Last minute total solar eclipse preps in Bay Area as April 8 nears

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The countdown is on as the rare total solar eclipse is just days away, and although the Bay Area is missing out on totality, there's no shortage of excitement for Monday's event.

"It's like a once in a lifetime opportunity - it's like very special, very special," said Leigh Golimlim, a Daly City resident who made the trip up to San Francisco's Exploratorium, where eclipse glasses are going fast.

"People come in and search around with their eyes and I know right away they're searching for eclipse glasses," said Marco Varas De Valdes with the Exploratorium. "I know that a lot of their concerns are making sure they're getting glasses that are actually safe and up to standard code. And if you look at the glasses, we actually have specifications printed on the side."

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This will be the last chance to see a total eclipse from the U.S. for quite some time; the next one isn't expected until 2044.

"Hearing that it's 20 years until the next one, you definitely don't want to miss that," said William Angeles, Daly City resident.

"I was thinking of skipping school, but I realized it was going to happen sometime in the morning between 10 and 12, and that's before my class," said Golimlim. "I'm just very excited."

"We're actually looking up spots to check out where to go and what's the best place to see the eclipse," added Angeles.

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And, some people are putting themselves right down the path of totality, spanning the U.S. from Texas all the way to Maine, plunging areas along that path into darkness for about four minutes.

"We used to live in the Bay Area and are here to visit friends and we're on our way to Columbus, Ohio to see the solar eclipse where his family lives, my husbands," said Jessica Ciufo, Hawaii resident.

The couple wants their 3-year-old daughter to have what's expected to be one the best views of the eclipse.

"I think I just want her to be excited about the world that we live in. and aware that there's something beyond the sky that we see." said Ciufo.

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