Friday, April 19, 2024
Barney and Homer.
So back in 2017 I saw the total eclipse in Wyoming. I convinced Matt to go with me to Texas to see it. He wanted to visit Marfa, an artsy town in western Texas, so on Friday the 5th we drove 8 hours there. West Texas is pretty empty, not a lot to see- ranch land, cattle, desert vegetation. We stayed at the Thunderbird Hotel ($667). That night we had a fancy dinner (the roasted yams were the best).
Matt and Homer at dinner.
The next day (Saturday the 6th) we wandered around Marfa, visiting a variety of stores. I bought some antique photos, one of which was a man named Homer. We had Dairy Queen for dessert.
Sunday the 7th we drove to Fort Davis National Historic Site. It was occupied twice between the 1850s and 1891. Lots of standing buildings. In one building they had done archaeology and strangely enough my co-worker Jenny just finished analyzing the bone from that dig. I thought the signs and furnished rooms were great.
Matt at Fort Davis.
We then drove to Alpine for lunch. Had a misunderstanding. Afterward we went downtown Alpine and parked next to a really nice book store. I bought a cookie cookbook. When we came out, the battery was dead.Luckily, there was an O'Reilly's 700 feet away. So we walked there got a new battery and then I walked back and forth to collect the right tools. Finally got the new battery installed ($235). We then went to a saddle and western horse gear store. I counted 23 stuffed heads. I also saw this mounted set of artifacts.
Arrows in the shape of an arrow.
We drove back to Marfa and then went along the highway to see Prada Marfa, a strange tourist attraction.
Prada Marfa.
The next morning, Monday the 8th, we drove east to get to the totality zone. It was four hours away and we planned to go to a little town whose name I cannot remember (Brackettville). We drove past the Comstock Border Patrol Station and the car started acting up, slowing down, black smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Moments of indecision, should we drive back? We started too but it got worse. We turned around and stopped at the station and called a tow truck ($275). Luckily there was a Hyundai dealership in Del Rio, about thirty miles to the east.
WTF.
The dealership said they could fix it. We walked to a horrible restaurant for lunch. As we finished the eclipse started, but it was very cloudy. We walked back to the dealership and sat in the parking lot.
Watching.
Occasionally we could see something through the clouds. Then it became darker. During the totality you could see light at the horizon. The night light came on at the dealership. It was a mediocre experience.
