The Eclipse and Coming Home

Eclipse Girls look cool in their glasses

During the six days before the eclipse, our campground, The Falls, filled up its few vacant spots.  Even being full, there were not more than 150 people in the two loops of the large campground so it didn’t feel crowded at all.  Everyone was excited and friendly – it was more like a family reunion at a Christening only we were all there to see the sun and moon’s show.  And what a show it turned out to be…

Brooks Lake Creek Falls at Falls Campground

the evening before the eclipse

There were worries even the day before that clouds would ruin the viewing. The weather totally kept us in suspense.  First, we had rain which did clear out the smoke but left lots of clouds.  Then we had a few days that started out cloudy but cleared in the afternoon, then the opposite situation occurred.  Then the smoke moved back in.  But on all six days before the eclipse, it was mostly cloudy from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm, about the time the eclipse would be happening. 

Is anything happening yet?

Some people were prepared to get up early and drive to a better viewing place if need be, but David and I had decided to take our chances where we were.  We did not want to be on the road trying to find a place to pull over at eclipse time.  Over the past week, we had made friends with many campers and it was decided that we all would set up our lawn chairs in a nearby meadow and view it together.  There was even an amateur astronomer in the campground and he had brought a telescope and computer to capture eclipse images.  We were ready for the show – if there was to be one.

Oh, no!  Maya forgot her eclipse glasses.

The morning of the eclipse dawned with a moderate cloud cover but we could see some blue sky.  At 7 am, it could have gone either way.  But by eight o’clock, the sky was getting bluer and we were all encouraged.  By ten o’clock, the sky was completely clear, I mean not a cloud.  We couldn’t believe it.  The whole 2 ½ weeks we were in Wyoming; the sky had not been this clear.  There was a slight haze with smoke from fires, but nothing that would interfere with our eclipse day.  How lucky were we!

The Chihuahuas forgot their glasses too.

No one in our little group had ever seen a total eclipse before and we were all just like kids in our excitement.  In fact, most of the kids in the campground were calmer than the adults, many of the younger ones riding their bikes until the actual darkness started. 

The show begins!

We even had music!

The whole viewing from start to finish was fantastic to see but once the moon covered the sun about half way, the lighting started to change more noticeably on the landscape around us.  I really enjoyed observing the differences in the lighting and thought about what a different world it would be if our sun was less bright or farther away.  Being in the mountains, the temperature dropped almost 20 degrees between no eclipse and total eclipse, so that was really ‘cool’ too – in every respect. 

Checking out the sun's corona through the telescope.

Totality on the computer screen.

Nothing prepares you for the experience of totality.  It really isn’t the same as watching it on TV.   A total eclipse is an emotional and humbling experience.  Cheers and even some tears happened at totality.  The two minutes and 19 seconds were over so quickly and the sun became more visible again.  Most of us hung out and watched until the sun once again filled the sky with no moon shadow remaining.

Anticipation...

We had a long drive to get back to Texas and not much time, so we left our campground shortly after the eclipse.  It was hard to say goodbye after sharing such a special experience but we got on the road around 2 pm expecting a 4-hour drive to Rawlins, Wyoming.  Wrong!  Neither one of us dreamed how many cars would be on the road after the eclipse.  It seems that many people came from Colorado and Utah just for the day and were hurrying home to get back to work.  Most of the highways in our area were two-lane rural Wyoming roads and not able to handle several thousand cars – especially when the roads went through the nearby small towns.  In Lander, we were stopped in traffic through downtown for over an hour and a half!  Lander is not very big at all – 7,665 people to be exact.  Most of the population of Lander lined main street taking pictures of all the cars going through their downtown.  I bet they had never seen a sight like that before.  I know I never had…

Downtown Lander, Wyoming after the eclipse.

We finally made it to Rawlins about 10 pm.  It took us almost 8 hours!  We just weren’t thinking about tons of cars on little country roads and small towns or we would have waited to leave until the following day.  Having avoided all the crowds in Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons and having such a small and intimate eclipse experience, we forgot that most everyone would try to leave at once.  So, until 2 pm, our day was perfect.  From about 4 pm on, it was a parking lot.  But I guess it was all part of the once-in-a-lifetime eclipse event.  (Although, I hear in 2024, there will be a total eclipse going from south to north and it will travel through central Texas.  See you there?)

Watching all the traffic on the streets of Lander

We took two more days to drive to Odessa and spent several days with my parents then arrived in Nacogdoches the day before school started.  First, we had no internet at the campground, then we were on the road about 10 hours a day for three days, then busy with my parents and finally starting classes this week so I am very tardy getting this blog posted. 

Near sunset about 50 miles from Rawlins, still hours away at less than 20 mph

We had such a beautiful summer on the road and the eclipse was a stunning finale. It was quite the celebration of our 40 years of marriage.  Also, it was nice to have Maya able to travel with us.  She will be 14 in December and we are treasuring what time we have left with her.  I still have photos and pictures to share of our last week in Wyoming – more hikes, wildflowers and the beginnings of fall color so I will get a blog or two posted in the next week.

Maya became good friends with Jax, a mini Australian Shepard, at our campground

Not to end on a down note, but Hurricane Harvey hit as we were driving to Nacogdoches.  We drove through some rain and have had a lot more since we arrived home.  The ground is saturated here but nothing at all compared to the coast.  Several of our neighbors have family from Houston, Beaumont and Port Arthur staying with them.  The magnitude of this hurricane has touched so many.  What an awful storm and with water still standing and even rising in some places, it isn’t over yet.