 miles wide True but I was trying to minimize the distance from Omaha airport since I have to catch a flight 5 hours later. It will be interesting to see how many of the ~500,000 Omaha residents will be on that stretch of I-80!
    - camiller 9y ago
      from I-80 (in Lincoln) take highway 77 south towards Beatrice. The closer you get to Beatrice the longer the totality. Lincoln will get about 1 min, Beatrice gets 2:35.
    - eclipsePrepper 9y ago
      I highly recommend rescheduling your flight.. seriously. Right before and right after the eclipse roads will be slammed! One article from Missouri said to expect Florida hurricane evacuation level traffic. If you still want to try to fly, bring LOTS of water in case you are stuck in traffic for hours.

metalliqaz 9y ago

That's a lot to bet on good weather.

pklausler 9y ago

OPB says that Oregon expects a million visitors for the eclipse. If you don't already have solid bookings, don't even try. I have to drive about 15 miles south from my house to get deep into the totality, and I know all the back roads, and I still expect epic gridlock.

BarkMore 9y ago
A high school graduation at the Expo center in Redmond is enough to cause 97 to backup. The eclipse backup will indeed be epic.

learc83 9y ago

I don't see the point of booking something without knowing the weather unless you don't care about throwing it away and going somewhere else. My initial plan was to book several hotels in different areas, but it seems like every hotel inside the path of totality requires a 2 week notice to cancel (and this was months ago). Since I'm about 1.5 hours from the path of totality in Georgia, my current plan is to drive out at like 3AM (before the roads have a chance to get packed) and just stay in the area. If it looks like the weather isn't going to cooperate, I'm going to leave a day earlier. Get a hotel outside of the path of totality, and do the same thing I was planning to do at home (leave at 3AM to drive into it).

pavel_lishin 9y ago
I'm in New York. I'm more than 1.5 hours away from the totality, so I'm going to have to head south and hope - although, I'm in the somewhat enviable position of just being able to sleep in a car... as long as someone cracks the window and leaves me a bowl of water. On the other hand, the totality will pass in the very early afternoon, so I can probably just head back once it's over.
- bradleyjg 9y ago
  Are you thinking Greenville? Columbia? Somewhere off I-95?
  - pavel_lishin 9y ago
    Yeah, I was looking at Georgia and South Carolina - seems like the most reasonable destination. A train is going to take me 16 hours, minimum - and a car will take 12. I might just go ahead and book a flight, but then I still need a car.
Florin_Andrei 9y ago
Book it months in advance, and then the price is normal. That's what I did. I'll be in Salem.

jzawodn 9y ago

Yeah, it's crazy. I waited too long to plan and we're flying (ourselves) up to Idaho Falls and paying like $700/night. Selection was really bad and virtually every other town I tried had zero availability at any price!

Crisco 9y ago
Yeah, I'm from Idaho Falls and know someone that is renting out their house for $8k a night. I tried to convince my parents that they should do the same thing with their house, but they'd rather stay in house and not worry about traffic those days. Most of the town is going to close down for a few days around the eclipse because of all the visitors.
- aaroninsf 9y ago
  Say, many friends and I are all converging to camp just outside Pocatello with the intention to drive up first thing that morning, either up 15, to 33, or over to Rexburg/Idaho Falls area... ...would you have any advice on where you think we might want to go (assuming we're not fighting clouds)? We could only get our campground on the night of the 20th, so don't have time to do reconnaissance as we would have wished; the main thing is just to make sure we get somewhere with a view of some kind. (I lived in Utah as a kid and came up through the area many times but can't correlate my ancient memories with places...) All ears!
  - Crisco 9y ago
    I'm not sure how busy they'll be, but the Menan Butte and the Rexburg Bench could both provide some good views. Of course the Butte is in the desert and will be pretty hot and isolated, but if you bring your own shade and are wary of snakes you should be fine. It'll be right in the center of the path (or as close as you can get eyeballing it) so you'd get about as much time possible. My grandparents live a two minute drive from the base of the Butte, so that's probably where I'll go.

digitalsushi 9y ago

We're some New Hampshire tech bumpkins who got a hotel in Charleston SC for 15% of that. We're going to leave our phones and cameras inside, and just hang out by the pool with some cold beverages and experience the eclipse as it unfurls. Granted, it's not quite in the center, but I think it should be close enough to make the trip worth making. I suppose in a panic, we could drive about 40 miles north. Should we?

ralfd 9y ago
At the pool? Go to the beach!

d-sc 9y ago

Can confirm: The company I work for just opened a hotel in Oregon and the nightly rates we are getting that weekend are very high.

jen729w 9y ago

We're travelling all the way from Australia for this (thanks to my epic girlfriend). Got a roadside motel in Pleasant View, ~50 miles from maximum totality (Hopkinsville), for <$200. Only booked it the other week. Not expecting it to be anything flash, but there's stuff out there. Don't be put off!