Flying into the sun: Experts view eclipse from 38,000 feet
SALEM, Oregon (AP) — With just hours to go before a total solar eclipse would reach the Oregon coast, people were streaming into the fairgrounds in Salem to view the spectacle Monday morning.
The sound of Taiko drummers, part of a pre-eclipse show at the fairgrounds, filled the air. Less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) north in Portland, Oregon, eclipse experts, contest winners, an astronaut and journalists boarded an Alaska Airlines charter flight due to fly two hours southwest to intercept the eclipse about 10 a.m. PDT.
Meanwhile thousands of eclipse tourists gathered in the tiny town of Weiser, Idaho. Among them was Agnese Zalcmane who traveled to the western U.S.