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Oregon feels the calm before totality

Prelude to eclipse
Clouds partially obscure the sun over Oregon Solarfest in Madras, Ore., precisely 24 hours in advance of Monday’s total solar eclipse. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

MADRAS, Ore. – Traffic to Oregon’s total eclipse zone has been surprisingly light over the past couple of days, but officials say they’re not out of the woods yet.

The traffic flow to Salem and Corvallis on the west side of the Cascades, and to Madras and points eastward on the dry side of the mountains, has been “very manageable,” Lou Torres, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation, told GeekWire today.

“We do anticipate that it’ll pick up later this afternoon, and into tonight and Monday morning,” he said.

After Torres spoke, Oregon DOT and the Oregon State Police reported slowdowns on Highway 97 between Redmond and Madras. Tripcheck.com’s traffic flow map showed troublesome red spots, and traffic through downtown Madras was bumper-to-bumper.

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Last-minute guide to the total solar eclipse

Traffic in Oregon
Cars are lined up on Highway 26 heading east from Prineville, Ore., several days before the total solar eclipse. (Ochoco National Forest Photo)

It’s prime time at last for the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse, America’s first coast-to-coast dose of totality in 99 years.

Maybe you’re a veteran eclipse-chaser who’s been preparing for this since 1979, the last time a total eclipse was visible from the mainland U.S. Or maybe you’re a newbie who just heard that the moon is going to cover the sun.

Either way, it’s not too late to enjoy the eclipse, whether you’re planning to get within the 70-mile-wide path of totality or stay at home. But you do have to be prepared, especially if you haven’t done any planning until now.

The bad news is that traffic and accommodations are already getting jammed up, and viewing equipment is in vanishingly short supply. The good news is that it takes as little as two pieces of paper and a pin to get a good look at the partial solar eclipse.

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How to get into (or get away from) Seafair

Oh Boy! Oberto
The U-16 Oh Boy! Oberto hydroplane raceboat is ready to compete in the Albert Lee Appliance Seafair Cup on Lake Washington this weekend. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Wouldn’t you know it? The streams of smoke wafting south from wildfires in British Columbia are turning the skies a Seattle shade of gray as we head into Seafair Weekend, one of the region’s biggest summer festivals.

The haze could have an impact on the Blue Angels’ aerial demonstration, but if you’re a fan of loud planes and loud boats, there’ll be plenty of both.

And if you’re not a fan, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy somewhat quieter pursuits. Here’s a six-point guide to Seafair Weekend:

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Oregon braces for eclipse’s agony and ecstasy

Mount Jefferson
Oregon’s Mount Jefferson looms on the western horizon outside Madras. The fields on either side of the blacktop road will be turned into a “Solartown” campground for 4,900 tents during the runup to the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

MADRAS, Ore. – If there’s one thing central Oregon has in abundance, it’s open space. And that’s a good thing for the total solar eclipse that’s due to sweep through the region on Aug. 21.

Even though hotel rooms are sold out anywhere that’s even near the 70-mile-wide zone of totality running across the state, there’s still a good chance of finding an enterprising landowner who’ll rent you a camping spot.

But if there’s one thing central Oregon doesn’t have a whole lot of, it’s four-lane highways.

That’s likely to be an issue for the hundreds of thousands of eclipse-chasers who are expected to swarm into towns like Madras, Prineville, Mitchell and John Day. Or maybe not.

“The bad thing about it is that nobody knows how bad it’s going to get,” said Terry Hansen, park host for Round Butte Overlook Park, just west of Madras.

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Startups make a splash in Airport Shark Tank

Sleepbox
Sleepbox has been field-tested in Moscow. (Sleepbox / Arch Group Photo / Ilya Ivanov)

A stealthy company that’s been collecting data from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s baggage handling operation for the past 10 months has won this year’s Airport Shark Tank competition.

And so has a Boston company that builds booth-sized pods for travelers looking for a private place to work or chill out.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Alitheon and Boston-based Sleepbox shared the honors in the July 13 startup contest, which was inspired by the “Shark Tank” TV show and organized by the American Association of Airport Executives to cap off its third annual Airport Innovation Forum.

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Will HoloLens put travelers into mixed reality?

HoloLens on flight attendant
An Air New Zealand flight attendant tries out the HoloLens headset. (Air New Zealand via YouTube)

Imagine a world where headset-wearing flight attendants can instantly know how you’re feeling based on a computer analysis of your facial expression.

Actually, you don’t need to imagine: That world is already in beta, thanks to Air New Zealand, Dimension Data and Microsoft HoloLens.

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Alaska Airlines will chase total solar eclipse

Total solar eclipse
The black disk of a total solar eclipse hangs over the clouds during an Alaska Airlines flight in 2016. Passengers on an August flight should see a similar sight. (Robert Stephens via YouTube)

Alaska Airlines has scheduled a flight from Portland to chase views of the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse over the clouds, but you can’t book a seat online.

The charter flight, due for a 7:30 a.m. PT takeoff on eclipse day, will be open by invitation only to astronomy enthusiasts and other VIPs. Except for two seats. Those seats will be given away in a social-media contest scheduled to begin on July 21, one month before the eclipse.

The Aug. 21 adventure follows up on a more impromptu eclipse-chasing trip on March 8, 2016, when Alaska changed the takeoff time for a previously scheduled Anchorage-to-Honolulu flight to let passengers see a total solar eclipse over the Pacific.

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Want to fly like a CEO? Rent this plane

Dining on Dream Jet
You can dine in elegance on Deer Jet’s Dream Jet. (GeekWire Photo / Chelsey Ballarte)

Now anybody can fly like a VIP: All you have to do to take Deer Jet’s super-elegant 787 Dreamliner for a ride is fork over $70,000 an hour.

Just don’t call it luxury travel.

“This plane is not ‘luxurious,’ The philosophy for the design is natural. … It’s to make you feel very comfortable, so you can save your energy and you can do your job better,” Frank Fang, vice president of China-based Deer Jet, told GeekWire during a tour of the plane, which was sitting in front of Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

“It’s just a little bit expensive,” Fang added with a smile.

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Alaska Airlines plans flights from Everett

Paine Field passenger terminal
An artist’s conception shows the passenger terminal that’s planned for Everett’s Paine Field. (Propeller Airports Illustration)

Bugged by I-5 traffic to Sea-Tac? Alaska Airlines is promising a work-around: The Seattle-based airline says it will start running regularly scheduled passenger flights out of Everett’s Paine Field starting next year.

“As our region continues to grow at a record pace, and Sea-Tac Airport nears capacity, the time is right to bring air service to our valued guests living in the North Sound,” Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden said today in a news release. “Today’s news means less time stuck in traffic on Interstate 5 and more time enjoying your vacation or making the most of your business trip.”

Alaska said it would offer nine daily flights from Paine Field, using Boeing 737s and Embraer 175 regional jets, subject to government approvals.

“We’re not quite ready to share details of the routes,” John Kirby, Alaska’s vice president of capacity planning, said in an airline blog posting. “But I can tell you they won’t be limited to short, regional flights. We’re talking daily, nonstop flights to some of our most popular destinations.”

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Eclipse campsites sell out in 90 minutes

To accommodate overwhelming demand, Oregon state park officials freed up 1,000 campsites today for folks wanting to see a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. They didn’t last long. The extra spots were made available for reservations at 8 a.m. – and by 9:25 a.m., they were sold out.

Get the news brief on GeekWire.