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Comment by boxcardavin | Hacker News Reader

I tried to schedule my wedding for the Saturday before the (Monday) eclipse in my GF's rural Idaho hometown so that my science friends would have a reason to make the 800 mile trip from Seattle. Unfortunately, all hotels in the path of totality have been sold out for months. ALL OF THEM. AirBNBs in an area of Idaho with 3bdrms renting for $650/m are going for $1000/night.

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I was planning a trip too, but all the hotels I looked at were totally booked more than a year ago.

Happens with every total solar eclipse. By the time the general public gets interested, all hotels have been booked by space geeks.

I scrapped the idea of traveling 9000 miles because I don't want to watch a partial eclipse from a truck stop somewhere in rural Idaho because hotels are booked and roads will be crowded.

If you're in the midwest, St Louis hotels seem to have rooms. Nobody has figured it out here yet.

I just booked mine, the totality zone is about 50 km southwest of downtown. Carbondale is about 100 miles to the southeast if you really want that extra 10 seconds of totality.

Maybe you could try to schedule a flight that will give you an even better view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBoa81xEvNA

Not a better view, just a longer totality and you won't have to worry about clouds. I attended a lecture by Fred Espenak a couple months ago and he said a crappy view from the ground is better than one from a plane.

Hotels in northeast Georgia and western South Carolina seem reasonable, too, and flights to Atlanta or Charlotte shouldn't be too bad from just about anywhere.

Damn! And I was just thinking about looking for a spot in Yellowstone or Jackson for that day :(

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