We left McKinney Falls State Park around 11:45 am on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Check out time is noon but we were only driving 70-something miles to Potter’s Creek and check-in there was not until 3 pm. And they are very strict about it. No early check-ins, even if your site is empty. So we drove to New Braunfels, enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Taco Bell, bought groceries and then drove to Canyon Lake after using our excess time productively.
We stayed at Potter’s Creek last year but in a different loop. Our site was nicely level asphalt and even had an extra driveway for Voyager, as well as 50 amp power and potable water. The picnic table is on a slab of concrete and covered to provide shelter. Sites are spaced nicely apart, just wish they had some shrubs or trees to offer a little more separation. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile all had good signal strength. Canyon Lake’s water level was even lower than it was a year ago.
Eclipse Planning
We started planning this portion of our trip two years ago because we wanted to be in a location where the weather had a good chance of being decent and was in the path of the solar eclipse totality on Monday, April 8th. We already had our special glasses and I had also purchased some solar filters for our iPhones so we could photograph the eclipse.
The campground was busy when we arrived a little after 3pm and there were lots of kids so it seemed like it might be Spring Break for kids in this district or they just had a long break for Easter weekend.
Wedding Anniversary and Easter
Saturday, March 30th marked our 27th wedding anniversary. From my point of view, I have no idea how or why Cindy has managed to stay with me that long, but I am eternally grateful that she has. I took her to a nice Italian restaurant in nearby Canyon Lake for dinner. Any other celebrations we had are none of your business, lol!
Sunday was, of course, Easter Sunday. Cindy awoke to an Easter Basket full of goodies and card from the Easter Bunny.
The rest of the week was spent walking around the different loops (one major drawback of this campground is the lack of trails for hiking), running errands and otherwise taking it easy. Cindy saw a herd of about 15 deer most days in the early morning and evening as they grazed among the trees. One day on our walk we saw a feral Siamese cat in an open field and another day we saw a feral Calico cat walking along the edge of the road and into the woods. We were able to get a photo of that one. We also walked down to where the beach used to be. With the lake level so low, the former beach was just dry dirt and scrub grass for several hundred feet down to the new waterline. Boat ramps were closed because they just ended in dirt.
And constantly watching the weather forecasts, which more and more predicted cloudiness on the day of the total eclipse. We did everything we could do as far as planning for the best place to be near our overall route. Now we were at the mercy of Mother Nature as far as being able to clearly view it.
Eclipse Day
Monday, April 8th was the day we’d planned two years for. Most of the morning was cloudy, but around the time the eclipse began (a little after noon for us) there were patches of clearing sky around the sun. During the main part of the eclipse (1:36 pm was the time of totality for us) clouds would obscure the sun and then there were little bits of clearance. Off and on right up until the totality where, unfortunately for us, clouds covered the eclipse. We did, of course, fall under almost complete darkness in spite of the clouds. It was really weird to see our automatic lights and those of the park’s restroom building come on and for it to be almost like twilight in the middle of the day. Everything was eerily quiet. The park was full of campers like us, as expected, and it was fascinating to look around and, for as far as we could see during the darkening event, observe everyone outside sitting in chairs or standing in their site with their gaze turned toward the sky.
As well as knowing that tens of millions of other people in the path of totality were doing the same. And that other tens of millions were watching even the partial eclipse that their location afforded them. I read afterward that Internet usage dropped precipitously during the 4 1/2 minutes of totality. It seems everyone logged off and looked up.
We won’t see another total eclipse in the U.S. for another 20 years, so for many people this would be the last chance in their lifetime to see such an event in our country.
I know that Cindy and I won’t forget this (probably) last opportunity for us to witness this kind of astronomical occurrence together. We loved being able to share the experience during this trip.
A few days later Thursday rolled around and it was time to move on to our next stop, which would turn out to be a first for us!
Thanks for following The Wandering Wetheringtons.
Pingback: Davis Mountains State Park in Fort Davis, Texas April 11-18