MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's conditions for Monday's solar eclipse will likely be less than ideal. For one, it's not in the path of totality. And according to Thursday's forecast, the conditions look less than ideal for clear viewing.
Which means people who are dedicated to finding the best seats in the house for the total eclipse are hitting the road.
One of them is Bell Museum's Thaddeus LaCoursiere, who is the planetarium production coordinator.
"This is a huge deal," he said. "The astronomy world has been preparing for this for the last seven years."
The Bell Museum has a number of different events and plans for their Eclipse Celebration. But there will likely be better places to watch than Minnesota.
LaCoursiere will be car camping as he and his partner travels through the country to try to find the best possible viewing area.
"San Antonio is our original plan," said LaCoursiere. "Depending on the weather, we might end up in Vermont."
Other local astronomy buffs have similar loose travel plans. Brittany Douglas and Dylan Woytcke have already considered Texas, Arkansas and Illinois.
"We're just going to drive and sleep in the car and stuff," said Dylan.
"We looked at like, campsites and things like that," said Brittany. "And in some of the cities down south, they're like $500 for a campsite. Kind of wild."
But even scientists are having trouble making their mind up about where to go.
Bob Allen, the planetarium director at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, has already it the road. He has seen three total eclipses and more than a dozen partial eclipses.
"Its the most unearthly experience you can have on earth," he said.
Allen said Texas was looking like the most likely option to end his travels for the eclipse. Now, it's looking like Vermont.
"It's like a fishing trip," he said. "But there's much more at stake here."
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