The road to SC was almost deserted - we didn't see a single car that was obviously headed to the same destination.

We set out early and are now only a handful of miles from the edge of the path of totality - so we stopped for breakfast at Waffle House, which isn't even particularly busy.

Plenty of signs on the interstate warning drivers not to stop on the interstate.

Bloody cloudy today, of course

Still, it might clear up by this afternoon so I can see the partial.

Well we have made it to Podunk, SC. We never hit traffic, and 10 miles out we were still doing 70mph down a 55mph minor highway. A few cars had slowed us to 50mph by the time we hit the town limit. .... There were still on-street, free parking spaces in the center of town as we rolled through.

So far the day has gone as well as I ever dared hope!

You're in the zone of totality and you haven't hit a crowd? Is there a weather report you missed that says there's going to be a massive storm or something?

From what I heard on the news this morning, you couldn't get near Carbondale if you tried, so while I'm mildly bummed I'm going to be within a couple of hundred miles of totality but not in the zone for the second time in my life now, I'm still sort of glad I didn't decide to call in sick today and head out in the early am

Yup! There's about 3 dozen of us on the green behind the library, just hanging out in a vaguely lost kinda way.

There is only a small sliver of the path in SC, isn't there? I wonder if everyone went into Tennessee instead thinking they'd get a better view there.

Either way, even if a massive, heaving throng is about to descend upon you - you're there already and the ****ers can't block the sky. Enjoy!

No that's NC, the eclipse path of totality goes right across the center of SC - even Columbia, the state capital of SC, is in the path of totality. The zoo is going to see totality, and they are excited to see how the animals react.

We are about 1 mile from the center line, and actually crossed over the center line to get here. The advantage of being here, not at the center line on the edge of town, is that there are food and facilities here.

Well that's pretty why we're here, not at the zoo in Columbia or any other major organized "event". I don't care what sort of circus anyone arranges, the only thing that matters is happening over head. If I didn't have little Miss P with me I'd probably be sitting at the side of the road near the center line.

The animals should react as they would in the evening, but I expect them to be a little confused when it only lasts for 2 minutes

It's worth not being dead centre for the presence of food, of course.

That's the best place to be, back roads outside of town with an unobstructed view. Maybe in 2024 I'll at the very least take a day off and drive down to some fly-shit-on-the-map backwater in southern IL that's on the path and hang out there. Even if nobody wants to go with me

Up here outside of Toronto we're only getting around 70% totality. Still, I spent breakfast time this morning making pinhole camera viewers for my kids (I'd been stashing empty tissue boxes for a couple of weeks...).

I've just found an empty beer carton in the office storeroom - the beer is in the fridge, it's that kind of office - from which I will make another one for myself. Our office is on the top floor of a three-floor building, and we have access to the roof, so the plan is to take a post-lunch coffee upstairs and spend a bit of time going "ooh" and "aah."

Podunk, SC really doesn't understand the "cashing in" thing of a once in a life time opportunity. Little Miss P just went to buy drinks from a stand, and paid $1 for a bottle of Coke, which is less than most machines charge (in my office it's $2.50). .... And bottles of water are free!

You're getting ripped off at your office. I don't think I've paid more than $1.50 for a bottle of pop out of a machine

Still, you might as well stock up on water in case someone gets the idea to start charging for it closer to the start of the eclipse.

Here at a state park near Butt****, TN. Got here about 8 and there wasn't many people here, but it's starting to fill up now.

Went for a hike to a pretty waterfall when we got here and now just waiting for things to kick off.

We're probably up to about 200 people behind the courthouse, plus another hundred queueing for eclipse glasses, but people now seem to be wandering away as fast as they are arriving.

Update on the cashing-in activity: a lady was wandering around selling Snickers ice cream bars for $1, proceeds to support a children's charity connected to the library. I felt I should buy one as opportunities to "give back" here are in very short supply.