Opposition was near the east coast of South America, and South America is east of North America - I would have thought the US west coast too far around the curve of the Earth to see the start of the eclipse.
This was a good one, a bit to the east of most of the US, so people got to see it at a reasonable hour of the evening.
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"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock