How long does the whole thing last? I haven't found that info, yet.

I'm happy to add that my daughter will be joining me! She'll be on the same plane as me from Denver to Kansas City on the way and from Kansas City to Las Vegas on the way home.

 

Based on some poking around on Total Solar Eclipse 2017 - Start Page it sounds like the whole thing lasts a couple of hours. But not much to see for most of that time, especially after totality when you are still overwhelmed with a sense of awe by what you have just seen and when the slow brightening sun is just sort of meh. At least this is how it is described on the site. It would be fun to use a pinhole projector to watch the progress of the moon's shadow as it slowly engulfs the sun. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/...projector.html I've watched a couple of partial solar eclipses this way and it was pretty cool. Rob and AJ enjoyed it a lot.

Enjoy your time with your daughter!

 

Thank you, Tof! I'll check out your links.

I ordered a book that comes with two pairs of glasses for viewing.
https://www.rainbowsymphonystore.com...n-eclipse-book

 

It depends on where in the path you will be viewing. In Charleston, SC vicinity, they predict about 2.5 minutes of totality. Check the maps on the Great Eclipse 2017 website. You can also order Eclipse glasses from the site.

We will be travelling to Myrtle Beach, SC for the week---I had to bribe the +1 with beach time to get close to totality! Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I won't have to drive to find clear skies.

 

In Salem, OR it lasts 2 hours and 32 minutes. Totality lasts 1 minute and 54 seconds.

 

Oh, that's do-able. I know it'll be hot and humid in Missouri.

 

Keep in mind that just before, during, and just after totality the temperature drops noticeably.

 

Map with length of total eclipse. Some viewing links:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/solar...r-eclipse-2017

 

I've got that and printed it out but I mean the very beginning of the thing to the very end, not just the minutes of total darkness.

 

Seems to start at 10:15am PDT (1:15pm EDT) and end (at least over the continental US) around 2:50pm EDT. If this is what you are asking?

From article:

" The 2017 eclipse will transit the United States starting on the Oregon Coast and passing over the states of Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and finishing in South Carolina. The time from start to finish will be less than 2 hours and totality will only last approximately 2 minutes, 41.7 seconds. The viewing region of greatest totality will be in western Kentucky and the greatest duration will occur in southern Illinois. "