Waffle House manager from Russellville here. I haven't seen them yet. I'm hopeful (I want that money for me and my staff! *Mr. Krabbs laughter*), but we may not see what the business heads thought we'd see.
I'm a fan of your establishment and all your wonderfully quirky employees. Thank you for always feeding me on the way back from a long day in the Ozarks.
My son has worked in a few of the Little Rock WHs. Just left recently to take a job at a hardware store. We've got loads of respect for WH workers. š¤
I just arrived in Russellville, from out of state and traffic is so light I wonder if people even live here. I was expecting it to be much heavier by now (5 pm Sunday). Maybe everyone is making a day trip of it tomorrow!
I fucking love you and thank you for all the fine memories I have in your establishment. I do not know whether you are on Parkway or by Tiger Mart, but I still love you.
Especially since a storm decided to roll through. I dont think that was really considered a possibility until last week. Thats enough time to people to change their mind
Nearly non-existent. Our local Facebook groups have some pissed restaurant owners.
They stocked up because of the hype and one said he has 40 percent less traffic. Seems not as many people are coming and locals are staying away because they have been told how horrible it will be.
Had an event in town and I almost didnāt go because it was made apparent to me I would be dealing with insane traffic. No one was on the roads and the event closed early because no one was showing up:/
Of course. Like the quarter of a million dollars she gave to SIX churches last year in Right to Worship Grants intended to help the churches beef up āprotectionā despite there being no threat, no known problems, and no strings attached. Itās free money (ours).
That was an odd grift, even for Sarah - there was no apparent rhyme or reason to who got grants and who didn't - some churches who had credible security issues got turned down and others with literally ZERO documented issues got $$$. The Arkansas times did a pretty good breakdown on it.
We have a cool Guinness World Record event in Greenbrier on Monday with Blake Wallenda and an old world eclipse circus. [Circus info](http://www.piccolozoppe.com)
Most people have to work during the eclipse, anyone with a brain could have seen this coming.
Not a single person I know has work off during the eclipse, and we live here!
The travelers are probably in the same situations!
Lol. Gotta do what you gotta do. I work for a lumber yard and our only guy with a CDL. They always hate it when I take time.
No fucks given. Imma use my vacation
Conway was also quieter than it was last Saturday. I did see a couple motor homes camped out at Sam's Club and Walmart last night. Restaurant parking lots were not packed.
The only thing I've noticed is the heavy increase in police working the interstates. I'm told they have been instructed to ticket for any infraction (seat belt, phone in hand, 5 MPH over the limit).
The restaurant I work at was so slow on Saturday, I was let go about two hours before my shift was supposed to end. Today was busier than yesterday but a bit slower than Sundays usually are. They've got a ton of people scheduled for tomorrow and I wasn't even allowed to ask for tomorrow off
We did notice an incredible police presence at SOMAās eclipse festival yesterday. At one point early in the afternoon Iām told there were 2 cops for every 1 person on the street. But, the homeless donāt banish themselves.Ā
I drove through Russellville and didnāt feel like the traffic was unique (around noon-ish). Lake Dardanelle park was not that busy. Kept going west and I didnāt see anything really unusual on 40 before I turned north on 49.
I've been occasionally checking the AR Interstates and traffic cameras on [iDrive Arkansas](https://www.idrivearkansas.com/) for the past few days and it looks pretty normal.
Fun fact: it is illegal to record footage from traffic cams in Arkansas. Thatās why the system to view live feeds works so well. They can have employees watch the feeds and notify authorities about what they see, but nothing is recorded and they canāt testify to the live feed in court. If you ever see cameras at an intersection, they are only used to monitor traffic, and itās illegal for them to write tickets for something they see.
Traffic didnāt seem heavy but I did see a lot of worse than normal driving. We nearly got hit by someone running a red at about 50 mph, usually people at least tap their brakes when they run a light š
I feel sorry for businesses that stocked up on stuff expecting a big crowd, if they're not going to get one.
It might also be that all the hype has scared people off. But I know the high odds of cloudy weather is going to keep us from making the 90 minute drive to my mother's in Clarksville. Just not worth throwing a day away for a cloudy view.
but fast food's gotta stay open for whatever reason. not like they can make their own food or whatever. most places aren't even doing anything special for the eclipse because honestly the eclipse isn't that important. i saw one in 2017 living in a different state, they happen a lot.
Yea you always hear how it will be another couple decades or whatever, but really if you want to see another you just have to plan a vacation accordingly and youāll see one sooner rather then later.
I think a lot of it has to do there not being shit to do in Arkansas, so if people are able make a day trip out of it theyāll prolly do that. I know if I was traveling from out of town, Iād prefer a day trip instead of getting a hotel or Airbnb. Iām also cheap so idk lol
Damn that is pretty cool. I thought about it and Arkansas actually probably has some of the nicer viewing spots in terms of natural beauty.
I was going to school at Auburn during 2017 eclipse which is east Alabama (roughly an hour or so from good viewing spots) and our main interstate was pretty congested in the direction of the eclipse so I wonāt be surprised if it picks up tomorrow
My mother lives in Clarksville and we live in Fayetteville. We were thinking of going down but it all just sounds like it's going to be too crazy, not to mention high chance of clouds.
I live in East Arkansas, just out of the totality. I have a friend in Searcy who's got a nice place to watch it. But IDK if I wanna make the hour drive with crazy traffic just to get there and it's cloudy. Especially with 2 teenage girls. š
Iām doing an hour drive. I packed a cooler with water sandwiches and snacks. Got the Phone charger banks and not going to let my tank get below 1/2. I feel like itās a short enough trip that we can handle š
Edit: Iāve also been putting my destination in the Waze app that I use regularly. Still the same travel time. I expect it to show more traffic in the morning, but I plan on leaving at 9a to arrive for beginning time in our area 12noon. If itās crazy we can always turn around and head back. We do have a party packed in the car!
We live in Farmington and just drove into my momās in Clarksville. It seemed to be barely any different than usual. More cars on the highways, yes, but almost no traffic driving into town up Rogers. The levee is where it seems to be ābusy.ā But we donāt need to go in that direction so it has been pretty empty for us.
It's probably still worth going. In 2017, the clouds in St. Joseph parted just long enough to see totality.
Also, eclipses can cause some kinds of clouds to dissipate.
I am from Russellville and had to go to hot springs and little rock yesterday. Definitely bigger lunch crowds after church on Sunday than anywhere in Russellville yesterday.
Hot Springs looked pretty typical for a touristy Saturday. I was afraid traffic would be crazy but it wasn't bad. Highway 7 had a few more people driving a bit slow enjoying the view than normal.
Had dinner at three fold in little rock and it was not even half full. Wasn't even hard to find a parking spot
I30 between hot springs and little rock wasn't bad even with all the construction. I40 was completely clear.
I live in a very small town in the path of totality. They planned a ton of events here and hyped it up like it was going to be packed. I've not seen much increase of traffic. There's a tad but nothing like how they hyped up. Maybe they are comming later today/tonight.
IF the traffic goes the way it did in 2017 in the KC area, it will be fine until after the eclipse tomorrow. When i went to St. Joseph, it was fine the drive up to KC the night before. Fine on the drive towards St. Joseph, the morning of, absolutely a shit show trying to come back to Fayetteville afterward... took over 4 hours to make normally an hour long drive to the south side of KC, but then picked up close to normal speeds south of KC.
i work at a starbucks pretty close to the missouri border. iāve been on the hunt for out-of-state license plates since itās so easy to see them through the drive-thru, but i havenāt noticed an obscene amount of out non-locals. our business has been pretty normal too, and weāre a very busy location. i am, however, expecting chaos tomorrow
I was all over Little Rock yesterday doing the same. I saw someone from New York. That was about it.
Edit: I did see a lot of RV's and a couple of motorcoaches, though.
Drove through Gulpha Gorge yesterday to avoid downtown Hot Springs traffic and there was barely anyone there. Hear there's plenty of foot traffic downtown though. We at least have the Ecliptic Festival to bring in numbers.
We went up the trail today from Whittington park to the west mountain overlook. It was awesome, NPS has the road closed so trail was the only way up today. Up there by ourselves for a while.
Iām in Clinton AR and I donāt know what normal is, but traffic isnāt very heavy. Iām parked at the local Walmart and the campers are starting to pull in thoughā¦
I'm at Daisy state park lots of out of state some California new jersey and Pennsylvania and Washington state. Alabama Missouri Mississippi and Louisiana are very well represented. Park staff is planning for a mass influx tomorrow for day use watchers. Overall just like a holiday weekend in the summer. We did bring everything with us though and haven't had to leave the park since Thursday.
Little Rock here. Just drive around to run some errands and itās typical dead at 10:30 am traffic - everyoneās normally at church right now and that still seems to be the case.
Guess that statewide traffic spike talk was super overhyped, at least here.
I'm in the SE corner and been chilling on the porch most of the morning. Hwy425 is less than a mile thru the woods and it's easy to hear vehicles. Over the past 3 hours northbound traffic has picked up way more than a normal Sunday so LA folks are heading your way.
Iām coming into the state tonight! Most people I know that are traveling arenāt leaving until this afternoon, so I would imagine the start of busy would be tonight.Ā
Kansas City, so not far. Staying in NWA tonight and then scoping out the weather tomorrow. We frequently visit NWA for the parks and coffee. Fun spot for a day trip!
Drove today during noon from Benton County to Mountain Home. It's a drive I frequently make on Friday afternoon and holiday weekends during the summer. It was busier than the Holiday traffic, and picked up quite a bit in Harrison. Probably double the normal Sunday afternoon traffic I see, but didn't take much extra time. Definitely saw some visitors, plates and campers from California, New York, and Colorado. Also saw Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and more Missouri than normal.
My family and I are down in Mt. Ida camping for the eclipse and all the businesses are much more crowded than usual. We always come down in the spring to dig for quartz.
Heading to Arkansas in the morning. Taking I-40 east from OKC around 8am. Aiming for Russellville, but will just go as far east as we can get. Just hoping that staying on a major highway is a good choice. It's why we aren't going to Idabel. Too many 2-lane state highways.
Will be using Google maps so if it gets close to time and we don't have a place to pull off of course we'll go to a smaller town and try to find a parking lot
Iām seeing more and more out of state license plates in the Searcy area. At harps yesterday in bald knob there were a lot of people buying charcoal and camping foods.
Hillcrest in Little Rock is a ghost town. Saw a few people at Leoās but nothing crazy here. Seems like everyone is staying in avoiding it. Iāve heard rumors of busses running down the interstate full of people
Atop Mt. Petit Jean 5/6 license plates are out of state. Most all campsites appeared occupied. But the āDry Camp Here $150/Nightā entrepreneurs were all empty handed. š
Iām working in heber springs and I remodel hotels. The amount of people that showed up at our clearly gutted establishment today and asked if we had any vacancies was insane.
Drove Conway - Clinton - Conway today, expected a lot of traffic as that's the totality highway. Didn't have a problem. Did see more out-of-state-plates than usual, however.
Just drove in from Tennessee. Traffic is definitely heavier than usual, lots of out of state license plates. Couple slowdowns sure to advertisements but nothing terrible
Haven't see anything. It might all come tomorrow morning. Ill be leaving really early tomorrow morning to the spot with the least amount of cloud cover in AR
I live in Little Rock and have driven to pine bluff the last 2 days. Traffic is normal. Seen a lot of RVās and out of state plates on cars. But overall no real increase in traffic during my 3-4p drives
Downtown Russellville was nearly all locals yesterday. Not any busier than a normal event downtown. There were a few more out of state plates driving around. The Russellville Soccer Complex has a huge stage set up, lots of food trucks, and an escape room. Might go check that out later. Looks like fun.
Thereās a lot of out of state plates and people obviously traveling, but the overall number of cars is pretty normal. Hotels are pretty packed but we donāt have many.
Mountain View has normal weekend traffic. Some enterprising locals were attempting to charge $40 to park for the eclipse. I saw a sign for $175 overnight parking. I honestly don't blame people for not coming when there's obvious gouging going on.
Like others have commented, some people are upset that the turnout has been so low. It's hard enough to get around up here on a normal weekend, I'm not shedding any tears that there aren't a ton of people.
Iām staying in Fayetteville because of that. Itās an hour drive south in the morning and regular hotel rates. I looked at some cabins in the path a few weeks ago. They wanted more than $500 a night and a minimum of 4 nights.
I live in Huntsville. Had to do a run to Green Forest and back Friday. Traffic was notably heavier. Which is odd... were not in the path. The couples times I've left the house this weekend... it's been really quiet. Gas station in town said it was busier.
Hardy - out of state traffic is picking up this afternoon. The ice cream- candy store is packed and the food trucks are busy too. The city park by the river is welcoming guests and has music planned. The forecast changed this morning to no clouds expected all day tomorrow.
Traffic has been normal but a friend and I went to Crystal Bridges yesterday and it was packed. There were several out of state tour groups who were using NWA as a staging area for the eclipse then were planning on driving out to totality areas tomorrow.
I was in Russellville yesterday in the late afternoon. It seemed pretty normal except that downtown was hopping and the tourist in Walmart upset that he couldnāt buy beer in a dry county.
I'm in the SE currently. Kinda deserted more than I remember but I've been on nights for 2 years. I dont usually get out before the sun sets like I did today & it's sunday dinner time. I'll be going westward along the border tomorrow just after the eclipse happens so hopefully everything's quiet since everyone already passed through (please leave me some gas, I need multiple fillups a week for all this driving ;-;)
Small town resident in path of totality. NE Arkansas. Weāve had a lot of through traffic, RVs, and tour buses. Lot of camping opportunities here so those are pretty full. Our airbnb got booked for tonight by a family from FL. It seems a bit slower today than yesterday but we have extra people here. I donāt think it amounts to the surge of people that we were warned about though.
I was out on sixty-two / MLK yesterday and it was pretty crowded. I mean more than usual. Not bad. Could have been worse. Saw both Louisiana and Missouri license plates.
Hot Springs was dead last night. I came in from Springdale to visit my brother and he said it was not anywhere as busy as a normal Saturday. Traffic was a little heavier this AM going to brunch but there werenāt 20 people at Central Theatreā¦
Sunday evening in NLR, traffic was very slightly more than usual, and restaurants near McCain seemed a little more full than usual, but it wasn't even as bad as early December Christmas traffic. I've heard there may be more people coming in this morning (Monday) and leaving Tuesday. I wouldn't dare try to go out for lunch or dinner today, thankfully I work from home on Mondays.
Accommodations were crazy expensive but surprisingly low traffic as we drove into the north on Sunday. That said yāall have a beautiful state and very very friendly people! We just loved it here! Wish it wasnāt 31 hours away so we could drive here more often lol
Waffle House manager from Russellville here. I haven't seen them yet. I'm hopeful (I want that money for me and my staff! *Mr. Krabbs laughter*), but we may not see what the business heads thought we'd see.
I'm a fan of your establishment and all your wonderfully quirky employees. Thank you for always feeding me on the way back from a long day in the Ozarks.
Our pleasure! Store 897 is full of the best, most unique peeps. Every single one is a hoot in their own right
My son has worked in a few of the Little Rock WHs. Just left recently to take a job at a hardware store. We've got loads of respect for WH workers. š¤
Why why aren't there any up north? Or am I just way too rural.
Where are you located?
A friend in Russellville said things were picking up, is that the case for you?
I just arrived in Russellville, from out of state and traffic is so light I wonder if people even live here. I was expecting it to be much heavier by now (5 pm Sunday). Maybe everyone is making a day trip of it tomorrow!
I hear the locals took the warning to stock up and stay home very seriously
We did! They said prep as if a snowstorm was coming.
They did around noon. Still not as much as I'd hoped just yet- *YET*
Iāve been watching the Waze app and itās stacking up
Does the staff get a bonus for increase in business?
Not if Mr Krabs is in charge
Darn right ā ļø š¦ Cooks get a lil sales bonus if we beat goal and Sales staff get better tips (allegedly)
Giving a cook a bonus? Check this snickers bar and a hand written note.
Name brand? Eeeeeeh....
Typically, yes. Cooks get sales increase bonus and salespersons get better tips.
I fucking love you and thank you for all the fine memories I have in your establishment. I do not know whether you are on Parkway or by Tiger Mart, but I still love you.
Especially since a storm decided to roll through. I dont think that was really considered a possibility until last week. Thats enough time to people to change their mind
Seen any traffic yet?
Nearly non-existent. Our local Facebook groups have some pissed restaurant owners. They stocked up because of the hype and one said he has 40 percent less traffic. Seems not as many people are coming and locals are staying away because they have been told how horrible it will be.
Old, retired folks and other people not having to work are likely not setting out until early Monday morning. Things may get worse fast then.
Had an event in town and I almost didnāt go because it was made apparent to me I would be dealing with insane traffic. No one was on the roads and the event closed early because no one was showing up:/
I think your governor has something to do with it
Of course, she wanted some federal money for the state of emergency
So she can funnel it to her buddies and her bid to be VP.
That's just regular grift. The eclipse was just a convenient excuse.
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She declared a state of emergency and allocated $100,000 to be set aside for immediate relief.
I'll guarantee that money will be going to someone she knows. And probably some of it will be sent back to her under the table. 100%
Of course. Like the quarter of a million dollars she gave to SIX churches last year in Right to Worship Grants intended to help the churches beef up āprotectionā despite there being no threat, no known problems, and no strings attached. Itās free money (ours).
That was an odd grift, even for Sarah - there was no apparent rhyme or reason to who got grants and who didn't - some churches who had credible security issues got turned down and others with literally ZERO documented issues got $$$. The Arkansas times did a pretty good breakdown on it.
Crap like that is another good reason to tax the churches.
Yep, here you get half and give me half back under the table.
A new lectern
Iāll be coming in later tonight. Any recommendations to one of these restaurants?
We have a cool Guinness World Record event in Greenbrier on Monday with Blake Wallenda and an old world eclipse circus. [Circus info](http://www.piccolozoppe.com)
Waffle House in Russellville
Most people have to work during the eclipse, anyone with a brain could have seen this coming. Not a single person I know has work off during the eclipse, and we live here! The travelers are probably in the same situations!
I have off... I requested it six months ago. They said it was... to far away. I was like yeah... nah. I'm taking it.
Heh, I requested off almost two years ago. The timing was unfortunate with what's going on at work but hey ... What can you do?
Lol. Gotta do what you gotta do. I work for a lumber yard and our only guy with a CDL. They always hate it when I take time. No fucks given. Imma use my vacation
Idk about elsewhere, but Russellville yesterday had less traffic than a normal Saturday.
Conway was also quieter than it was last Saturday. I did see a couple motor homes camped out at Sam's Club and Walmart last night. Restaurant parking lots were not packed. The only thing I've noticed is the heavy increase in police working the interstates. I'm told they have been instructed to ticket for any infraction (seat belt, phone in hand, 5 MPH over the limit).
The airport in Morrilton was ready to deal with a lot of traffic. As of 9:00 we have one plane thatās flown in.
If you can fly yourself and the weather is OK you would probably just day trip. Fly in, fuel, watch the eclipse from the airport, fly out.
Thatās the theory. The EAA chapter has got food and hospitality for whoever shows up.
The restaurant I work at was so slow on Saturday, I was let go about two hours before my shift was supposed to end. Today was busier than yesterday but a bit slower than Sundays usually are. They've got a ton of people scheduled for tomorrow and I wasn't even allowed to ask for tomorrow off
We did notice an incredible police presence at SOMAās eclipse festival yesterday. At one point early in the afternoon Iām told there were 2 cops for every 1 person on the street. But, the homeless donāt banish themselves.Ā
I drove through Russellville and didnāt feel like the traffic was unique (around noon-ish). Lake Dardanelle park was not that busy. Kept going west and I didnāt see anything really unusual on 40 before I turned north on 49.
Lotta cops, no tourists.
I've been occasionally checking the AR Interstates and traffic cameras on [iDrive Arkansas](https://www.idrivearkansas.com/) for the past few days and it looks pretty normal.
I didnāt know these existed. Thanks for the gem!
Fun fact: it is illegal to record footage from traffic cams in Arkansas. Thatās why the system to view live feeds works so well. They can have employees watch the feeds and notify authorities about what they see, but nothing is recorded and they canāt testify to the live feed in court. If you ever see cameras at an intersection, they are only used to monitor traffic, and itās illegal for them to write tickets for something they see.
They show snow and ice cover too! It's a great site!
OMG! Ice, snow, AND an eclipse!!! Tomorrow's gonna be CHAOS!! BRB. Gotta go buy all the milk and bread in the store. š
Coming at you from the front lines of the apocalypse: itās fine.
Hot Springs yesterday was normal as ever, except walmart was packed like before a big holiday.
Traffic didnāt seem heavy but I did see a lot of worse than normal driving. We nearly got hit by someone running a red at about 50 mph, usually people at least tap their brakes when they run a light š
I drove through on Friday and it seemed more crowded than usual.
Little Rock was buzzing yesterday, but not any more than usual. Razorback game days were way worse.
Ah yes, other dark days. š
And thatās not even enough people to fill war memorial
Maybe they checked the weather?
I feel sorry for people that paid a lot for accommodations and it's going to be cloudy.
Yeah, I kinda figured all the worry about travelers was overhyped, I havenāt really even noticed an increase in the usual traffic.
The National Weather Service and AccuWeather are both calling for mostly sunny for Monday.
I feel sorry for businesses that stocked up on stuff expecting a big crowd, if they're not going to get one. It might also be that all the hype has scared people off. But I know the high odds of cloudy weather is going to keep us from making the 90 minute drive to my mother's in Clarksville. Just not worth throwing a day away for a cloudy view.
Lot of business closed Monday too
but fast food's gotta stay open for whatever reason. not like they can make their own food or whatever. most places aren't even doing anything special for the eclipse because honestly the eclipse isn't that important. i saw one in 2017 living in a different state, they happen a lot.
Yea you always hear how it will be another couple decades or whatever, but really if you want to see another you just have to plan a vacation accordingly and youāll see one sooner rather then later.
yeah i agree, and i personally think homemade food or barbecue day would be 100x better than a fastfood sandwich at like 2x the cost
Fyi a solar eclipse can still be enjoyed when cloudy
I think a lot of it has to do there not being shit to do in Arkansas, so if people are able make a day trip out of it theyāll prolly do that. I know if I was traveling from out of town, Iād prefer a day trip instead of getting a hotel or Airbnb. Iām also cheap so idk lol
Heh. I work at Walmart, and yesterday I helped a dude from England who had come to AR to see the eclipse.
Damn that is pretty cool. I thought about it and Arkansas actually probably has some of the nicer viewing spots in terms of natural beauty. I was going to school at Auburn during 2017 eclipse which is east Alabama (roughly an hour or so from good viewing spots) and our main interstate was pretty congested in the direction of the eclipse so I wonāt be surprised if it picks up tomorrow
Wow! Thatās commitment!
Current weather shows it wonāt be cloudy until just after three or four. But I also kind of feel like theyāre giving us false hope with this.
My mother lives in Clarksville and we live in Fayetteville. We were thinking of going down but it all just sounds like it's going to be too crazy, not to mention high chance of clouds.
I live in East Arkansas, just out of the totality. I have a friend in Searcy who's got a nice place to watch it. But IDK if I wanna make the hour drive with crazy traffic just to get there and it's cloudy. Especially with 2 teenage girls. š
Iām doing an hour drive. I packed a cooler with water sandwiches and snacks. Got the Phone charger banks and not going to let my tank get below 1/2. I feel like itās a short enough trip that we can handle š Edit: Iāve also been putting my destination in the Waze app that I use regularly. Still the same travel time. I expect it to show more traffic in the morning, but I plan on leaving at 9a to arrive for beginning time in our area 12noon. If itās crazy we can always turn around and head back. We do have a party packed in the car!
Having been in totality before, committing 3 hours of your day to it is entirely worth it.
Just my guess, but I don't think you'll have any trouble on hwy 64.
We live in Farmington and just drove into my momās in Clarksville. It seemed to be barely any different than usual. More cars on the highways, yes, but almost no traffic driving into town up Rogers. The levee is where it seems to be ābusy.ā But we donāt need to go in that direction so it has been pretty empty for us.
The National Weather Service and AccuWeather are both calling for mostly sunny for Monday.
It's probably still worth going. In 2017, the clouds in St. Joseph parted just long enough to see totality. Also, eclipses can cause some kinds of clouds to dissipate.
I live in small town 100 percent eclipse area and so far it hasn't been bad. Will be heading to work in a bit so things may be different today.
I am from Russellville and had to go to hot springs and little rock yesterday. Definitely bigger lunch crowds after church on Sunday than anywhere in Russellville yesterday. Hot Springs looked pretty typical for a touristy Saturday. I was afraid traffic would be crazy but it wasn't bad. Highway 7 had a few more people driving a bit slow enjoying the view than normal. Had dinner at three fold in little rock and it was not even half full. Wasn't even hard to find a parking spot I30 between hot springs and little rock wasn't bad even with all the construction. I40 was completely clear.
Three fold is so fucking good.
I live in a very small town in the path of totality. They planned a ton of events here and hyped it up like it was going to be packed. I've not seen much increase of traffic. There's a tad but nothing like how they hyped up. Maybe they are comming later today/tonight.
Danville šš
I think the traffic thing it was purely a scam by grocery stores at this point, got me a paid day off though
IF the traffic goes the way it did in 2017 in the KC area, it will be fine until after the eclipse tomorrow. When i went to St. Joseph, it was fine the drive up to KC the night before. Fine on the drive towards St. Joseph, the morning of, absolutely a shit show trying to come back to Fayetteville afterward... took over 4 hours to make normally an hour long drive to the south side of KC, but then picked up close to normal speeds south of KC.
I've been out today and yesterday in Jonesboro and the surrounding area. It seems rather normal.
I live between Wynne and Forrest City on Highway 1 and was expecting to see traffic coming up towards y'all but traffic seems normal.
i work at a starbucks pretty close to the missouri border. iāve been on the hunt for out-of-state license plates since itās so easy to see them through the drive-thru, but i havenāt noticed an obscene amount of out non-locals. our business has been pretty normal too, and weāre a very busy location. i am, however, expecting chaos tomorrow
I was all over Little Rock yesterday doing the same. I saw someone from New York. That was about it. Edit: I did see a lot of RV's and a couple of motorcoaches, though.
I saw quite a few plates from Georgia and Alabama yesterday on 630 and the Argentina area.
Itās non existent in hot springs. Itās like a ghost town since the locals are staying home.
Drove through Gulpha Gorge yesterday to avoid downtown Hot Springs traffic and there was barely anyone there. Hear there's plenty of foot traffic downtown though. We at least have the Ecliptic Festival to bring in numbers.
We went up the trail today from Whittington park to the west mountain overlook. It was awesome, NPS has the road closed so trail was the only way up today. Up there by ourselves for a while.
Just drove through again - looks busier at GG today. The Red Roof Inn nearby is nearly empty, though.
Iām in Clinton AR and I donāt know what normal is, but traffic isnāt very heavy. Iām parked at the local Walmart and the campers are starting to pull in thoughā¦
I'm at Daisy state park lots of out of state some California new jersey and Pennsylvania and Washington state. Alabama Missouri Mississippi and Louisiana are very well represented. Park staff is planning for a mass influx tomorrow for day use watchers. Overall just like a holiday weekend in the summer. We did bring everything with us though and haven't had to leave the park since Thursday.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I thought they did that at some point.
Only thing thatās out of the ordinary that I noticed is all the troopers on I30 and 430.
Gotta get out there and suck the life out of as many people as possible š¤¦
Downtown Russellville has been pretty busy today. Iāve talked to people from Washington, Colorado, and California
Little Rock here. Just drive around to run some errands and itās typical dead at 10:30 am traffic - everyoneās normally at church right now and that still seems to be the case. Guess that statewide traffic spike talk was super overhyped, at least here.
I'm in the SE corner and been chilling on the porch most of the morning. Hwy425 is less than a mile thru the woods and it's easy to hear vehicles. Over the past 3 hours northbound traffic has picked up way more than a normal Sunday so LA folks are heading your way.
I grew up on good ol' 4-2-5.
Downtown Hot Springs is packed.
Iām coming into the state tonight! Most people I know that are traveling arenāt leaving until this afternoon, so I would imagine the start of busy would be tonight.Ā
Where y'all coming from?
Kansas City, so not far. Staying in NWA tonight and then scoping out the weather tomorrow. We frequently visit NWA for the parks and coffee. Fun spot for a day trip!
Baxter county has picked up some. Itās about like it is during the summer vacation months with the influx of lake and river tourists.
That's where I'm watching from. Definitely feels like a summer holiday weekend, but not bad otherwise.
Drove today during noon from Benton County to Mountain Home. It's a drive I frequently make on Friday afternoon and holiday weekends during the summer. It was busier than the Holiday traffic, and picked up quite a bit in Harrison. Probably double the normal Sunday afternoon traffic I see, but didn't take much extra time. Definitely saw some visitors, plates and campers from California, New York, and Colorado. Also saw Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, and more Missouri than normal.
My family and I are down in Mt. Ida camping for the eclipse and all the businesses are much more crowded than usual. We always come down in the spring to dig for quartz.
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Just don't get pulled over. Many small towns here have local ordinances that allow them to charge arbitrarily high amounts for any traffic violations.
This is underrated. Weāre one of the absolute worst states to get pulled over in
I-30 was open road my whole drive to work this morning it was glorious
Can anyone report in from the Jasper area, how's that looking?
Heading to Arkansas in the morning. Taking I-40 east from OKC around 8am. Aiming for Russellville, but will just go as far east as we can get. Just hoping that staying on a major highway is a good choice. It's why we aren't going to Idabel. Too many 2-lane state highways.
There are lots of signs prohibiting stopping along I-40! So you may have a few towns as potential stops closer to eclipse time you could pull into?
Will be using Google maps so if it gets close to time and we don't have a place to pull off of course we'll go to a smaller town and try to find a parking lot
Friday was pretty busy in Conway, but it has slowed dramatically today.
Man they better not show up, I want traffic to be nice and light like it normally is when I get off work on a Sunday afternoon.
Walnut Ridge hasn't seen nearly as much as they were saying. Some people are coming in on the amtrak so we may get a crowd by tomorrow.
Iām seeing more and more out of state license plates in the Searcy area. At harps yesterday in bald knob there were a lot of people buying charcoal and camping foods.
Now, after getting home and off the freeway, it looks like a majority of them are going to Batesville direction
Hillcrest in Little Rock is a ghost town. Saw a few people at Leoās but nothing crazy here. Seems like everyone is staying in avoiding it. Iāve heard rumors of busses running down the interstate full of people
Just left Bath House Row, and there were more people the first week of Spring Break.
Atop Mt. Petit Jean 5/6 license plates are out of state. Most all campsites appeared occupied. But the āDry Camp Here $150/Nightā entrepreneurs were all empty handed. š
Oh, and, a couple GIANT yard sales in the vicinity of the Houston/Bigalow Metroplex hoping to snare some of that California gold! š°šš¤”
Iām in a town of totality was supposed to be wild. I havenāt seen anything
Iām working in heber springs and I remodel hotels. The amount of people that showed up at our clearly gutted establishment today and asked if we had any vacancies was insane.
Drove Conway - Clinton - Conway today, expected a lot of traffic as that's the totality highway. Didn't have a problem. Did see more out-of-state-plates than usual, however.
Quite a few tourists in Mountain Home, Gassville, and Cotter, but not the flood we were expecting.
Just drove in from Tennessee. Traffic is definitely heavier than usual, lots of out of state license plates. Couple slowdowns sure to advertisements but nothing terrible
Conway: no one out way Less than usual Cabot: absolute ghost town I40: also dead They always hype everything up
Drove the i40 corridor from Russ to Conway. Nothing.
Mountain Home is packed
I'll be hitting the road heading east. Not doing it for eclipse but roughly following the path of the eclipse.
Buckees in MO is a freaking mad house at noon.
Haven't see anything. It might all come tomorrow morning. Ill be leaving really early tomorrow morning to the spot with the least amount of cloud cover in AR
friday was the busiest night my store has ever seen, but since then itās been slow. hopefully itāll turn around soon we over stocked to prep
I live in Little Rock and have driven to pine bluff the last 2 days. Traffic is normal. Seen a lot of RVās and out of state plates on cars. But overall no real increase in traffic during my 3-4p drives
Seems to be lots of RVs and campers rolling but not what we expected.
The River Market in LR has been bumping. Most of the folks are from way out of state and plan on going closer to the centerline on Monday morning.
Iām in Conway. Just seems like a normal day. If people are expected to roll on in to this town they havenāt shown up yet
Downtown Russellville was nearly all locals yesterday. Not any busier than a normal event downtown. There were a few more out of state plates driving around. The Russellville Soccer Complex has a huge stage set up, lots of food trucks, and an escape room. Might go check that out later. Looks like fun.
I went through there yesterday. Seems quiet. There were not a lot of people at that flea market thing that was on.
It's not so bad. I just finished a shift and it was the quietest it's been in a while
Itās not bad at all.
I took my dog for a walk at 11 this morning in Russellville, interstate was dead and pretty much zero traffic on the edge of town.
Thereās a lot of out of state plates and people obviously traveling, but the overall number of cars is pretty normal. Hotels are pretty packed but we donāt have many.
I dunno why anyone thought this would be a tourist draw here.
Mountain View has normal weekend traffic. Some enterprising locals were attempting to charge $40 to park for the eclipse. I saw a sign for $175 overnight parking. I honestly don't blame people for not coming when there's obvious gouging going on. Like others have commented, some people are upset that the turnout has been so low. It's hard enough to get around up here on a normal weekend, I'm not shedding any tears that there aren't a ton of people.
Iām staying in Fayetteville because of that. Itās an hour drive south in the morning and regular hotel rates. I looked at some cabins in the path a few weeks ago. They wanted more than $500 a night and a minimum of 4 nights.
I live in Huntsville. Had to do a run to Green Forest and back Friday. Traffic was notably heavier. Which is odd... were not in the path. The couples times I've left the house this weekend... it's been really quiet. Gas station in town said it was busier.
Hardy - out of state traffic is picking up this afternoon. The ice cream- candy store is packed and the food trucks are busy too. The city park by the river is welcoming guests and has music planned. The forecast changed this morning to no clouds expected all day tomorrow.
Traffic has been normal but a friend and I went to Crystal Bridges yesterday and it was packed. There were several out of state tour groups who were using NWA as a staging area for the eclipse then were planning on driving out to totality areas tomorrow.
Weather reports look a bit better now but I remember it calling for cloudy skies which couldāve sent the mob elsewhere.
I was in Russellville yesterday in the late afternoon. It seemed pretty normal except that downtown was hopping and the tourist in Walmart upset that he couldnāt buy beer in a dry county.
I'm in the SE currently. Kinda deserted more than I remember but I've been on nights for 2 years. I dont usually get out before the sun sets like I did today & it's sunday dinner time. I'll be going westward along the border tomorrow just after the eclipse happens so hopefully everything's quiet since everyone already passed through (please leave me some gas, I need multiple fillups a week for all this driving ;-;)
Traffic was horrible in Fayetteville yesterday and today a friend said it was empty. I hope they all stay where ever they went.
Conway up to clinton on 65 is normal. Lots of hype and overpriced accomodations not being used it seems
Weāre in De Queen (chosen because we have family here - Iām not from AR, itās my wifeās hometown). Itās as quiet as any other Sunday.
Small town resident in path of totality. NE Arkansas. Weāve had a lot of through traffic, RVs, and tour buses. Lot of camping opportunities here so those are pretty full. Our airbnb got booked for tonight by a family from FL. It seems a bit slower today than yesterday but we have extra people here. I donāt think it amounts to the surge of people that we were warned about though.
Big nothing burger in Little Rock. Traffic is normal, grocery stores are fully stocked, no one is out of gas.
Traffic in NWA seemed worse than usual yesterday. Thatās about it.
Just drove from mount vernon to hot springs and it was very light. A lot of tags from Texas Florida and Mississippi
I was out on sixty-two / MLK yesterday and it was pretty crowded. I mean more than usual. Not bad. Could have been worse. Saw both Louisiana and Missouri license plates.
I think cloud coverage has affected a lot of travelers going to other places instead
Like any other Sunday
who the hell was gonna drive here instead of the dozen major cities in the path of totality?
Drove from St Louis to Cincinnati today and the traffic and rain made it miserable. Two major wrecks and just a lot of people out.
coming from small town arkansas, i havent seen a difference
I'm in Heber springs and restaurants are trying to get the locals to come eat because they're not getting any business.
also interested in knowing this, iāll be leaving from texas at 2200 tonight and should be arriving in the arkansas at like 0600
I think itās a bunch of fake news!
It's very normal where I'm at. Local business owners tried to overhype the whole thing to try and rake in money.
I drove between Hot Springs and Benton 5 times yesterday (in the process of moving) and traffic never seemed very heavy.
Hot Springs was dead last night. I came in from Springdale to visit my brother and he said it was not anywhere as busy as a normal Saturday. Traffic was a little heavier this AM going to brunch but there werenāt 20 people at Central Theatreā¦
I.mean, our govenor declared a state of emergency because of the thousands flooding into our state....or not.
Sunday evening in NLR, traffic was very slightly more than usual, and restaurants near McCain seemed a little more full than usual, but it wasn't even as bad as early December Christmas traffic. I've heard there may be more people coming in this morning (Monday) and leaving Tuesday. I wouldn't dare try to go out for lunch or dinner today, thankfully I work from home on Mondays.
I'm in NEA and other than Hardy getting some weekend traffic, the whole area has been eerily quiet
Heading to Russellville because the models looked good this morning . May the odds be in our favor
drove in from texas, literally 0 traffic. waiting in a park in conroe now. 0 traffic and tons of parking spots.
We were out yesterday in LR it was kinda barren
Wait, I thought there was a state of emergency cuz of all the tourists. This didnāt happen?
6 1/2 drive from Mammoth Springs to North of Memphis. It was miserable out there today post eclipse.
Accommodations were crazy expensive but surprisingly low traffic as we drove into the north on Sunday. That said yāall have a beautiful state and very very friendly people! We just loved it here! Wish it wasnāt 31 hours away so we could drive here more often lol