Celestial Magic!

 

The total solar eclipse. April 8, 2024.
Taken from Stillhouse Hollow Lake, TX.

Spoiler alert: Murphy tried and failed to foil our plans for the eclipse! It was touch and go for a bit, but we persevered, and it was incredible.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, on Sunday, 4/7, the weather was perfect for taking the pontoon out onto Stillhouse Hollow Lake. After their very challenging week, Randi and Jose opted for a leisurely morning and we headed to boat ramp around noon. Jose’s parents opted to stay at the hotel to rest and meet us later for dinner.  

Now I want to give Randi some serious props. Launching that ginormous pontoon boat is an acquired skill and both she and Jose are still climbing the learning curve. With the water levels so low, the boat ramp was steeply pitched and at least 40 yards long. Randi opted to back the boat and trailer down the ramp, while Jose handled getting the boat off the trailer once they were in the water. Girlfriend backed that monster like a boss! Speaking from experience, (I cannot back anything in a straight line to save my life) that is no easy task.

Backin' it like a boss, you go girl!

Another consequence of the low water levels, the pier was high and dry. Which meant there was no easy way on/off the boat and no way we could bring the pups along. We launched with Jose, Rog and I, and Bob and Carole in the boat. Jose backed off the trailer and then pulled in close to shore. Once Randi had parked the truck and trailer, she had to hike back down the ramp, wade to the boat, and scramble aboard.  Finally, we were ready to roll and Captain Jose took us around the lake.

Perfect day on the lake.

See all those smiles?

We were having a great time. The boat is huge (16-person capacity!) and went a lot faster than I expected. Until it didn’t. We were in the middle of the lake when we lost all forward thrust. WTH? Jose raised and lowered the outboard and it worked fine…for a minute. After a little troubleshooting they figured it may be the liner in the propellor shaft. It’s a sacrificial plastic piece designed to protect the shaft/gears if the propellor hits something hard. But we hadn’t hit anything. Hmmm. Lucky for us Bob has been a boat owner for many years and was able to pull the prop and confirm that indeed the liner was shredded. Double lucky for us, Jose had a spare! Triple lucky for us, the guys were able to replace the piece and after about a half hour we were back cruising the lake. Take that Murphy!!  

Emergency repairs were successfully completed! Yay!

We had a grand afternoon on the water and then Randi did her boss move again, backing down the ramp so Jose could drive the boat up onto the trailer. They make a great team. When we got back to the campsite, Jose’s parents were waiting. They had brought a feast and prepared linguica, a spicy Portuguese sausage, and carne asada. Jose's Mom also gifted us a mountain of delicious homemade tamales and our own stash of linquica sausage. The RV freezer and fridge are stuffed and we will eat like kings for weeks. What a treat!

Loading Lola back onto the trailer.
Randi and Jose make a great team.

Randi pulls her up the boat ramp.

After a fantastic meal, we had a campfire and smores for dessert. 

A lovely sunset on Stillhouse Hollow Lake.

Monday, 4/8, was the big event we had all been waiting for – the total solar eclipse. The day started off cloudy but with enough patches of blue sky to give us hope. We were all on the water by noon. Totality would begin at 1:38 pm and last 3 minutes and 46 seconds. But totality is just the highlight, what was surprising is how long the entire process takes - 2 hours and 41 minutes!

I see some blue sky!

The Captain and First Mate. 

We all got eclipse t-shirts, but Randi's was my favorite!

It was amazing to watch as the moon’s shadow slowly ate away at the sun. There was still quite a bit of cloud cover so Jose would watch for patches of sunlight on the water and navigate to those spots so we could see. Smart guy! While Jose tried to dodge the worst of the clouds, I tried to get pictures. Overall, it wasn't too bad considering my primary equipment was a cell phone with a taped-on filter, shooting from a moving boat. Lol. During totality, I grabbed my compact travel camera - no filter needed!

Bob and Carole enjoy the show.

Rog finds a quiet spot to stare at the sun.

The clouds added dramatic atmoshpere.

Jose navigated to a sunny spot and stopped to enjoy the view.

The entire process is celestial magic. Midday turned to deep dusk as the moon completely covered the sun, casting a shadow 115 miles wide over the land. Although totality is a little eerie, it is an experience not to be missed! You can remove the special eclipse glasses and safely stare directly at the sun. It was also the four minutes when we had the worst cloud cover, giving us only intermittent glimpses of totality. Still, it was super cool. Rog decided to take a dunk in the lake during totality to commemorate the event. I passed on that portion of the celebration. Lol.

As we near totality the clouds acted as filter.

Totality.
Midday turns to deep dusk as shadows cover the land.

Rog takes a celebratory dip in the lake.

Did you know that the eclipse can also effect on the weather? The temperature drops, clouds disappear, relative humidity increases, winds change, and the upper atmosphere is disturbed. We saw the temperature drop about 10° and all the clouds dissipated – so we had totally clear skies shortly after totality. Talk about timing. Ugh.

What do you think, with or without the shades? Lol

Given the potentially disastrous weather forecasts, we were pretty pleased with how everything turned out. It was fantastic to share such a memorable experience with friends and family. I was a little disappointed with the clouds that interfered with getting a clear shot of totality. So to show you what it looks like, here are two pictures of totality that I took during the 2017 solar eclipse. Rog and I drove to Oregon to see it and we were so awestruck we determined right then that we’d see the 2024 eclipse. Our next one? There aren’t any in the USA until August 2044, but there is one in Namibia in November 2030…just saying. 😉

Totality.
Clear skies in 2017.

Totality 2017.
Such a cool picture!

Yeah, we could do this again. 
Namibia? 2030? I'm game!

Shortly after totality we made our way back to the boat ramp. The local sheriff and fire department were both on hand and had warned us that there was a possibility of severe weather later in the day. We got the boat loaded up and headed back to the campground for a bbq.

It was an incredible day, but tiring too.

Riding back to the campground in style!

We fired up the grill and had hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled corn. Jose’s mom showed us how to make elote (Mexican street corn). After grilling the corn in its husk, you strip the husk back and lightly char it. Rub the corn with lemon, butter it, lightly spread with mayo and sprinkle liberally with grated cotija cheese and then season with chile powder to taste. Delicious!!

We were supposed to have some of our favorite key lime pie for dessert, but we had barely finished eating when it started to rain. We quickly cleared the picnic table and called the day a success.

Enjoying good food and good company, until the rains came.

To avoid eclipse traffic, we were all staying Monday night and heading our separate ways Tuesday morning. Those plans were nearly derailed when the severe weather arrived with a vengeance Tuesday morning. A huge storm cell moved across us with lightning, thunder, and torrential rain. We just do not get storms like that in the PNW. It was like a fire hose was aimed at us! I ran the garbage up to the dumpster and then was stuck for a good 15-20 minutes under the eaves of an outbuilding because the lightning was striking so close and so fast it wasn’t safe to leave shelter. I loved watching the storm, but when I finally did make a run for it, I was soaked to the skin in seconds!

No blue skies today!

Riley dove for cover, he's not a fan of the thunder.

Randi and Jose had to put down the boat awnings (biminis – learning new words!) which are supported by a folding aluminum structure. Ah, not in the middle of a lightning storm – thank you very much. So they were stuck in their truck waiting for the weather to calm down a bit before they could get everything stowed and hitched. The boat was parked in front of Bob and Carole’s coach, so we weren’t going anywhere either. Not that we had any desire to pull out in that crazy weather. Lol. We were extremely grateful that the storm held off until after the eclipse. Otherwise, this would be an entirely different post and Murphy would have claimed the day.

Waiting for the worst of the storm to pass before
 we start playing with the aluminum lightning rods. Lol.

It continued raining, but at least the thunder/lightning eased up so we could all get underway. We had about 250 miles to our next stop in Paris, TX and it took almost six hours! It felt like we were tracking that storm cell for half the day. You know it’s bad when the truckers in Texas, who are usually flying by us at 75-80mph, are going 40mph on the freeway!

So why are we in Paris, TX? You’ll have to check out the next post to find out. 😊  

Murphy’s on a Roll - New Braunfels and Salado, Texas

We arrived on Tuesday, 3/26, in New Braunfels, TX which is situated about halfway between San Antonio and Austin. Parts of the drive here were absolutely beautiful.  Texas Hill Country has its moments. The wildflowers along the road were spectacular. Texas Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, phlox, daisies and so many more I couldn’t identify. Blue, yellow, pink, purple, white – Monet would have had a field day.

The pups enjoyed the wildflowers too. 

Randi and Jose moved to Texas when Jose’s employer made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. They left Rancho Cucamonga, CA for New Braunfels, TX and rented for a little over a year, then bought a home last fall. One saving grace for Texas, affordable housing. They have a lovely home that would have been totally out of their budget in either California or Washington. Sigh. Both sets of parents would like them closer, but that doesn’t look like it's going to happen anytime soon unless someone wins the lottery. For this week, we’re staying at Sun Retreats RV Resort which is less than a mile from Randi and Jose’s house. That’s pretty close!

Randi and Jose's new home.

The happy homeowners.

Since there is nothing particularly blog worthy or photogenic about doing a million loads of laundry (yes, I counted!), cleaning the rig (an army of dog hair dust bunnies was about to stage a coup), running errands, or doing rig maintenance, I’m going to skip over most of our week. You all have been there, done that.

We had lots of fun too. Dinners together, both at Randi’s and dining out. Scoring our favorite River City Catering key lime pie and watching the remake of Jumanji – Jack Black channeling a teenage girl was hilarious.

We enjoyed dinners together and...

...this amazing key lime pie!

We also visited the Snake Farm and Zoo. Randi and Jose have driven by it almost daily since they moved here but had never visited. They had a surprisingly large collection of venomous snakes as well as many other reptiles. It was also much larger than we anticipated with a fun petting zoo and opportunities for animal encounters. We had a great time feeding the goats (greedy and demanding little creatures!) and the birds (also greedy and demanding!). Chickens were everywhere!

Fur, feathers and scales - we saw them all!

The big cats were all taking afternoon naps.

Randi liked feeding the fancy chickens. Lol.

Just gorgeous!

Jose was the koi whisperer. 

The baby goats were adorable.

Baby cows too! (This one is for Rian 💓.)

We spent part of Saturday working on their boat. Jose and Randi bought a huge pontoon boat last year and we have a plan. How about watching the total eclipse on a lake in your boat? Hell, yeah!! The previous owners had just left the boat sit out in a field for quite awhile and Jose and Randi have been cleaning and repairing it and doing a fantastic job. Not to say that everything has gone smoothly.

Her name is Lola.
Jose and Randi's Labor of Love. 

The weather has been nothing if not changeable. Rog got both the pupwagon and the coach washed – just in time for a thunderstorm that blew dust mixed with rain to give both vehicles (not so) lovely leopard spots. Ugh!

After the rains, we got into Randi’s Scion and were shocked to find the front dash could have doubled as an aquarium. She’d recently had the windshield replaced and they obviously failed to seal it properly – the entire dash was soaked, water dripping out of the headliner and seeping out of the electronics. Ugh! But that was just the start of Murphy’s nefarious plans.

It's hard to see, but that dash cubby is completely full of water!

On Tuesday, 4/2, Rog and I moved to Union Grove Campground on Stillhouse Hollow Lake about 100 miles northwest of New Braunfels. That put us closer to the center line of the eclipse and set us up for an awesome view of totality. IF the weather will cooperate. Unfortunately, the reports are not promising. The weather guessers are calling for high clouds, low clouds, some sun breaks, rain, severe thunderstorms on Monday… yes, all the above! Lol.

Huge grassy sites close to the lake.

Regardless, we plan on having a great time. All you can do is set yourself up for success and then hope for the best. Another huge plus – we were meeting up with Bob and Carole and Ruby at Union Grove. Happy reunion! The pups were ecstatic, and we were thrilled to be traveling together again too.

BBF's reunited!

We're parked next to each other with plenty of room for the pups to play.

The people are as happy as the pups to catch up.

We had some breezy days after we arrived, so we explored the nearby town of Salado. It’s tiny with some fun shops. We enjoyed watching the artists at Salado Glassworks create beautiful art glass. We stopped for gelato at Vecchio Pallino, where the owner was justifiably proud of and eager to share his excellent homemade gelato. 

The town of Salado was very picturesque.

Something about molten glass is just facinating.

Yummy gelato.

We have wings!

Lunch at Provecho.

We stumbled onto a fantastic taproom, Chupacabra Craft Beer. They had 60 Texas craft beers on tap! Woohoo – can you say flights? They had some great sours, so we ended up going back. This time we brought a small growler to fill. However, it didn’t meet Texas requirements so, while they wouldn’t fill the growler, they’d sell us the pints so we could fill it ourselves. Sure. No problem. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so confident. Bob starts pouring and all is well until some critical mass was achieved and the growler erupts like Mt. Vesuvius! We ended up quickly drinking more than made it into the growler. Sacrifices must be made. Lol.

Chupacabra Craft Beer - love the logo!

With 60 Texas craft brews on tap there's something for everyone!

Sampling the wares at Chupacabra.

Rog tries his hand at filling the growler.

We went kayaking twice on the lake. The lake is about 18 feet below full pool and I can’t say that it’s very scenic country, but the weather was perfect on Thursday and Friday morning.

Kayaking on Stillhouse Hollow Lake.

We also celebrated Ruby’s second birthday on Friday! The birthday girl got special cookies and a new toy. Auntie Carole had treats for Raney and Riley so everyone was happy.

Happy Birthday Ruby!!

While we were enjoying a fun, relaxing stay at Union Grove, Jose and Randi were wrestling with Murphy in New Braunfels.

In additional to the million little last-minute things that go wrong when you’re trying to pack and prep for a trip, one of the boat cushions went missing. Best guess, it flew out of the back during transport to their storage unit. After a frantic, but ultimately unproductive, search they decided to make a new one. Randi went to San Antonio to buy marine grade vinyl and foam. They had Home Depot cut plywood to spec and while Randi was loading it into her Scion, Murphy struck again. The plywood hit her back window just right and completely shattered it. On top of the leaking windshield and missing cushion, it was just a bit much.

Nooooooo! Randi is not having a good week.

The plan was for Randi and Jose to bring their boat to the campground on Saturday afternoon and then stay at a hotel in Salado. Jose’s parents (Lori and Jose Sr.) were also driving from California to join us for the eclipse and then spend some time with the kids in New Braunfels. They had their own run-in with Murphy, after a late start they were unable to find a hotel in Arizona because of the eclipse and ended up driving until 2-3am. Despite Murphy’s best efforts, everyone made it to Salado by late Saturday evening.

They made it! 

We had a few potential Murphy moments too. I was walking Riley near the lake and disturbed a snake that went straight for the water where Riley was standing. Water Moccasin? I don't know, but Riley nearly stepped on him while I was doing the "Arrrrrgh! It's a Snake" dance. Then Bob and Carole found not one, but two scorpions near their coach, not too far from the shoes they'd left outside. Ugh. Not sure which creepy crawly is worse. 

An unwelcome visitor!

The weather is still looking iffy for the eclipse and we’ll have to see what else Murphy has up his sleeve. Stay tuned to see how things go!