Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 1, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon
“Eclipse” - Pink Floyd
The seeds of this thirty-six night trip began well over a year and a half ago. I was just starting to hear that there would be a total solar eclipse on April 8 so I did a little research and determined that Kerrville, Texas would be a good place to see it. I even looked into where to stay in the Navibahn but then I just kind’ve sat on the idea and took no action. Then around early April of last year, I saw a Facebook post from a woman in my View/Navion group inquiring if anyone was considering going somewhere to see the eclipse. It turned out that Terri lived quite close to us so we began formulating plans to get to Texas, which seemed to be the best state along the path of totality to see it. Terri had bigger visions and before you could say administrative prowess, she had taken the bull by the longhorns and turned it into a rally for View/Navion owners. She did most of the planning and I pitched in where needed as we developed the plan. A lot of places were already booked up solid and others were charging astronomical (pun intended) prices. We ended up finding the San Gabriel River Brewery in Liberty Hill, Texas, which is just northwest of Austin. Terri created a rally page and very quickly we had thirty-five View/Navions from all over the country signed up.
Fast-forward to April 1 of this year. The Wagon Train To Texas pulled out of Lake Stevens, taking five nights to get to our eclipse site. The wagon train included our good friends Bob and Dana, their daughter Megan and her one year old son Logan. We also had Yaz and Kazue, who live in the Redmond area. There’s not a ton to say about the drive down. For those interested, here’s the basic stats:
Day 1: 385 miles to Baker City, OR. Stayed at A Frame RV Park. Been several times.
Day 2: 512 miles to Springville, UT. Free stay at the Springville Cracker Barrel parking lot.
Day 3: 369 miles to Farmington, NM. Stayed for free at the Northern Edge Casino parking lot.
Day 4: 380 miles to Roswell, NM. Stayed at Trailer Village RV Park.
Day 5: 383 miles to Brady, TX. Stayed at Heart of Texas RV Park.
Day 6: 106 miles to Liberty Hill, TX and the San Gabriel River Brewery.
The Wagon Train To Texas
Bridgit at Wilson Arch just past Moab on our way to Farmington
We just happened to bump into Taylor Swift in Roswell, New Mexico. That’s Travis Kelce in the background giving us the evil eye.
The rally was a three night package so we had plenty of time to meet all the other folks that signed up. We were one of the first few rigs to arrive. The brewery had a big field on the property and we all just parked in rows. It turned out to be the perfect place to stay. The hosts were very gracious, bringing in bands every day, allowing us use of the patio for meals and they even brought in a Texas BBQ truck one of the days.
Bridgit and I had never been to any kind of rally before and we had a blast. People came from all over the country. We had folks from California, Florida, Alaska, New York and as ZZ Top would say, “And all points in between”. As a really special treat, I had contacted an old dear friend of Bridgit’s whom she had lost touch with after high school and only recently re-connected with on Facebook. Deena and her husband Michael live in Florida and when I heard they also had a Navion, I invited them to meet us at the rally. We didn’t tell Bridgit about this so when a knock came on the door of our rig and Bridgit opened it to see Deena standing there, the look on her face was priceless. They hadn’t seen each other in over forty years!
Deena and Bridgit
Jon and Terri
Jon and Yaz
The rally site at the San Gabriel River Brewery. Photo courtesy of Yaz.
The day before the eclipse the weather was gorgeous. Bridgit’s brother Michael showed up from Dallas to stay overnight with us. Another old friend, Molly, arrived with her husband in their Navion. I had only seen her once in the last forty or so years. After dinner, Deena’s husband Michael, who brought his bass and a small amp and I played on the stage by the patio for a couple of hours.
The forecast for the eclipse day had been bleak for the week leading up to the event. Our area called for heavy clouds and 40% chance for rain. People who had driven thousands of miles to see this were already mentally preparing for the worst. Over and over, people were saying “Well, this rally has been so fun that even if we don’t see anything it was still so worth it”. And while that was certainly true, every one of them were probably back inside their rigs spouting words of disappointment that you don’t hear on TV. I hung on to a ray of hope. I had read an article about eclipses in general that said sometimes when there are clouds, as the moon begins to block the sun it changes the atmospheric conditions and the clouds can dissipate. But these clouds were pretty thick and the prospect of seeing the eclipse looked grim indeed.
Still, everyone gathered in the meadow with their eclipse glasses. Some including myself had DSLR cameras with solar filters screwed on to their lenses. Meanwhile, another dear friend who we know from Colorado had flown to San Antonio to her sister’s place and drove up to watch the eclipse with us. I also didn’t tell Bridgit that Candice was coming so it was another great surprise when she popped in.
At twleve-thirty the moon began its journey across the sun. It was so cloudy that we would occasionally catch a three to five second glimpse of the moon creeping in front of the sun. Everyone would go “Ooh” at these moments, only to go “Oh” as the view was once again obscured by clouds. As totality approached, the sky grew darker and darker. Just before one-thirty, just as the article had predicted, the cloud cover just dissolved in only a minute or two. The crowd cheered as we now had a full view of the sun, almost completely blocked by the moon. And then everything just fell into place exactly as we had all hoped for. As the moon moved into totality, it was as if the sky just sucked all the remaining light out of the sky and we were enveloped in an eerie darkness. For roughly the next four minutes, everyone removed their glasses and just marveled at the spectacle. First we had “the diamond ring” where the sun was completely covered except for one tiny spot of brilliance right on one edge. Then the diamond ring disappeared and there it was - complete totality! The glow of the sun shimmered around the black moon. Tiny beads of pink could be seen along the edge of the moon. These were called solar prominences and it is basically solar flares rising from the surface of the sun. The eclipse was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was very moving in a spiritual way. Some even cried at the sight. It was truly remarkable.
From a photographic standpoint, I had a less than stellar time. First of all, with all the clouds it was difficult to even focus on the sun. I switched to manual focus. It was also almost straight overhead so it was a tough angle to shoot. Settings had to be constantly changed to account for the in and out clouds, the darkening sky and then the complete change during totality when I took off my solar filter. In addition, I wanted to be sure to allow part of my precious four minutes of totality to simply appreciate the experience without the intrusion of trying to photograph it.
The bottom line is that I didn’t have much success with my camera. I got a few decent shots but I saw a ton of much better results all over the internet. C’est la vie.
Jammin’!
Preparing for totality
A break in the clouds
Getting close but still cloudy
Totality!
As wonderful a group of people as we’ve ever met!
Part of the rally group. Photo courtesy of Yaz.
After the eclipse, there was a big sense of finality. I had to take a nap. Some people left that day but we stayed the final night. In the morning, everyone said their goodbyes and headed off to various locations. Some went home, others to continue their vacations. Bob and Dana headed for Missouri, Michael went home to Dallas, Deena and Michael back to Florida, Yaz and Kazue to continue their vacation. That left us by ourselves for the first time on the trip. We headed west towards Fredericksburg for a two night stay so we could see some of the famous Texas hill country which happened to be in full bloom. Along the way we stopped into the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls for breakfast and to pick up two of their nationally famous pies, one peach and one cherry. We were expecting six other rigs to join us in the campground in Fredericksburg but one by one they all cancelled so it turned to be just us and two big pies at the Lady Bird Memorial Park. We set up camp and then took the Jeep in to Fredericksburg so Bridgit could check out the shops. We also found a nice outdoor patio and had a couple of margaritas. It felt good to just relax and be on our own, knowing that the activity meter would ramp up quickly. That night we barely dodged a bullet. The weather got really nasty. Severe wind and severe rain and thunderstorms came through. We even made a tornado plan to head for the cement restrooms which would be a lot better than being in the Navibahn should we get hit. We managed to get through the night just fine but just fifty-five miles away in Marble Falls where we had eaten breakfast they had tennis ball sized hail and it did major damage all over town.
The next morning was much improved so we got an early start to see some of the famous hill country. Starting off, we took a drive known as the Willow City loop. A lot of the great flowers were right along State Highway 16 but there were very few places to pull over. Once off of 16 we drove a paved country road through farms and ranches until it looped back around to the same highway.
Willow City Loop
Along Highway 16
Willow City Loop
Once back on 16 we headed further north and then came down 965 to Enchanted Rock State Park. This was an interesting stop. Enchanted Rock is the largest pink granite monadnock in the United States. It rises above the hill country four hundred fifty feet to a maximum elevation of 1,825’, providing a commanding view in every direction of the hill country.
It was a bit chilly and pretty windy but we decided as long as we were here to climb to the top. There were plenty of other people there so unlike a lot of our hikes, we didn’t get a sense that we were the first ones to explore this area. The hike up is a short 1.3 miles round trip but we wandered around the top for a bit before the wind forced us to head back to the Jeep. Back at the Navibahn, it was time to set our sights on the next leg of our long journey. The Wagon Train To Texas and the eclipse had been wonderful, but now we felt like the real adventuring was about to begin.
Enchanted Rock State Park
Enchanted Rock State Park
Enchanted Rock State Park