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Official Ollie Eclipse Rallies - Total Solar Eclipse 04/08/2024


John E Davies

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Interested if this starts getting organized.

2019 Elite II (Hull 505 - Galway Girl - August 7, 2019 Delivery) 
Tow Vehicle: 2021 F350 King Ranch, FX4, MaxTow Package, 10 Speed, 3.55 Rear Axle
Batteries Upgrade: Dual 315GTX Lithionics Lithiums - 630AH Total
Inverter/Charger: Xantrex 2000Pro 

BLOG:  https://4-ever-hitched.com

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I was thinking about this....  Got the idea from one of John's prior posts about it.   

Would an RV park take a block of reservations this far out?   State parks are usually 6 months advance reservations... that sounds like waiting too long. 

All we have to do is decide on where and how long and then get a block reserved with a window for completing.  I know... sounds easy but probably more complicated than that. 

If it's on... we're in. 

Scotty

 

Gregg & Donna Scott and Missy the Westie  -    The Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145     Western NC

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow!  April 8, 2024... our home is directly under the optimum line!   It's in Ohio... but we could surely squeeze a 2 or three Ollies in our driveway!   I'm torn about "going some where else" .... or seeing it from my own awesome back porch?  🙂   Exciting thing to see either way!  We were able to see the 2018 eclipse from Denver, but it wasn't quite the "optimal" position.   We might need to plan at least a mini-Ollie rally from home??

CORRECTION:   I think we are around 10 miles from near perfect.   😚

Edited by Dave and Kimberly
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2022 Elite II, Hull #1097  Elli Rose 🌹 Lithium batteries w/390Amp hours, solar.  Tow vehicle is: 2019 F-150 4wd, 3.5L Eco-boost, 3.55 rear end, with Max tow package.

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We were lucky when we saw the last eclipse at Tellico Plains Tennessee on August 21, 2017. It was hot and not a cloud in the sky at a campground we have camped at several times in the past.

Ordered the eclipse Road Atlas today for the April 8, 2024 eclipse. Going to identify campgrounds on the eclipse track. Don't know if there's cloud coverage historic data for regions, but once campgrounds are identified, want to see where the best chance for minimum cloud coverage could be for April.

Eclipse Maps:

https://nationaleclipse.com/maps.html

Our amateur photos with a 42X zoom point & shoot camera:

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i-jJn98PW-L.jpg

i-4srZhjs-L.jpg

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Bill #75 LE2 Tundra

 

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Received the "Road Atlas for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024" by Fred Espenak a retired astrophysicist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. His nickname is "Mr. Eclipse". Glad I purchased this Atlas to help decide where we will be camping with Ollie during the 2024 Eclipse.

It shows maps with roads, locations, and duration of full 2024 Eclipse in USA, Mexico, and Canada.

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Bill #75 LE2 Tundra

 

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Looks like several Army Corps of Engineers parks and campgrounds will be on the eclipse path in Arkansas. Hope to post them tomorrow while it's raining most of the day. Using the Wright guide "Camping with the Corps of Engineers and Fred Espenak's "Road Atlas for the Total Solar Eclipse 2024" to identify these campgrounds.

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Bill #75 LE2 Tundra

 

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You will find these Arkansas Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds in the total eclipse path for 4/8/24. There are more ACE campgrounds in Arkansas on the eclipse path, this is just a start on this project! Any campground links in the eclipse path that you have will be helpful!

ACE Campgrounds on Gillham Lake AR:

Big Coon Creek Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232524?tab=info

Cossatot Reefs Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232558?tab=info

Little Coon Creek Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234767?tab=info

ACE Campgrounds on Nimrod Lake AR:

Carter Cove Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232543?tab=info

Quarry Cove Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232682?tab=info

River Road Park Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232690?tab=info

Sunlight Bay Campground AR:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232714?tab=info

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Bill #75 LE2 Tundra

 

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For those near central Texas/Hill Country, Fredericksburg LadyBird park started taking reservations for the eclipse this morning.  Will go fast.  Fri-Tue, flat rate of $500. Non-refundable, but transferable.  

https://www.fbgtx.org/343/Lady-Bird-Johnson-RV-Park

https://www.fbgtx.org/1105/2024-Total-Solar-Eclipse

 

Now just hope we get a good weather window vs thunderstorms and hail. 😉

 

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2020 Legacy Elite II Hull 625 - 2013 Lexus LX 570

San Antonio/Boerne - Texas Hill Country

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23 hours ago, Ralph Mawyer said:

For those near central Texas/Hill Country, Fredericksburg LadyBird park started taking reservations for the eclipse this morning.  Will go fast.  Fri-Tue, flat rate of $500. Non-refundable, but transferable.  

https://www.fbgtx.org/343/Lady-Bird-Johnson-RV-Park

https://www.fbgtx.org/1105/2024-Total-Solar-Eclipse

THANKS! I just grabbed Site 11, there are plenty of spots as of this MINUTE (“We have made a few reservations today”) but you should act fast FAST if you want a reservation. It would be great to have a mini Ollie rally here. This is for a Friday arrival through Tuesday morning departure, four nights, the eclipse is Monday about noon. Full hookups including wifi. They have a primitive camping overflow lot, but that is not reservable.

Here are the official rules and info, you should read them all and then call with your credit card handy.

https://www.fbgtx.org/DocumentCenter/View/4736/LBJMP-Rule-Document-for-Eclipse

C51C9B1A-43E5-4CB3-B8AE-EED8750AA686.thumb.png.b695ed9e040c3722fa7c2017537f1f0d.png

This shows the location with the path of totality:

887C0D87-91B6-44A2-A2B3-77A01BC38561.thumb.jpeg.a7dd2be392cff7426b1b20b2f3d87850.jpeg

From this map page:

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=30.20780&Lng=-98.86356&Zoom=9&LC=1

If you click a spot, a popup appears with details about the eclipse at those coordinates. This is for Frederiicksburg. 4 minutes 23 seconds of totality! Woohoo. That is almost twice as long as my last one.

36E502EE-E1EF-4EB2-AB4A-D34971C89339.thumb.jpeg.d19bb9ac104aeeaa4c6c7fcdded1f8be.jpeg

https://discover.hubpages.com/travel/Things-to-See-and-Do-in-Fredericksburg-Texas-Lady-Bird-Johnson-Municipal-Park-Campgrounds-with-RV-Hookups#gid=ci02723bc3b00224ad&pid=things-to-see-and-do-in-fredericksburg-texas-lady-bird-johnson-municipal-park-campgrounds-with-rv-hookups-MTc2MjY5MDQ1NzM2MzUwODkz

This is 1950 miles from home, that will be quite a drive just for a total eclipse….

John Davies

Spokane WA

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"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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FYI, Sky and Telescope is having their viewing event at Fredericksburg.

“If you’re looking forward to 2024’s eclipse but don’t want all the logistical hassles, why not join Sky & Telescope’s tour to the heart of Texas? From our private viewing site in Fredericksburg, you’ll experience 4m 23s of totality — just 5 seconds short of the maximum duration anywhere along the path. Click here to get more information and a reservation link.”

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/countdown-two-years-2024-american-eclipse/

John Davies

Spokane WA

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"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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We live about 45 minutes from Fredericksburg, Boerne on the map above.    We spend a lot of time in Fredericksburg, there are a dozen or more wineries, a nice Main Street in downtown with a bunch of antique shops and specialty shops and some nice restaurants.  Kerrville is close by and isn’t as touristy as Fredericksburg but is a nice city.  The campgrounds around Fredericksburg and Kerrville are nice, we’ve camped in each town for weekend getaways.  So, for those interested, there’s a lot to do besides the eclipse!  Mike

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2 hours ago, Trainman said:

I'm just going to step outside of our home in Ft. Worth, Texas and what I see from there will have to work for me.

trainman

Where do you live in relation to the center of FW? If to the west, you might not get more than a few seconds. If to the east, that could be really great. Don’t plan on driving ANYWHERE during six hours after totality, it will be really chaotic. I hope nobody needs any kind of emergency service at that time.

“Traffic on U.S. 85 south of LaGrange increased by 821 percent. Laramie County, where Interstate 25 and Interstate 80 meet, saw 209,394 vehicles more than usual Monday.

“It took five days for those crowds to build,” McGee said. “And yet they all decided to leave at exactly the same time, one after another.””

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/22/solar-eclipse-wyoming-most-traffic-record/amp/

John Davies

Spokane WA

"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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3 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

Don’t plan on driving ANYWHERE within two hours of totality, it will be really chaotic. I hope nobody needs any kind of emergency service at that time. 

Our little town near Asheville was close to the center of the last eclipse and there were dire forecasts of bad traffic, strange animal behavior, and all sorts of other forms of un-natural happenings.  Admittedly a town of about 8,000 people is a bunch different from Ft. Worth.  But, Asheville (about 100,000 people and still smaller than Fort Worth) had basically the same things happen that we did - NOTHING!

Everything got quiet, traffic actually decreased (because everyone was watching the eclipse?), birds stopped moving about and/or singing, the two dogs that were near me simply took a nap.  Go figure!

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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These are traffic gridlocks along the path of the 2017 eclipse.

6ADA10D7-CEBD-4E55-9DE2-82B7FE74AD6B.jpeg.ecb9a21c17f506b19637c5c8bcd7f6bb.jpeg

A large factor is the expected sky conditions, TX is way more likely to have clear viewing than a more eastern city, so more people go there….

https://eclipse2024.org/weather/cloudy.html

We are prepared to drive a couple of hundred miles Monday morning to find clear skies, but for the last one the weather was perfect, directly above our Ollie. That is the best spot ever for viewing…. In 2017 we found a spot in a really small north Idaho County Fairground parking lot, it was the only reservable CG we could get, and it was about $100 for two nights, zero hookups. . The ones in Oregon state parks sold out within seconds of their opening, I literally watched four vanish from my computer screen between mouse clicks! I am sure it was bots getting them, so they could be resold later for a 1000% profit. I actually sent a complaint about it. Do not underestimate how very difficult it will be to find a campsite six months prior to it. Now is the time to reserve one if you can. There is a KOA in TX that will take them now, but they won’t tell you the cost, so they can see what other parks are charging closer to the event. Jerks….

https://mashable.com/article/solar-eclipse-tourism

I think four nights with full hookups for $500 in Fredericksburg will prove to be a real bargain. Also, this will be the last one for another two decades. So there will be a lot more grey hairs wanting to see it before they die. Like me😳

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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On 4/8/2022 at 7:05 AM, Ralph Mawyer said:

For those near central Texas/Hill Country, Fredericksburg LadyBird park started taking reservations for the eclipse this morning.  Will go fast.  Fri-Tue, flat rate of $500. Non-refundable, but transferable.  

https://www.fbgtx.org/343/Lady-Bird-Johnson-RV-Park

https://www.fbgtx.org/1105/2024-Total-Solar-Eclipse

 

Now just hope we get a good weather window vs thunderstorms and hail. 😉

 

We will be there.  I just reserved 24B.  Cant wait to meet those that will be there. 

FYI… you can’t reserve any extended days on either end of the eclipse reservation window.  You have to wait until April 1, 2023 to do that. I need to schedule a reminder for myself .

Carl

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Booked as well for the Fri-Tue for the event.

Maybe a rally will happen at that same time.

It will be quite a poke from Everett WA back to TX for this so having a specific target for the event is a big help.

See you there...
 

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2019 Elite II (Hull 505 - Galway Girl - August 7, 2019 Delivery) 
Tow Vehicle: 2021 F350 King Ranch, FX4, MaxTow Package, 10 Speed, 3.55 Rear Axle
Batteries Upgrade: Dual 315GTX Lithionics Lithiums - 630AH Total
Inverter/Charger: Xantrex 2000Pro 

BLOG:  https://4-ever-hitched.com

Amazon Oliver Outfitters Guide:  https://amzn.to/2mAAgPO

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30 minutes ago, Galway Girl said:

Booked as well for the Fri-Tue for the event.

Maybe a rally will happen at that same time.

It will be quite a poke from Everett WA back to TX for this so having a specific target for the event is a big help.

See you there...
 

Maybe you can doing Lithonic battery installs Sat-Sun while we wait for the eclipse. 🙂

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2020 Legacy Elite II Hull 625 - 2013 Lexus LX 570

San Antonio/Boerne - Texas Hill Country

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I am going to peel off a NEW THREAD just for the Fredericksburg RV Park, since we have three Ollies already, and I will keep it updated with who will be there. Everyone can still comment here as a general discussion, but Fredericksburg Rally members feel free to comment at the following link.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6757-official-april-8-2024-total-solar-eclipse-fredericksburg-tx-rally-only-not-for-general-discussion/

I prefer to know your site number, home town, hull number and trailer model. Consider adding this to your signature if you have not already. I can add additional personal info if you want me to, like favorite kind of doughnuts. 😁

John Davies

Spokane WA

"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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17 hours ago, Galway Girl said:

Booked as well for the Fri-Tue for the event.

Maybe a rally will happen at that same time.

Three Ollies makes a rally! I need your site number please, I spun off a new thread.

John Davies

Spokane WA

"Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II NARV (Not An RV) Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 33" LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel.

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John - Site 44 at Ladybird for the Solar Event - Craig

 

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2019 Elite II (Hull 505 - Galway Girl - August 7, 2019 Delivery) 
Tow Vehicle: 2021 F350 King Ranch, FX4, MaxTow Package, 10 Speed, 3.55 Rear Axle
Batteries Upgrade: Dual 315GTX Lithionics Lithiums - 630AH Total
Inverter/Charger: Xantrex 2000Pro 

BLOG:  https://4-ever-hitched.com

Amazon Oliver Outfitters Guide:  https://amzn.to/2mAAgPO

ALAZCAFLGAIDILINKSKYLAMIMNMSMOMTNENMNCOR

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