I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast with the other group members.  Everyone was talking about the weather and hoping it would improve.  Guess what--IT DID IMPROVE!  Just after breakfast we began to see breaks in the clouds and then brief periods of sunshine.  Perhaps we had a chance? I hurriedly completed my last minute packing, and barely made the bus for the 8 a.m. departure—I was the last one on the bus.  If I had missed the bus, I would not have missed totality as the Heviz Hotel, while not on the centerline would still get about 1 ¾ minutes of totality.  Shortly thereafter, the bus left for the 90-minute ride north and east to the Marina Hotel on the eclipse centerline--everyone was quite anxious.  As we rode along, the weather situation gradually improved.  No more rain was encountered, and sunshine became more the rule than the exception.  Still we did see large thick cloudbanks in the area, along with some high cloudiness that could obscure the view, but overall the situation was certainly more encouraging than when I awoke that morning.  During the ride, we could see numerous campgrounds filled with tents, parked vehicles with folks who stayed overnight sleeping inside, and a few telescopes with solar filters could be seen set up.

We arrived at the Marina Hotel in Balatonfüred around 9:30 am, quicker than expected, and there was less than two hours until first contact.  We expected more traffic on E-day but it was very light.  Upon arrival, I took a look at the sky and estimated that there was about 20-25% scattered cloud in the area.  There was a mixture of some high thin cloud and some thick cumulus clouds--still dicey for eclipse viewing but better than the rain we were having three hours earlier. Now was the time to decide between a site on the grass or up on the hotel balcony.  While the ground would offer maximum stability, I opted for a third floor hotel balcony.  It offered me a good view to the west to see the oncoming lunar shadow, a view to the east to see the shadow crossing Lake Balaton, and a nice horizon view to the south.  The hotel staff was also able to provide me with electricity so I could plug in my laptop and camcorder.  It turned out no one else from the ATMoB group joined me up there.  They had ample room in a nice grassed area below me.  However, I did have plenty of native company on the balcony--the hotel staff.