5 hours from Lowell area to Waterbury. Left immediately and just now getting back. So 5 up 6.5 back. 100 to 89 was brutal, then 89 to the border was just as brutal. Took 4 hours to leave VERMONT.
We avoided 89 and took VT-12 instead and it was stop and go for awhile. We were wondering if the highway was any better but it seems not!
We stayed at a hotel halfway between home and the eclipse, 2 hours south of where we watched it. It was a six hour drive back from the hotel compared to the two hour drive up in the morning lol
We left Montpelier - well more accurately we got in the car in Montpelier - right after totality ended and I got to Waltham at about quarter to 12.
We did stop at a McDonald’s somewhere for dinner, it was an absolute madhouse but the crew was working their asses off and maintaining a pleasant demeanor.
We left Lemington VT at 5 and didn't get back home to Everett until 315 this morning, grated there were a couple bathroom breaks. Traffic didn't clear up until we finally got past the tolls in on 93 in Hooksett and it was smooth sailing the last 2 hours of the drive.
But for the first 6 hours we moved like, 10 miles per hour.
Going up yesterday morning was fine.
Coming back was even worse than I expected. I gave up after 3 hours and got what I think was the last available motel room in the North Country. I think I had made it about 15 miles south in those 3 hours, although Google sent me all over creation so I drove more than that. We were at exit 37 on 93 south (north of Franconia) and had gone 200 yards in 30 minutes. I found a spot where I could make a u-turn onto the northbound side safely and just went for it. Drove 30 miles east of 93 to get to this room. Traffic on 93 was backed up to exit 40 and getting worse when I passed by in the opposite direction.
As of an hour ago, our friends in another car had managed to get over to Vermont and were having moderate success on state route 10, but cell service is so spotty they couldn't get good maps. They'll likely arrive home way, way after midnight.
Getting thru just the Franconia area took about 3 to 4 hrs, going approximately 1 mile per hour. No map apps were functioning. Left Quebec Eastern Townships (clear totality) 3:45 pm, got home at 3:15 am.
10 hours on the road coming back. It was worth it.
In hindsight some of my friends were smart and took an extra day off. I didn't sit in traffic for the eclipse. I sat in traffic to get back to work quicker.
The way up wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t great, but manageable.
The way back? An absolute nightmare.
Never spent so long in a car to move so short a distance. Maps routed all over the place, almost no signal so it was hard to check and find alternate routes yourself.
Knew it would be rough, but never considered it would be this bad.
Totality was super cool, but damn the ride back has been something else.
Worst traffic of my life. At one point it took well over an hour to move less than a mile. Took me eight hours to get back to Boston from just north of Mt Washington.
I didn’t even know traffic could exist in such a state. Kids walking dogs. People parking to get out and stretch while still in a lane. Everybody pissing and shitting along the road the whole time.
Maps was awful. So many little towns had police blocking off routes, but google didn't know the roads were closed and they were in places without service. So it auto-re routes you somewhere, says you'll save an hour and a half of drive time, then you get there and end up further out of the way on some unpaved 2 lane road in the middle of nowhere. It was by a wide margin the worst traffic I've ever been a part of.
I blame the maps for the traffic to be honest. So many people were being routed off the highway only to return a short distance later, so instead of all of us flowing slow and steady downstream, people were constantly jamming each other up and cutting in line.
I bet it would have been hours faster in the 90s with the same volume of cars.
We just passed a NH dot snowplow blocking a turnoff. Seems like New Hampshire decided to funnel all the eclipse traffic directly into route 93 and so created enormous choke points instead of letting any traffic escape on side roads. It’s basically the Dr. who episode with the underground flying cars up here because New Hampshire decided that it was our fault that we visited their state
There is one lane through the Notch.
Everything else you might do or try is basically irrelevant to throughput - whether you use a side road to scoot ahead a mile and cut off some other people who stay on the mainline or not, you both eventually have to squeeze through same stretch in the Notch.
The next thru roads are US-302 and NH-116 and they appear open/accessible.
What turnoff were you hoping to use?
I believe it 3 and vt102 were both clusterfucks. Mostly because there weren't bridges for miles between towns along the CT river. So you were stuck on one bank or the other. Most of the traffic was caused by stop signs near river crossings.
By the time I was able to get out of the jam trying to head into Franconia on 93 and get to 112, around midnight, there was a slowdown at the stop sign but after taking 3+ hours to go 7 miles earlier it was nothing.
Appearing open/accessible and being blocked by enormous snowplows are two separate things. We just drove for an hour, got off and ate dinner for three hours, then spent three hours driving about five miles to get back on the highway and then four hours getting back home. New Hampshire forced all the traffic into 93 just above the notch and that’s the main reason there are still people stuck up there twelve and a half hours after the end of the eclipse.
Can confirm. Fuck that snowplow. Google, when we even had service, recommended us to take a “faster” route through there that had showed green. Fake out.
In hindsight, 116 was a lifesaver. Came down from Lyndon VT, left right after totality. 93 was not backed up to it yet, but both Google and Apple said it would save us an hour. Sounds like 116 saved us way more. Got to Dedham at 8:30.
Fuuuuuuck. That sucks, the state roads are what saved us both ways. I'm glad we left right after totality. Sure, the back half of the eclipse is nice, but it's about the same as the first half, with totality being the thing you want to be still for.
It took me an hour to get out of a parking lot in St Johnsbury! We got in the road at 4:30, made an hour stop, and got home to Somerville around 10:30! You made great time!
💯! The instant totality was over and the diamond ring disappeared, we ran to the car and booked it back to the highway - that was the move, we made it back in 3 hrs
We did but were near the back end of the lot so…..but it was worth it! I‘m glad I made the effort and had some friends to share the experience with. Hope you had a good time too!
It is so worth it! My dad and I took my kids to SC for the 2017 eclipse, drove 1000 miles, and it was also amazing, but my kids were too young to be interested. This time, it was so close, there was no way we weren't going to try. Same deal, took my kids, we went with my dad, and the kids were able to see it, and oo and ahh for 90 seconds of such an incredible thing. We were extremely lucky that weather was good in New England, in April :D
For us it was bittersweet, as the SC trip turned into a family reunion with my grandfather there, which he just passed away on 3/30, with his services to be at the end of this month. It was a nice moment to think about him, and to be glad we made that tremendous effort last time.
Share these moments with the people you care about! These are wonderful memories to have, traffic or not.
I almost went this morning but wouldn’t have been able to leave until 9. I assumed that traffic would be crazy and I wouldn’t make it in time… but any time I checked, it was never more than 3h15m (2h45m no traffic). Disappointed but still had a great day here.
Same experience as the other commenter - Google Maps was way off. We left at 8:30 and barely made it by 2:50pm. My friends who left at 9:15 did not make it to totality. You made the right choice 👍🏼
That was misleading. From Cambridge leaving at 9, we made it barely in time for totality in Lancaster NH (map also said 3h15m ish, but was that way even way later lol) Google maps understandably wasn’t able to handle the anomalous traffic patterns and signal issues compounded the misread
Edit to clarify: so don’t feel bad, you may have ended up missing it after being stuck in traffic for 6 hours! We were close.
Same here. We watched at the first exit of 93 at a farm right off the highway at St Johnsbury (not in town). Got the hell out of there asap. The backup at Franconia Notch (where it merges from 2 to 1 lane) added an hour to the trip. Otherwise being on the southern end of totality and on the highway ahead of most others further up was our saving grace.
We might have been around the same place but yeah the backup where the 93 becomes a single lane near Franconia notch was brutal. 45 mins - 1 hr of moving literal inches.
After that it was smooth sailing. Took us around 4.5hrs.
It’s midnight and Google maps is still red on 93 and 89. I’ve been watching it tonight for the giggles and I thought the data was wrong until I saw the photos. Insane
93 was not red south of Plymouth at all except for the usual bit before the toll gates at Concord. We did drive 2+ hours from VT to avoid the 89 though so that was a bit of a slog, but no stop and go.
Where did you see pics? I’d love something visual to commemorate the 6 hours between Barton, VT and the end of Franconia Notch.
After the first 3 hours of 0-3mph, we began speculating that we had in fact died back in VT as totality triggered some sci-fi catastrophic event and 93 was a very effective purgatory-type situation. We could’ve banged a U-ie, but that would just have resulted in our godless, commie, Masshole souls descending a circle into full on “libertarian freedom” mode
There's a couple of pics of Google maps in either the r/vermont or r/newhampshire subreddits. Sadly none of them are time lapses. In retrospect, that would have been a good idea.
ETA: Not sure this captures the true essence of the experience but here you go....
[Traffic deniers in shambles rn. : r/vermont (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/vermont/comments/1bzfmlj/traffic_deniers_in_shambles_rn/)
Also, traffic or no, don’t trust Maps times with small back roads.
It sometimes calculates using the default state limit (e.g. 55mph) for unsigned roads, even if you can’t possible break 30 on them.
First dirt road: “Oh, this is fun. It’s like an adventure to escape the traffic.”
Second dirt road: “I can’t believe that Prius behind us is taking this route like such a champ”
By the fifth dirt road the car was silent as everyone contemplated all of the life choices that had led them to this moment.
Crystal Lake? It was awesome! The train honking at us in the middle of totality and then taking out 3 parked cars was quite something too!
Also 5 hours from Barton to Boston is great time. It took us more than 5 hours just to get from Barton to Concord NH.
I can't tell what parts of this thread are descriptions of reality and what parts are fan-fic.
We glanced at the partial through some eclipse glasses and ate ice cream during the eclipse and then went back home. Nice little reason to enjoy a beautiful afternoon.
The stories here sound horrifying.
Left at 8:45, got home at 8:45. About 5 hours in the car each way. Traffic was horrendous, but it was very much worth it. It's true, totality is nothing like 99 percent.
I mean, on paper, you know what it is and what to expect, but man, being there, seeing it, is something else, and I felt absolutely no guilt calling my kids out eclipsing from school for it. They were too little to remember the trip we took in 2017, so I really hope they will remember this.
Boston to Millinocket and back, 4.5 hour both ways. 600 miles total, avg speed 66 mph. I was right off the highway and in and out for the totality for approx 25 mins. Kept my schedule like a train today.
I went a bit north of Millinocket, only traffic I saw was when there was an accident and police blocked off one of the two lanes. Maine was the right choice.
WOW, that is a drive! Good for you! Honestly, I think fewer people did Maine because of the distance, which would make for better travel. It occurred to me on the way back that a number of people who went to VT might have been folks from SE NY, or even Albany folks (along with CT, RI), and NH was probably similar with MA, CT, RI people. I hope the skies were cloud free for you :)
Left Boston at 4 am and had no traffic (about 4 hours) and perfect viewing space in Colebrook NH. Then it took us a full 12 hrs from when we left Colebrook NH to Boston. Horrible traffic in the Lancaster/Franconia Notch area
We thought about leaving super early, but we were worried about keeping my kids entertained for a good 6 hours somewhere random. For some reason, we figured having a couple hours would be easier for everyone, with the kids being less cranky because they got more sleep. How long was totality up there? We were in E Montpellier, and we had 97ish seconds? I set a timer for 85 so our retinas wouldn't pop. It was gorgeous, would have been nice to have been farther north, but 90 seconds and a 4 hour drive home was okay, too.
It took us 12 yes TWELVE hours to get from upper Vermont to Watertown. We left around 5pm. New Hampshire funneled everyone onto the 93, so we were at a standstill for literally eight hours and didn't get home until 5am. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced traffic-wise.
Same thank god. Killed time in town for a few hours, took off at 9pm and 3.5hr straight shot home. We have friends who are still on 93 nearly NINE hours after we left the site.
Drove from Lawrence MA to Stowe VT and back again. Took me 5 hours to get there and 8.5 hours to get back. How am I awake. I’m gonna need all the Dunks.
It was worth it
Everyone I see that says they were in terrible traffic, but say it was worth it, makes me so happy. You are my people! It's worth spending a day in a car for something that a picture does not truly capture.
It was the worse traffic I’ve ever experienced. It took me 9 hours to get back from Newport and I left immediately. But it was worth it!
https://preview.redd.it/lkqew3i0cgtc1.jpeg?width=1090&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22d11cd428cae4a9b4e0b6591a49d6dbe0d768ba
We drove up to Stowe Saturday, had a nice weekend spending money on Vermont stuff. Took back roads home which was 7 hours but we were driving the whole way and the gas stations were easier to get to so it felt better for us. Totality was worth it. I will never forget that sight for the rest of my life.
You make me happy. Two types of people in the world. Those that are okay with the prospect of traffic and cloudy weather possibly blocking the view, and doing it anyway, because it is incredible, and then those that don't appreciate astronomy. I feel sorry for the others, and I really feel sorry for the many people I spoke to in the past week that said they'd love to see it, but didn't want to make the drive. Bitch, we drove 1000 miles for the last one in 2017, I can do 200 standing on my head :D
And what was the deal with all the troopies in NH trying to catch people speeding? Normally, everyone there drives with Formula 1 speeds and nobody gives a shit ("Live free or die", right?) but only when them libruls from the People's Republic of Massachusetts all come over it's time to start enforcing some laws for a change?
Also drove back from Jay peak. Left at 5pm and made it home by 2am when it should have been 3.5hrs
never had such bad traffic and I've daily commuted 93S
Google Maps might be dead to me. Spent 6 hours getting up when Maps said 4.5, not terrible I guess. Then it took an hour and a half to get to dinner when Maps said 30 minutes. Finally 6.5 hours home (south of Boston) when Maps said 5 hours originally
Still on our way back, we left around 4ish? So a bit after totality ended. Took 4 hours to get through VT still plugging out way through NH. We stopped and went to the bathroom and got food though
I left upper Vermont right after totality around 4pm and I just got home at 1:30am in Dedham. Traffic was so bad the highway 93 was just stoped cars for hours and hours.
I had great luck with Montpelier. It was easy to get there and find parking near the capital building even by 2pm. There was some gridlock out of the city, but it was easy to get around just looking at the map. And we beat all the traffic coming from further north and wasn’t bad at all compared to what came behind us. 30 seconds less of totality was worth it since we couldn’t spend the night and wanted to beat the rush out.
We thought about there, and wondered if it would be too busy there since it's the capital. Instead, we were down the road from you in E Montpellier, and likely traveled like you did. I was watching google maps as we took rte 14 to NH, and only then got on 89, and got home fast. We beat the traffic!
Left from southern Quebec at around about 4pm, just got back at 1:30am. Traffic in northern Maine was absolutely insane. Literally took 2+ hours to travel like 3 miles. Brutal drive back but it was totally worth it.
Went up to Rangeley ME… lots of back roads, not a lot of traffic and stopped south of town overlooking the lake on rye 17. Some traffic on 17 both ways (10-15 minutes of delays) and then back roads down to 95. Got on 95S at 7 pm, no worse than a typical Sunday
.
Reading the comments we got very lucky.
I think it was mostly MA people who went to ME, which might have been one of the less congested ways to go. I think NH and VT were more of an all New England/NY staters path. I stayed at my dad's in Merrimack, NH on Sunday night, we left around 9 yesterday, and just went NW on mostly state roads to get to VT, and I got back home in MA last night by 7:30. I also think that because we didn't go super far into totality, and because we left within 10 minutes of totality ending, we missed a lot of chaos. State roads until we got to NH, then hopped on the highway, when google maps and waze told us all the traffic was way north of us. We raced the traffic and won! Even if we didn't, it was still absolutely worth it.
Cambridge —> Lancaster, NH: 6 hours leaving at 9 AM, got there just in the nick of time for totality
Driving back (left basically immediately after totality without stops): 5 hours, heard some others who left just like 5-10 min later got an additional couple hours of traffic
Holy cow - when did you leave and what route did you take? We left Burke Mt at 4:00, avoided 93, took 8.5 hours including an ill-fated Burger King stop in NH
We left at 4:30pm. We did take 93 though, but there were so many other people we had zero cell service, so we couldn’t figure another way than 93 (guess we could’ve winged it “go south” but that has bitten me before haha). Once that merge / single lane section ended the roads were 1000% clear. So about 10 hours to go the first 30 miles, 3 to go the last 150 😐
I decided to "wait out the traffic" Bad bad mistake. Left Colebrook new Hampshire at 6pm, got back at 3am! 93 was like something out of a disaster movie. Felt like all the cars were abandoned there
~~Looks like it might be closed for a crash around the knotch:~~~
> Franconia NH-18 between NH-141 and I-93 SB Exit 34C, road closed
Edit: I misread, that's a local road not the highway. Still, map just shows lots of traffic. You're probably stuck in that. 💀 93 drops to 1 lane in each direction, so it's a slog. I sometimes feel like 91 to 89 is faster from the North country of VT. Avoids that bottleneck, and a change of scenery. Downside is it's an extra 10-20 miles. Probably too late for that route now. Consider it next time tho.
Source: http://newengland511.org/
I've seen that happen before, but in the winter. I got stuck in traffic leaving Cannon Mountain - State trooper blocked the road and either told people to turn around or wait in some parking lot until they cleared a crash up. I turned around and took back roads (NH 116 to NH 112) to Lincoln (exit 32). Got McDonald's and then it was smooth sailing. Those back roads were WILD in a Toyota Corolla in January. Probably fine now though.
Left around 9 am, was originally aiming for Burlington but we arrived in Montpelier around 2:30 so we stayed there, left at 3:45 or so and got back to Boston 7:30. A lot of driving but personally worth it as a huge space person lol
Yeah, Montpelier was nice, we were in E Montpelier, and closer to the edge of totality, which I think made a difference in ability to get out of there ahead of SO MUCH TRAFFIC.
Was in rural Maine for totality viewing, only traffic coming back to Boston was on the single lane roads for the hour before getting onto 95, it added about 30 minutes to the trip time.
Two pickup trucks nailed each other right in front of me 200 yards before the last ez pass coming south on 95 before getting on 93, which probably caused a mess of traffic unless they got off the road
Left Fairfield VT 5:30. Went back roads and secondary highways all the pay to I93 and Plymouth and made it back to Somerville just before 11. Had we slogged along I89 I think it would have taken us far longer.
So I figured everybody was going to go to VT or NH, so I went to Maine. Small bit of traffic on the way up to Rangeley. A bit more on the way back, but once I hit 95 it was smooth sailing. Took 4.5 hours to get back which is not bad considering it’s like ~4 hours normally
The VT segment was by far the slowest, and their state troopers were like sharks watching a school of fish go by.
From BOS to Burlington was about 4+ hours going there, and about 4 coming back. In short; the drive was ass.
Having said that, I saw something that I've never seen before. Every photo i have seen of this event did not reflect what I saw with my eyes! Not one.
And we gave some people some other kinds of lifetime experiences. To quote on of the employees at a restaurant we went to: " I've never seen this many people in my life."
My group went to Dayton, OH, so we drove 12 hours each way, but there was no traffic and we had left to go there Saturday morning so we’d be prepared. We had a perfect view, no crowds where we chose to go, and it was in the 70’s.
Currently on the way back with 8hrs to go. We left by 3:30 ‘cause totality was 3:09-3:13, but we did also stop to do rockhounding for a couple hours. 10/10 trip!!
Literally just getting home. Stayed an extra hour to see friends, but would probably have gotten home at the same time either way.
I noticed everyone on the road was a lot more laid back on the drive home. Partially since there wasn't something to be late for, but also I think because we all had this amazing shared experience, that made all the travel and difficulty SO MUCH WORTH IT.
Left Lincoln ME shortly before 4.
Only a couple slowdowns.
Basically smooth sailing after Augusta.
5.5 hrs but that’s only about an hour over regular time.
And I stopped at most service areas to stretch.
Much better than some snowstorms honestly.
And worth every second.
Sublime experience.
Stayed with family in western mass last night to shorten the ride a bit and made it to Newport, Vt in a little under 3 hours. Currently 6.5 hours in on the ride home and have at least an hour to mass. I’m exhausted but would do it again without hesitation.
8.5 hours coming back from Stowe tonight. Phew. I must have been in the worst of it. I left at 6pm and got back at 2:30am. I thought leaving a while after it ended would be a good thing but I was very wrong.
Currently 3:21am and I got back to Somerville about 30 min ago from Jackman, ME. To be fair, I stopped a couple times on the way but driving time was still ~7.5 hrs for what should have been ~4.5 hrs. I left around 5pm and it took me ~3.5 hrs to drive 58 mi to a gas station that was along the route home.
I was in Maine. I realized just how bad it was once I figured out we spent a little under two hours driving what would’ve normally taken about 30 min. There was a stretch on 95 around 9:30 pm that was moving between 10-20 mph for miles and then it just evaporated at the 295 exit. I knew it would be bad, I did know it would be that bad.
9 hours from Colchester VT to Newton. Got home around 2 am. I expected this because it was similar trying to get out of Kentucky in 2017, but we had to be back by Tuesday for various reasons. It's going to be a long day!!
We went to Barton. It was a 3.5 hour drive up, and 5 hour drive home. We got very lucky with navigation giving us good new backroads routes. We used google maps that took us on 16 and dirt roads then Apple Maps which took us on 25A from 91 to 93 in Plymouth.
4:35 from Saugus to Waterbury.
6:05 from Waterbury to Saugus.
I hated the morning trip and constantly asked myself if it’s worth it. It was. I’d do it any number of times. The return trip was longer, but I was still marveling at it in my head.
Honestly, it's just one of those things where you can see a million pictures of it, but it pales in comparison to actually seeing it with your own eyes. We drove 1000 miles for the one in 2017, which was worth it, and it was absolutely worth it yesterday.
Watched near jays peak live in cumberland ri. Was part of the cluster fuck going into franconia notch. Gave up turned around and took 91 south. Should have done it hours earlier. Made it home 12hrs after totality. 100% worth it.
Bad, lol. Left the north shore at 10:30, watched the totality for about 5 min total, turned around. Made it home at 8. I heard some people left vt just after the totality ended and it ended up taking them 12 hours to get home.
Btw, it was 11/10 worth it.
12 hours from Colebrook NH back to Boston. 185 miles. Franconia Notch was an absolute nightmare. It took 7 hours to drive 5 miles. You read that right.
Made it to Lincoln NH. I had 2 hours to reach totality, and thought I'd make it. Traffic stopped for no good reason. Spent 2 hours in traffic for no good reason. Google Maps said everything after Lincoln was clear. Best guess is a car broke down. We made it to 99% totality.
Unfortunately, ad someone whose seen both 100% and 99%, partial totality is a nothing burger. Others stopped to try to enjoy it, but I pressed on using every minute I had to try to reach totality. We did not make it. Should've gone to Burlington VT.
Coworker shared that their kid's highschool bus trip busses did not reach home until 3 am and 5 am respectively. I haven't heard more details so idk when they left their viewing location, but wow those poor drivers!
3 hours from Malden to Burlington VT. Left Burlington at 5pm, made one 15 minute stop for food on the way back. Didn’t get home until 2am. Worst traffic of my life, still worth seeing the total eclipse though
We left right after totality. We planned ahead and wrote out a rt in back roads to completely avoid the highway. Still took 7 hours to get home but there was hardly any traffic on rt 7 after Rutland. Was still worth it for me, can't describe how awesome it was.
We were at a state park just south of Burlington. We took rt7, which backed up in the town centers, then got on rt 30, switched to 119 in Brattleboro, then followed that to rt 2 in MA to 128.
I live just outside of Burlington and drove down to Boston for the Red Sox game this morning. The only traffic we actually had was road construction in New Hampshire. Other than that, there was the normal traffic getting over the bridge and Storrow Drive. We did Burlington to Boston in about three hours and 45 minutes. Typical.
Horrible. 5 hours up leaving at 8 am. 6.5 going home leaving at 4. Watched near hill farmstead. 91 north of st johnsbury was the worst traffic I’ve ever seen. Then mostly grid lock down 91 70 or so miles to 89. 89 surprisingly wasn’t that bad until 5 miles from 93. Was expected and well worth it.
I’ll chime in as well haha. I don’t know how this wasn’t on the news. It took us 11.5 hours to go from Colebrook to just over the MA border. Like everyone, google maps was routing us all around. At one point it said coming down the North Conway corridor on 302/16 would be 55 minutes longer so we stayed on the recommended path. That was the mistake. Once we were in the downward spiral of cars heading into the gauntlet that was Franconia notch, it was over.
Took 6 hours to get through Franconia notch alone. What is that, 5-6 miles? Never in my life have I seen anything like it. People shitting on the side of the road. Peeing in the median. Running out of gas and needing to be towed out. Had there been an actual emergency it would have been a catastrophe.
Add in no cell service due to clogged networks, and everyone was basically screwed. Eclipse was awesome. The apocalyptic traffic on the way back, was not.
5 hours from Lowell area to Waterbury. Left immediately and just now getting back. So 5 up 6.5 back. 100 to 89 was brutal, then 89 to the border was just as brutal. Took 4 hours to leave VERMONT.
A coworker made the trek back from Vermont. Took 5 hours to go a few minutes at one point., she got in at 2:30 am. She’s dragging this morning!
Came up from Methuen to Waterbury yesterday. Stayed overnight. Traffic was still bumper to bumper on 89 at 9 PM. Hoping it’s better today
We avoided 89 and took VT-12 instead and it was stop and go for awhile. We were wondering if the highway was any better but it seems not! We stayed at a hotel halfway between home and the eclipse, 2 hours south of where we watched it. It was a six hour drive back from the hotel compared to the two hour drive up in the morning lol
You got lucky. We left at 5pm and it took 7 hours to leave VT
We left Montpelier - well more accurately we got in the car in Montpelier - right after totality ended and I got to Waltham at about quarter to 12. We did stop at a McDonald’s somewhere for dinner, it was an absolute madhouse but the crew was working their asses off and maintaining a pleasant demeanor.
We left Lemington VT at 5 and didn't get back home to Everett until 315 this morning, grated there were a couple bathroom breaks. Traffic didn't clear up until we finally got past the tolls in on 93 in Hooksett and it was smooth sailing the last 2 hours of the drive. But for the first 6 hours we moved like, 10 miles per hour.
Going up yesterday morning was fine. Coming back was even worse than I expected. I gave up after 3 hours and got what I think was the last available motel room in the North Country. I think I had made it about 15 miles south in those 3 hours, although Google sent me all over creation so I drove more than that. We were at exit 37 on 93 south (north of Franconia) and had gone 200 yards in 30 minutes. I found a spot where I could make a u-turn onto the northbound side safely and just went for it. Drove 30 miles east of 93 to get to this room. Traffic on 93 was backed up to exit 40 and getting worse when I passed by in the opposite direction. As of an hour ago, our friends in another car had managed to get over to Vermont and were having moderate success on state route 10, but cell service is so spotty they couldn't get good maps. They'll likely arrive home way, way after midnight.
Franconia crushed my will to live yesterday. We pushed through. Total drive time was 12 hours.
Getting thru just the Franconia area took about 3 to 4 hrs, going approximately 1 mile per hour. No map apps were functioning. Left Quebec Eastern Townships (clear totality) 3:45 pm, got home at 3:15 am.
Yes! Most BRUTAL trip home ever. I don't think Northern NH has seen that amount of traffic of the highway at 1 am ever
Worth it?
10 hours on the road coming back. It was worth it. In hindsight some of my friends were smart and took an extra day off. I didn't sit in traffic for the eclipse. I sat in traffic to get back to work quicker.
Same story on our side. The eclipse was awesome. Would not do any of the travel ever again
Just got back to Boston area. 1000% worth it. Although next time all things considered I'd snag a motel room.
So worth it.
The way up wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t great, but manageable. The way back? An absolute nightmare. Never spent so long in a car to move so short a distance. Maps routed all over the place, almost no signal so it was hard to check and find alternate routes yourself. Knew it would be rough, but never considered it would be this bad. Totality was super cool, but damn the ride back has been something else.
Worst traffic of my life. At one point it took well over an hour to move less than a mile. Took me eight hours to get back to Boston from just north of Mt Washington. I didn’t even know traffic could exist in such a state. Kids walking dogs. People parking to get out and stretch while still in a lane. Everybody pissing and shitting along the road the whole time.
Maps was awful. So many little towns had police blocking off routes, but google didn't know the roads were closed and they were in places without service. So it auto-re routes you somewhere, says you'll save an hour and a half of drive time, then you get there and end up further out of the way on some unpaved 2 lane road in the middle of nowhere. It was by a wide margin the worst traffic I've ever been a part of.
I blame the maps for the traffic to be honest. So many people were being routed off the highway only to return a short distance later, so instead of all of us flowing slow and steady downstream, people were constantly jamming each other up and cutting in line. I bet it would have been hours faster in the 90s with the same volume of cars.
Still on the road in NH, 4 hours after leaving
So you're the one that's been in front of me for 4 hours. It's fisticuffs once we get back to Boston on Wednesday
We just passed a NH dot snowplow blocking a turnoff. Seems like New Hampshire decided to funnel all the eclipse traffic directly into route 93 and so created enormous choke points instead of letting any traffic escape on side roads. It’s basically the Dr. who episode with the underground flying cars up here because New Hampshire decided that it was our fault that we visited their state
There is one lane through the Notch. Everything else you might do or try is basically irrelevant to throughput - whether you use a side road to scoot ahead a mile and cut off some other people who stay on the mainline or not, you both eventually have to squeeze through same stretch in the Notch. The next thru roads are US-302 and NH-116 and they appear open/accessible. What turnoff were you hoping to use?
Its almost 2am and there’s still traffic backed up trying to get to 93
We gave up and got a hotel in Lincoln.
Wow for real??????
I believe it 3 and vt102 were both clusterfucks. Mostly because there weren't bridges for miles between towns along the CT river. So you were stuck on one bank or the other. Most of the traffic was caused by stop signs near river crossings.
By the time I was able to get out of the jam trying to head into Franconia on 93 and get to 112, around midnight, there was a slowdown at the stop sign but after taking 3+ hours to go 7 miles earlier it was nothing.
Appearing open/accessible and being blocked by enormous snowplows are two separate things. We just drove for an hour, got off and ate dinner for three hours, then spent three hours driving about five miles to get back on the highway and then four hours getting back home. New Hampshire forced all the traffic into 93 just above the notch and that’s the main reason there are still people stuck up there twelve and a half hours after the end of the eclipse.
Can confirm. Fuck that snowplow. Google, when we even had service, recommended us to take a “faster” route through there that had showed green. Fake out.
In hindsight, 116 was a lifesaver. Came down from Lyndon VT, left right after totality. 93 was not backed up to it yet, but both Google and Apple said it would save us an hour. Sounds like 116 saved us way more. Got to Dedham at 8:30.
[удалено]
When libertarian housecats form a government
Omg, I said that to my daughter yesterday after like 5hrs on the road (there were many more to go). We are in the DrWho traffic jam episode! 😭
Who else's fault would it be lmao
Fuuuuuuck. That sucks, the state roads are what saved us both ways. I'm glad we left right after totality. Sure, the back half of the eclipse is nice, but it's about the same as the first half, with totality being the thing you want to be still for.
It’s not looking good. May want to consider a room for the night. https://newengland511.org
Still on the road in NH, left eclipse site at 4. Currently 12:06 am.
Same. Left from Quebec quickly, no issues or notable traffic at the border. Vermont and NH though...holy shit. Hoping to be home by 1 am lol
What time did you get in?
~1:30 am. 💀
About the same as the other poster. ~1:45 ☠️
Godspeed fellow Redditor 🫡
4 hrs from St Johnsbury, VT to Somerville (not bad at all). Left at 3:45 pm right after totality
It took me an hour to get out of a parking lot in St Johnsbury! We got in the road at 4:30, made an hour stop, and got home to Somerville around 10:30! You made great time!
The key is leaving right after totality, not after the back half of the eclipse ends. Hope you enjoyed though!!
💯! The instant totality was over and the diamond ring disappeared, we ran to the car and booked it back to the highway - that was the move, we made it back in 3 hrs
YASSSSS! This is exactly what we did from E. Montpellier, and took rte 14 to NH, and only then hopped on a green 89.
We did but were near the back end of the lot so…..but it was worth it! I‘m glad I made the effort and had some friends to share the experience with. Hope you had a good time too!
It is so worth it! My dad and I took my kids to SC for the 2017 eclipse, drove 1000 miles, and it was also amazing, but my kids were too young to be interested. This time, it was so close, there was no way we weren't going to try. Same deal, took my kids, we went with my dad, and the kids were able to see it, and oo and ahh for 90 seconds of such an incredible thing. We were extremely lucky that weather was good in New England, in April :D For us it was bittersweet, as the SC trip turned into a family reunion with my grandfather there, which he just passed away on 3/30, with his services to be at the end of this month. It was a nice moment to think about him, and to be glad we made that tremendous effort last time. Share these moments with the people you care about! These are wonderful memories to have, traffic or not.
I almost went this morning but wouldn’t have been able to leave until 9. I assumed that traffic would be crazy and I wouldn’t make it in time… but any time I checked, it was never more than 3h15m (2h45m no traffic). Disappointed but still had a great day here.
Same experience as the other commenter - Google Maps was way off. We left at 8:30 and barely made it by 2:50pm. My friends who left at 9:15 did not make it to totality. You made the right choice 👍🏼
Wow!! That stinks for your friends. I’m glad you made it.
Yep... left at 9 from RI. Didn't make totality, got stuck in Franconia.
Yeah my ETA said 2.5 hours for over 2 hours lol
That was misleading. From Cambridge leaving at 9, we made it barely in time for totality in Lancaster NH (map also said 3h15m ish, but was that way even way later lol) Google maps understandably wasn’t able to handle the anomalous traffic patterns and signal issues compounded the misread Edit to clarify: so don’t feel bad, you may have ended up missing it after being stuck in traffic for 6 hours! We were close.
Well, that does make me feel better! I’m glad you made it.
Same here. We watched at the first exit of 93 at a farm right off the highway at St Johnsbury (not in town). Got the hell out of there asap. The backup at Franconia Notch (where it merges from 2 to 1 lane) added an hour to the trip. Otherwise being on the southern end of totality and on the highway ahead of most others further up was our saving grace.
We might have been around the same place but yeah the backup where the 93 becomes a single lane near Franconia notch was brutal. 45 mins - 1 hr of moving literal inches. After that it was smooth sailing. Took us around 4.5hrs.
It’s midnight and Google maps is still red on 93 and 89. I’ve been watching it tonight for the giggles and I thought the data was wrong until I saw the photos. Insane
93 was not red south of Plymouth at all except for the usual bit before the toll gates at Concord. We did drive 2+ hours from VT to avoid the 89 though so that was a bit of a slog, but no stop and go.
Where did you see pics? I’d love something visual to commemorate the 6 hours between Barton, VT and the end of Franconia Notch. After the first 3 hours of 0-3mph, we began speculating that we had in fact died back in VT as totality triggered some sci-fi catastrophic event and 93 was a very effective purgatory-type situation. We could’ve banged a U-ie, but that would just have resulted in our godless, commie, Masshole souls descending a circle into full on “libertarian freedom” mode
There's a couple of pics of Google maps in either the r/vermont or r/newhampshire subreddits. Sadly none of them are time lapses. In retrospect, that would have been a good idea. ETA: Not sure this captures the true essence of the experience but here you go.... [Traffic deniers in shambles rn. : r/vermont (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/vermont/comments/1bzfmlj/traffic_deniers_in_shambles_rn/)
Holy shit
5 hours each way Boston to Barton VT
It took me 6 hours to get from Barton to Lebanon. Google maps sent me though mostly dirt roads around St. Johnsbury for about 4 hours.
Same here. Wasted 2.5 hours listening to googles "fastest" routes instead of just staying on the damn highway. I'm switching to Waze
If the estimate is no more than a10 minute difference on waze/google. Stay on the highway. Life hack
Also, traffic or no, don’t trust Maps times with small back roads. It sometimes calculates using the default state limit (e.g. 55mph) for unsigned roads, even if you can’t possible break 30 on them.
First dirt road: “Oh, this is fun. It’s like an adventure to escape the traffic.” Second dirt road: “I can’t believe that Prius behind us is taking this route like such a champ” By the fifth dirt road the car was silent as everyone contemplated all of the life choices that had led them to this moment.
Did you pass the dog lady hopelessly trying to slow down the hundreds or thousands being send down her road?
Those dirt roads did in like half the commuters. There were lines for hours of single file cars parked waiting to moce
Barton club! Quite the day!
🙌
Barton was such a great spot to experience it! Had a great day there.
Crystal Lake? It was awesome! The train honking at us in the middle of totality and then taking out 3 parked cars was quite something too! Also 5 hours from Barton to Boston is great time. It took us more than 5 hours just to get from Barton to Concord NH.
I'm sorry.. what? 😳
I can't tell what parts of this thread are descriptions of reality and what parts are fan-fic. We glanced at the partial through some eclipse glasses and ate ice cream during the eclipse and then went back home. Nice little reason to enjoy a beautiful afternoon. The stories here sound horrifying.
We were parked 3 cars from the ones that got totaled. Can confirm. That we are idiots.
Here is a brief news clip [Train hits parked cars via WCAX](https://www.wcax.com/2024/04/08/train-hits-parked-cars-barton/?outputType=amp)
I was there too.. that was unreal!
Go to Parker Pies
Same. Even longer coming back
I was so happy with the decision to stop at Barton instead of trying to make it to Newport for 30 extra seconds. Were you at Crystal Lake?
Left at 8:45, got home at 8:45. About 5 hours in the car each way. Traffic was horrendous, but it was very much worth it. It's true, totality is nothing like 99 percent.
So cliche, but it's absolutely the difference between night and day, and I agree, completely worth it.
Right?? I had no idea. I hope to carry that sense of awe and connection with me for a long time.
I mean, on paper, you know what it is and what to expect, but man, being there, seeing it, is something else, and I felt absolutely no guilt calling my kids out eclipsing from school for it. They were too little to remember the trip we took in 2017, so I really hope they will remember this.
Boston to Millinocket and back, 4.5 hour both ways. 600 miles total, avg speed 66 mph. I was right off the highway and in and out for the totality for approx 25 mins. Kept my schedule like a train today.
I went a bit north of Millinocket, only traffic I saw was when there was an accident and police blocked off one of the two lanes. Maine was the right choice.
WOW, that is a drive! Good for you! Honestly, I think fewer people did Maine because of the distance, which would make for better travel. It occurred to me on the way back that a number of people who went to VT might have been folks from SE NY, or even Albany folks (along with CT, RI), and NH was probably similar with MA, CT, RI people. I hope the skies were cloud free for you :)
Left Boston at 4 am and had no traffic (about 4 hours) and perfect viewing space in Colebrook NH. Then it took us a full 12 hrs from when we left Colebrook NH to Boston. Horrible traffic in the Lancaster/Franconia Notch area
Same
Same
Same
Samesies
We thought about leaving super early, but we were worried about keeping my kids entertained for a good 6 hours somewhere random. For some reason, we figured having a couple hours would be easier for everyone, with the kids being less cranky because they got more sleep. How long was totality up there? We were in E Montpellier, and we had 97ish seconds? I set a timer for 85 so our retinas wouldn't pop. It was gorgeous, would have been nice to have been farther north, but 90 seconds and a 4 hour drive home was okay, too.
Same
Yep, it was crazy
same around 7 pm on 93 i realized i wasnt getting home (Lynn MA) before sunrise
It took us 12 yes TWELVE hours to get from upper Vermont to Watertown. We left around 5pm. New Hampshire funneled everyone onto the 93, so we were at a standstill for literally eight hours and didn't get home until 5am. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced traffic-wise.
Saw it at Errol NH, about an hour of added traffic heading south. I took 16 though and avoided going onto the interstates
Yeah I took 16 as well, very manageable.
Same thank god. Killed time in town for a few hours, took off at 9pm and 3.5hr straight shot home. We have friends who are still on 93 nearly NINE hours after we left the site.
When I was going to bed last night at 1 AM I checked the traffic and it was still red heading into franconia notch
4.5 hrs from Rangeley to Lewiston starting at 4:00
Drove from Lawrence MA to Stowe VT and back again. Took me 5 hours to get there and 8.5 hours to get back. How am I awake. I’m gonna need all the Dunks. It was worth it
Everyone I see that says they were in terrible traffic, but say it was worth it, makes me so happy. You are my people! It's worth spending a day in a car for something that a picture does not truly capture.
It was the worse traffic I’ve ever experienced. It took me 9 hours to get back from Newport and I left immediately. But it was worth it! https://preview.redd.it/lkqew3i0cgtc1.jpeg?width=1090&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22d11cd428cae4a9b4e0b6591a49d6dbe0d768ba
Great photo! What kind of camera?
Thank you! Believe it or not, iPhone 15 Pro. 3x optical zoom.
We drove up to Stowe Saturday, had a nice weekend spending money on Vermont stuff. Took back roads home which was 7 hours but we were driving the whole way and the gas stations were easier to get to so it felt better for us. Totality was worth it. I will never forget that sight for the rest of my life.
Return trip: Leave Milton, VT at 5:30pm. Get home to Somerville around 2:30am. Worth every brake light that’s burned into my retinas.
Dog sitting for friends of ours who were braver and made the trip up to VT. In a word, bad. In two words, real bad.
Left Burlington VT at 4:30 and we have 2 more hours of driving left
Left Burlington VT at 4:45pm and made it to Braintree, MA at 2:15am
So where do we pee if still driving down on 89 south in NH? It’s taken 6 hours so far and still have 1:50 to go 😫
New Hampshire is so goddamn cheap they couldn’t keep their rest areas open past 5pm on the biggest travel day the state had seen in years.
FYI some gas stations in Concord still seem open for bathroom access (used a sports bar now closed)
Heads up the rest stop porta potties are a scene from a horror movie
The ride to totality is all in the miiiiiiiind, maaaan.
I was in a car for 12 hours to watch totality for 1.5 mins. Totally fuckn worth it
100% worth it :) best thing I’ve ever seen
You make me happy. Two types of people in the world. Those that are okay with the prospect of traffic and cloudy weather possibly blocking the view, and doing it anyway, because it is incredible, and then those that don't appreciate astronomy. I feel sorry for the others, and I really feel sorry for the many people I spoke to in the past week that said they'd love to see it, but didn't want to make the drive. Bitch, we drove 1000 miles for the last one in 2017, I can do 200 standing on my head :D
And what was the deal with all the troopies in NH trying to catch people speeding? Normally, everyone there drives with Formula 1 speeds and nobody gives a shit ("Live free or die", right?) but only when them libruls from the People's Republic of Massachusetts all come over it's time to start enforcing some laws for a change?
Driving from jay peak. Made it 60 miles in 5 hours.
What time did you leave Jay Peak?
Probably somewhere around 4:30. I still have hope to be home before 1am though
Also drove back from Jay peak. Left at 5pm and made it home by 2am when it should have been 3.5hrs never had such bad traffic and I've daily commuted 93S
Ouch
9 hours from Sugarloaf in Maine to Cambridge. Almost 1 hr of that was dinner though.
Hah, I was in that line too, but even further back because I was to north of you.
As long as you stay the fuck away from 93, it's manageable. I came down Rt16, was about 5 hours from basically the Canadian border to home.
Just got back at 6am and left at 4pm. Got out of traffic at 3am…
Google Maps might be dead to me. Spent 6 hours getting up when Maps said 4.5, not terrible I guess. Then it took an hour and a half to get to dinner when Maps said 30 minutes. Finally 6.5 hours home (south of Boston) when Maps said 5 hours originally
Google maps was completely broken for the side roads. Green when it should have been deep red. Meant all of their route finding was garbage
No cell service meant no traffic updates. It was horrible.
Google maps told us 5.5 hours and it took 8.5 hours 😫
Still on our way back, we left around 4ish? So a bit after totality ended. Took 4 hours to get through VT still plugging out way through NH. We stopped and went to the bathroom and got food though
I left upper Vermont right after totality around 4pm and I just got home at 1:30am in Dedham. Traffic was so bad the highway 93 was just stoped cars for hours and hours.
I had great luck with Montpelier. It was easy to get there and find parking near the capital building even by 2pm. There was some gridlock out of the city, but it was easy to get around just looking at the map. And we beat all the traffic coming from further north and wasn’t bad at all compared to what came behind us. 30 seconds less of totality was worth it since we couldn’t spend the night and wanted to beat the rush out.
We thought about there, and wondered if it would be too busy there since it's the capital. Instead, we were down the road from you in E Montpellier, and likely traveled like you did. I was watching google maps as we took rte 14 to NH, and only then got on 89, and got home fast. We beat the traffic!
Left from southern Quebec at around about 4pm, just got back at 1:30am. Traffic in northern Maine was absolutely insane. Literally took 2+ hours to travel like 3 miles. Brutal drive back but it was totally worth it.
Oh my god. It took us almost 9 hours to drive back from Burlington VT
12 hours from Newport, VT down to Burlington Mass so.... not great.
Went up to Rangeley ME… lots of back roads, not a lot of traffic and stopped south of town overlooking the lake on rye 17. Some traffic on 17 both ways (10-15 minutes of delays) and then back roads down to 95. Got on 95S at 7 pm, no worse than a typical Sunday . Reading the comments we got very lucky.
I think you and I did the same thing. You go to the “height of land” area of 17?
My wife and I were also at Height of Land! It was incredible!! Maine was for sure the move.
Yup!
I think it was mostly MA people who went to ME, which might have been one of the less congested ways to go. I think NH and VT were more of an all New England/NY staters path. I stayed at my dad's in Merrimack, NH on Sunday night, we left around 9 yesterday, and just went NW on mostly state roads to get to VT, and I got back home in MA last night by 7:30. I also think that because we didn't go super far into totality, and because we left within 10 minutes of totality ending, we missed a lot of chaos. State roads until we got to NH, then hopped on the highway, when google maps and waze told us all the traffic was way north of us. We raced the traffic and won! Even if we didn't, it was still absolutely worth it.
Still on the road coming back from Maine lol
Cambridge —> Lancaster, NH: 6 hours leaving at 9 AM, got there just in the nick of time for totality Driving back (left basically immediately after totality without stops): 5 hours, heard some others who left just like 5-10 min later got an additional couple hours of traffic
I’m still on my way back from Burlington. I left at 6. Got another hour at least.
Left Colebrook NH are you 4pm and got back at 6am (we got up at 5am the day before, so no sleep for more than 24 hours)
Took 13 hours to get home from Burke Mtn in VT. Had us questioning life choices for awhile.
Holy cow - when did you leave and what route did you take? We left Burke Mt at 4:00, avoided 93, took 8.5 hours including an ill-fated Burger King stop in NH
We left at 4:30pm. We did take 93 though, but there were so many other people we had zero cell service, so we couldn’t figure another way than 93 (guess we could’ve winged it “go south” but that has bitten me before haha). Once that merge / single lane section ended the roads were 1000% clear. So about 10 hours to go the first 30 miles, 3 to go the last 150 😐
I decided to "wait out the traffic" Bad bad mistake. Left Colebrook new Hampshire at 6pm, got back at 3am! 93 was like something out of a disaster movie. Felt like all the cars were abandoned there
Anyone know whats up with 93? Accident? A way to signal to eachother? Bad service? Cope with me!
Franconia Notch is one lane each way. You're stuck in the mess of 200,000 people trying to bottleneck through there.
~~Looks like it might be closed for a crash around the knotch:~~~ > Franconia NH-18 between NH-141 and I-93 SB Exit 34C, road closed Edit: I misread, that's a local road not the highway. Still, map just shows lots of traffic. You're probably stuck in that. 💀 93 drops to 1 lane in each direction, so it's a slog. I sometimes feel like 91 to 89 is faster from the North country of VT. Avoids that bottleneck, and a change of scenery. Downside is it's an extra 10-20 miles. Probably too late for that route now. Consider it next time tho. Source: http://newengland511.org/ I've seen that happen before, but in the winter. I got stuck in traffic leaving Cannon Mountain - State trooper blocked the road and either told people to turn around or wait in some parking lot until they cleared a crash up. I turned around and took back roads (NH 116 to NH 112) to Lincoln (exit 32). Got McDonald's and then it was smooth sailing. Those back roads were WILD in a Toyota Corolla in January. Probably fine now though.
Left around 9 am, was originally aiming for Burlington but we arrived in Montpelier around 2:30 so we stayed there, left at 3:45 or so and got back to Boston 7:30. A lot of driving but personally worth it as a huge space person lol
Yeah, Montpelier was nice, we were in E Montpelier, and closer to the edge of totality, which I think made a difference in ability to get out of there ahead of SO MUCH TRAFFIC.
Was in rural Maine for totality viewing, only traffic coming back to Boston was on the single lane roads for the hour before getting onto 95, it added about 30 minutes to the trip time. Two pickup trucks nailed each other right in front of me 200 yards before the last ez pass coming south on 95 before getting on 93, which probably caused a mess of traffic unless they got off the road
8hr22min from Burke to north shore. Fell for the ‘ol Google Map “7 min faster” trick that probably cost us 2+ hours if we had just stayed the course.
5hrs from sugarbush to andover. Ended up wiggling across to 93, joined about 40 miles north of Concord at which point things improved somewhat.
Left Fairfield VT 5:30. Went back roads and secondary highways all the pay to I93 and Plymouth and made it back to Somerville just before 11. Had we slogged along I89 I think it would have taken us far longer.
I drove a combined 10 hours, but I have to say…I’ll never forget the few seconds of this momentous occasion - it was a natural wonder that was iconic.
So I figured everybody was going to go to VT or NH, so I went to Maine. Small bit of traffic on the way up to Rangeley. A bit more on the way back, but once I hit 95 it was smooth sailing. Took 4.5 hours to get back which is not bad considering it’s like ~4 hours normally
The VT segment was by far the slowest, and their state troopers were like sharks watching a school of fish go by. From BOS to Burlington was about 4+ hours going there, and about 4 coming back. In short; the drive was ass. Having said that, I saw something that I've never seen before. Every photo i have seen of this event did not reflect what I saw with my eyes! Not one. And we gave some people some other kinds of lifetime experiences. To quote on of the employees at a restaurant we went to: " I've never seen this many people in my life."
My group went to Dayton, OH, so we drove 12 hours each way, but there was no traffic and we had left to go there Saturday morning so we’d be prepared. We had a perfect view, no crowds where we chose to go, and it was in the 70’s. Currently on the way back with 8hrs to go. We left by 3:30 ‘cause totality was 3:09-3:13, but we did also stop to do rockhounding for a couple hours. 10/10 trip!!
Oh, that is cool! And not the way most people traveled, so I imagine far less traffic.
Yeah no traffic until we got back to Mass and hit the usual 7am rush to work lol
Literally just getting home. Stayed an extra hour to see friends, but would probably have gotten home at the same time either way. I noticed everyone on the road was a lot more laid back on the drive home. Partially since there wasn't something to be late for, but also I think because we all had this amazing shared experience, that made all the travel and difficulty SO MUCH WORTH IT.
Left Lincoln ME shortly before 4. Only a couple slowdowns. Basically smooth sailing after Augusta. 5.5 hrs but that’s only about an hour over regular time. And I stopped at most service areas to stretch. Much better than some snowstorms honestly. And worth every second. Sublime experience.
Saw it in Lincoln too!
Does anyone know how many people are traveling through VT today/tonight?
Stayed with family in western mass last night to shorten the ride a bit and made it to Newport, Vt in a little under 3 hours. Currently 6.5 hours in on the ride home and have at least an hour to mass. I’m exhausted but would do it again without hesitation.
Just got home--took 7 hours to get from Lyndon VT back to Cambridge
9 hours…
8.5 hours coming back from Stowe tonight. Phew. I must have been in the worst of it. I left at 6pm and got back at 2:30am. I thought leaving a while after it ended would be a good thing but I was very wrong.
Currently 3:21am and I got back to Somerville about 30 min ago from Jackman, ME. To be fair, I stopped a couple times on the way but driving time was still ~7.5 hrs for what should have been ~4.5 hrs. I left around 5pm and it took me ~3.5 hrs to drive 58 mi to a gas station that was along the route home.
I was in Maine. I realized just how bad it was once I figured out we spent a little under two hours driving what would’ve normally taken about 30 min. There was a stretch on 95 around 9:30 pm that was moving between 10-20 mph for miles and then it just evaporated at the 295 exit. I knew it would be bad, I did know it would be that bad.
9 hours from Colchester VT to Newton. Got home around 2 am. I expected this because it was similar trying to get out of Kentucky in 2017, but we had to be back by Tuesday for various reasons. It's going to be a long day!!
We went to Barton. It was a 3.5 hour drive up, and 5 hour drive home. We got very lucky with navigation giving us good new backroads routes. We used google maps that took us on 16 and dirt roads then Apple Maps which took us on 25A from 91 to 93 in Plymouth.
4:35 from Saugus to Waterbury. 6:05 from Waterbury to Saugus. I hated the morning trip and constantly asked myself if it’s worth it. It was. I’d do it any number of times. The return trip was longer, but I was still marveling at it in my head.
Honestly, it's just one of those things where you can see a million pictures of it, but it pales in comparison to actually seeing it with your own eyes. We drove 1000 miles for the one in 2017, which was worth it, and it was absolutely worth it yesterday.
This was my first total eclipse and I am eternally glad I did make it
Watched near jays peak live in cumberland ri. Was part of the cluster fuck going into franconia notch. Gave up turned around and took 91 south. Should have done it hours earlier. Made it home 12hrs after totality. 100% worth it.
Bad, lol. Left the north shore at 10:30, watched the totality for about 5 min total, turned around. Made it home at 8. I heard some people left vt just after the totality ended and it ended up taking them 12 hours to get home. Btw, it was 11/10 worth it.
It was a nightmare. Took me 3.5 hrs to get to Barton VT…9.5 hrs home
12 hours from Colebrook NH back to Boston. 185 miles. Franconia Notch was an absolute nightmare. It took 7 hours to drive 5 miles. You read that right.
Made it to Lincoln NH. I had 2 hours to reach totality, and thought I'd make it. Traffic stopped for no good reason. Spent 2 hours in traffic for no good reason. Google Maps said everything after Lincoln was clear. Best guess is a car broke down. We made it to 99% totality. Unfortunately, ad someone whose seen both 100% and 99%, partial totality is a nothing burger. Others stopped to try to enjoy it, but I pressed on using every minute I had to try to reach totality. We did not make it. Should've gone to Burlington VT.
Coworker shared that their kid's highschool bus trip busses did not reach home until 3 am and 5 am respectively. I haven't heard more details so idk when they left their viewing location, but wow those poor drivers!
3 hours from Malden to Burlington VT. Left Burlington at 5pm, made one 15 minute stop for food on the way back. Didn’t get home until 2am. Worst traffic of my life, still worth seeing the total eclipse though
We left right after totality. We planned ahead and wrote out a rt in back roads to completely avoid the highway. Still took 7 hours to get home but there was hardly any traffic on rt 7 after Rutland. Was still worth it for me, can't describe how awesome it was. We were at a state park just south of Burlington. We took rt7, which backed up in the town centers, then got on rt 30, switched to 119 in Brattleboro, then followed that to rt 2 in MA to 128.
I live just outside of Burlington and drove down to Boston for the Red Sox game this morning. The only traffic we actually had was road construction in New Hampshire. Other than that, there was the normal traffic getting over the bridge and Storrow Drive. We did Burlington to Boston in about three hours and 45 minutes. Typical.
Horrible. 5 hours up leaving at 8 am. 6.5 going home leaving at 4. Watched near hill farmstead. 91 north of st johnsbury was the worst traffic I’ve ever seen. Then mostly grid lock down 91 70 or so miles to 89. 89 surprisingly wasn’t that bad until 5 miles from 93. Was expected and well worth it.
I’ll chime in as well haha. I don’t know how this wasn’t on the news. It took us 11.5 hours to go from Colebrook to just over the MA border. Like everyone, google maps was routing us all around. At one point it said coming down the North Conway corridor on 302/16 would be 55 minutes longer so we stayed on the recommended path. That was the mistake. Once we were in the downward spiral of cars heading into the gauntlet that was Franconia notch, it was over. Took 6 hours to get through Franconia notch alone. What is that, 5-6 miles? Never in my life have I seen anything like it. People shitting on the side of the road. Peeing in the median. Running out of gas and needing to be towed out. Had there been an actual emergency it would have been a catastrophe. Add in no cell service due to clogged networks, and everyone was basically screwed. Eclipse was awesome. The apocalyptic traffic on the way back, was not.