"But this is going to be a total solar eclipse," Mike insisted. "Totality is different. We aren't going to miss this."
And so we made the drive to Rexburg and stood on a grassy hill as the world instantly became dark and the sun transformed into a celestial wonder.
In that moment, I understood why people were willing to travel thousands of miles to see a total solar eclipse. We were desperate to see it again.
And so, that very same day, we audaciously proclaimed: "In seven years, we're driving to Texas!"
We had no idea what the next seven years would bring (two bone marrow transplants, moving, a global pandemic, and a new baby, to name the most notable for our family), but we kept that dream alive.
Mike's uncle and aunt live outside Fredricksburg, Texas, directly in the path of totality. Mike brought up this fact with them years ago, probably before the solar eclipse was on anyone else's mind, and asked if they'd be open to having a few guests at that time.
Their response was gracious and generous. Knowing we would have a place to view the eclipse from was our first step. However, we knew that their own kids and grandkids would most likely want to come for the eclipse as well, and so we reserved an Airbnb in the nearby area so we didn't have to impose on their hospitality too much.
That was about eighteen months ago, well before most people were thinking about the upcoming solar eclipse, including the Airbnb owners.
But the news finally caught up to them, or at least we assumed it did, because eight months ago, they canceled the booking. Prior to this, they had been quite good at communicating in a prompt and helpful way. But when Mike called them out on the cancellation, he was met with radio silence.
So we pivoted our plans and did something we've always wanted to do: we rented an RV! This ended up being so much better for us, which I'll talk about more below, so I guess we won't hold any grudges against the Airbnb owners.
In the days leading up to our trip, I started to feel super anxious (very typical of me). By that point, we could see a 10-day forecast of the weather, and it was looking very cloudy. (There was a brief moment where Mike contemplated abandoning all our plans and heading to Ohio or New York instead. This did not help my anxiety, in case you were wondering.) Plus, I had no idea what it would be like traveling in an RV--would we ever find places big enough to park it? Would sleeping be a nightmare? Would we be able to take it everywhere we wanted to go? And then, there were just some little upsets, like when we realized we had forgotten to reserve a time at Carlsbad Caverns, so we had to take that off our schedule.
But as soon as we were on the road, all of the worries and stresses melted away. After nearly seven years of anticipating it, we were living it, and I have to say we enjoyed every bit of it.
With that long introduction aside, here are all of the highlights from our road trip/eclipse adventure!
The RV
First up, a salute to the very appropriately named "Sunseeker," or "Sunny." We rented her from a family through Outdoorsy (similar to Airbnb but for RVs). All of my worries were completely unfounded. RV life suited us. Mike drove her without any difficulty (aside from some super high winds through New Mexico where he had to use actual muscle to keep her on the road).
Our kids were able to spread out while we were driving (everyone still had a seatbelt), and it was the most comfortable road trip they've ever had. Fighting and squabbling dropped dramatically since they weren't packed shoulder to shoulder like they are in the minivan.
One of the things I was most concerned about was sleeping at night, and it turned out to be a total nonissue. Max and Aaron slept above the captain seats at the front. Bradley and Ian slept on the beds that were converted from the couch and table. Clark and Silas slept on the bunkbeds. And Mike and I slept in the master bed. Most of the beds had curtains or doors that closed them off and gave a little bit of privacy. Silas called his bed his "clubhouse." When it was time for him to go to bed, we closed his curtains and turned on his white noise machine, and he generally went to sleep right away. There was only one day when this didn't work; he had taken three naps, including one around 5:00pm, and he wasn't at all interested in sleep until close to 11:00pm.
The other thing I hadn't really thought about beforehand was that we were actually entering the land of RVs (ie., the southwestern United States) where there are long, straight highways, wide open spaces, and plenty of room for a very large vehicle. We kept to areas where RVs were welcome, and we didn't attempt to go anyplace we wouldn't comfortably fit, and so it was a very positive experience overall. We would definitely consider renting an RV again in the future.
Monticello
Our first stop was in Monticello, Utah. This is a favorite corner of the world for our family. Mike's mom grew up in this small town, and even though Mike's grandma passed away a few years ago, one of his aunts still owns the house and rents it as a vacation home. It just so happened that two of Mike's sisters and their families had rented it for spring break, and so we crashed their party for one night.
It was so fun to be in Mike's grandma's house again and find it virtually unchanged from when she lived there, right down to glass bottles on the window ledge and the toilet seat cover in the pink bathroom.
Our kids loved playing games with their cousins, eating together, and chatting. Honestly, even though we knew Monticello wasn't our destination, we kind of wanted it to be. It was so fun being together in a place we all love so much.
Petrified Forest National Park
While it's true that we drove through hundreds of miles of drab, boring landscapes, we also saw some really cool things, and one of those was Petrified Forest National Park. As you drive into the park, you can see remnants of actual forests (stumps as well as long tree trunks) of petrified wood covering large areas. The amount of petrified wood was pretty incredible.
We went on a couple of different hikes where we got up close and personal with the vibrant colors on display in petrified wood. Each log or stump was different and unique. A true work of art in nature.
One funny story: We saw that the gift shop served ice cream, and that sounded like just the thing since it was a hot day. But when we got there, we discovered they were closing in ten minutes. The employee was annoyed with the size of our family but agreed to serve us ice cream. However, she lucked out when we realized they only took cash, which we did not have with us. But the good thing about bringing your house with you is that you always have ice cream, cold and ready! We simply went back to the RV, opened up a box of ice cream and began our first hike with ice cream cones in hand. There was another couple behind us, and one of them said, "I wish I was in that family."
Valley of Fires
We have lava flows in Utah but still very much enjoyed hiking through this one in New Mexico. I loved the view we got as we walked down to the trail: a panoramic shot of miles of black lava rock stretched out before us.
The landscape was dotted with chollas cacti and flowering desert spoon (which looked a lot like yucca). We did a short hike that twisted between rock formations. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the weather was perfect.
White Sands
This was not on our original itinerary, but it ended up being one of the most fun and memorable activities of the entire trip. We all loved it.
Driving into the park felt like we had entered another world . . . or at least another season. It looked like an arctic landscape with snowdrifts lining the sides and snow blowing across the road. But in reality, the snow was sand--the finest, softest sand that was delightful to walk through.
We chose a couple of random places to pull off at and explore. We hiked up the sandy hills, surveying the white landscape from above. The boys got long running starts and then leaped off the edge, landing in the soft sand below. They did this over and over again before getting tired and burrowing down deep into the cool sand below the surface.
We had to pack up and leave well before anyone was actually ready to, and we continued to find sandy souvenirs in our belongings for days afterwards.
Staying with Brian and Claudia
Mike's Uncle Brian and Aunt Claudia live outside of Fredricksburg, Texas on a stunningly gorgeous piece of property. They designed their home themselves and moved into it just last year, and it was an absolute treat to get to spend time with them. Their son, Andrew, was also there with his family, and so was their daughter, Madeline, with her family. Additionally, Mike's cousin, Brent, also came with his family, and so did his Aunt Denise. All told, we were a group of eleven adults and fourteen children, and it was a party, no question.
Brian and Claudia were the most kind and generous hosts. We played games, cooked and baked, ate delicious food (still dreaming about the loaded nachos), explored the property, enjoyed the dense and colorful wildflowers, played with their cats, ran races, watched General Conference, and chatted. Oh, and we can't forget swimming. Ian spent literal hours in the pool and hot tub and came out shriveled like a raisin when the sun was setting.
We had a bunch of cloud drama on the morning of the eclipse (which I'll talk more about below), but I kept telling Mike that it didn't matter if we got to see the eclipse or not because being together with so much family was just the nicest thing and made the trip worth it either way (but Mike was still determined . . . ).
Scorpion Hunting
This deserves a special mention because the boys have always wanted to see scorpions in the wild (something I don't understand), and they finally got to! Uncle Brian took all of them out after dark armed with sturdy shoes/boots and a black light.
They could barely see the scorpions with just a flashlight; they were camouflaged in the dirt (creepy). But when they shone the black light in the same spot, the scorpion was unveiled in an other worldly light.
They came back to the RV regaling me with tales of close encounters. For my part, I was grateful I'd missed the whole thing.
Longhorn Cavern State Park
When Mike originally planned the itinerary for this trip, Carlsbad Caverns was one of the stops along the way. I had seen some spectacular photos of it and was very excited to experience it in person. However, reservations could only be made thirty days in advance, and when we were thinking about it, we were still far enough out that we couldn't reserve a time. As our trip drew closer, we finally remembered, and by then, it was too late. All reservation spots were gone.
As disappointing as it was, it ended up working out just fine because Mike changed the schedule to include White Sands instead, and, as I already mentioned, that was one of our favorite activities.
And lucky for us, we didn't have to abandon our cave dreams completely .Mike's uncle told us about Longhorn Cavern State Park, which was only about 45 minutes from their house. So that's what we decided to do on Saturday, along with Mike's cousin and his family and Mike's aunt. According to Mike's cousin who had been to Carlsbad and could do an actual comparison, Longhorn wasn't as immense or spacious and therefore not as awesome, but we still enjoyed it. We went on a guided tour through the dark tunnels and pathways and loved seeing the interesting formations, smooth stone, carved out spaces, and crystal-lined walls.
The only one not impressed was Silas who had refused to eat much breakfast, but deeply regretted that decision once we were in the heart of the cavern. He spent the rest of the time moaning and crying about his hunger, so we were all happy to return to sunlight.
Sweet Berry Farm
After the caves, we did another little excursion to a strawberry farm. It had a bunch of activities, similar to what you might find at a corn maze or pumpkin patch in the fall, but we were only focused on the fruit, impossibly sweet, plump, and juicy, just waiting to be plucked from the plant. The day was overcast and perfectly cool, and we wandered up and down the rows, looking for the best strawberries to add to our box.
After we had picked more than we could eat in the next couple of days, we finished off our time with some fresh strawberry ice cream and popsicles. The next day, Mike, Denise, and Claudia turned the strawberries into pies. Yum yum.
The solar eclipse
And finally, the culmination of our trip, the reason for the hours and days of driving, the thing we'd been anticipating for seven years: the total solar eclipse.
And . . . we woke up to a very cloudy day.
This wasn't exactly a surprise. Mike's eyes had been glued to the weather for days, willing it to change. But the forecast proved correct. The sky was overcast with clouds covering the sky all morning. Occasionally, we'd get a short, ten-second break in the clouds, and the sun would pierce through giving us all a little dash of hope before the clouds would skitter back across.
For my part, I'd made my peace with the possibility of not seeing the eclipse, but Mike was frantic. He poured over the weather radar with his cousin and uncle. They thought we might have a better chance of getting some cloud breakage if we traveled about thirty minutes north to a little town called Llano.
I was not in favor of this idea. For one, I had no idea what we'd find if we left our little oasis at Brian and Claudia's house: would Llano be overrun with a million people? Would there be anywhere to park a large RV? Would it ruin the moment to be surrounded by strangers instead of family? Also, it felt like we were trying to chase the sun when ultimately, we had absolutely no control over the weather and it was going to do whatever it wanted whether we stayed at Brian and Claudia's house or tried another location.
In the end, our large group split up: some stayed at Brian and Claudia's and some went to an event center parking lot in Llano. Mike won out, so we were in the latter group, with me as a grudging participant.
By this point, we were in the eleventh hour. The moon had already started to take a bite out of the sun as we drove along the highway passing people who had set up camp along the sides. Once we got to the parking lot, Mike's uncle called him and said, "It looks like it's actually going to be clear here," and Mike almost turned the RV back around, but time had pretty much run out and so had our options.
Lucky for us, the parking lot was almost completely empty (I guess everything is just bigger in Texas with enough room for everyone). We set up our chairs and binoculars and looked at the progress of the moon through our glasses.
There were still a bunch of clouds flitting about, taunting us, but in the final minutes leading up to totality, they parted completely, and the heavens literally opened for us.
Within seconds, the light drastically changed. We could hear birds and crickets. And then, in one final piercing burst of light, we caught a glimpse of the diamond ring as the moon completely sealed off the sun. We whipped off our glasses and gazed up at the aura of light around the moon. We could see pink solar flares like little tiny droplets along the edge. Then we noticed the horizon which was a full 360-degree sunset all along the rim. The air was cool and a little breezy. Everything was different than it had been just seconds before. What a gift to get to see it. (Photos are the lamest representation of the real thing.)
And then, as we stood there taking it in, basking in the glory of it all, someone said, "Do you hear that?" Inexplicably, unbelievably, we could hear the purr of a lawn mower. We couldn't imagine someone continuing to mow their lawn in the midst of an eclipse, but maybe in Texas, you take advantage of any drop in temperature, no matter how short.
Totality lasted four-and-a-half minutes. It was transformative but fleeting. It's hard to soak it all in when you have such a short amount of time. As the light brightened once again and the warmth of the sun returned, Silas said, "That was good, Dad." "What was good?" Mike asked. "That was good dark," said Silas. Such a succinct but insightful way to capture what we all were feeling: That was good dark.
We returned to Brian and Claudia's for lunch (totality had indeed been visible from their property as well). By that point, the clouds had once again covered the sun, this time forming a thick impenetrable wall that lasted for the afternoon. It honestly felt like we'd been blessed with a divine miracle.
We hit the road soon after that and booked it home. No more fun stops along the way. Just driving, driving, driving until we all thought we'd lose our minds.
Thus concludes this epic retelling of an epic roadtrip. It was rather surreal to be home once again and on the other side of it. It had been a thing of the future for so long. But it finally came, we experienced it, and then it became a memory instead. And that's the way life happens.
This will be one of those memories my kids will probably still be talking about in thirty years, and that makes me happy.
