LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With the total solar eclipse just days away, hotel parking lots in southern Indiana are empty. But that's about to change, and quickly, as travelers descend on the state for the celestial event.

Jake Perry loaded up the family RV Friday morning and headed north out of Alabama towards the path of totality. It's not a last-minute trip for Perry, who said it's part educational — his two sons are homeschooled — and part family vacation.

"We are learning as we are going," he said. 

Perry said he and his wife started planning a year ago. Initially, they expected to go west toward Arkansas or Texas.

"And all of the states that were close to driving distance were already booked," he said.

So he let his fingers do the walking along the path of the eclipse. Several hundred miles later, he found a space.

"And I just kept traveling up the map and and Indianapolis is the one," Perry said.

The city of Seymour is expecting 100,000 people to gather for the eclipse. Almost every hotel room in and around town is spoken for. Friday night, the crowds were slowly making their way into town.

"We have not noticed much yet," John Watson, assistant chief at the Seymour Police Department, said. "I have seen a few campers come through town, heading west."

Perry isn't one of those campers. The closest campsite he could find is in Indianapolis, and he said he's willing to take anything just to be in the right place at the right time.

"Well, we had one in Alabama in 2017, but it wasn't a total eclipse. This will be our first total eclipse," he said.

It's an effort he expects will be worth it.

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