Today, April 8, 2024 was the day we planned for... the solar eclipse.
At half past four this morning we left San Antonio for Kerrville. The latest weather forecast were no't good at all and we even had some droplets falling on the way to Kerrville.
We arrived at six o'clock and went straight to the parking lot..... and it closed. So we drove back for a couple of miles to stop at Starbucks for a coffee and muffin! At seven o'clock we drove back to the parking lot and took the shuttle bus to the recreation park "Louse Hays Park" in the middle of the city.
Everything was ready for the Kerrville Eclipse Festival.
The park was still empty when we arrived around a quarter to eight, but it was filling up by eleven o'clock up to 20.000 people. In the meantime, we had already met people from Seattle, Chile, Mexico, etc. Everyone was in a good mood and willing to have a chat. NASA was also present and provided the necessary explanation about the solar eclipse. Astronaut Reid Wiseman gave an interview. He was recently named commander of NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon.
Despite the cloudy sky, the sun regularly came through and we could enjoy the natural spectacle. Just as the sun completely disappeared behind the moon, the sky opened slightly, just enough to see the full solar eclipse. It remains an amazing phenomenon: it slowly gets colder and darker until it is as dark as night.
As befits a festival, a group also came to sing: Judah and the lion. They played country/folk music and quite a few people stayed around to listen. Despite the clouds, it was still a successful eclipse.
After leaving the park we went back to San Antonio which took us 1 hour longer due to traffic jams.
We found out that a couple a days before the eclipcse, Kerrville issued disaster declaration.
