Mini TR:
I own a property in McKinney, TX which I visit on a monthly basis. I scheduled my trip in December when I first saw something about the eclipse as a “coming in 2024 event” to coincide with a standard business trip. Booking then, travel costs were very much in line with standard rates, didn’t even find it worth it to use points.
Flew to Dallas Sunday night and slept at the Westin Galleria, my usual haunt in the Jewish area.
Monday morning woke up to a solid cloud soup in the sky, and kinda made peace with the fact it would be only work, no pleasure. 8 am Sachris at the Kollel was jammed, and they had a full breakfast thereafter. There were tens of visitors and we all complained about the clouds together. They gave out Kollel branded eclipse glasses which I thought was kind of cute, but totally useless now.
I drove out to my property and sat with the staff until 11:30am. Kept looking at the sky, but nada. It seemed to just keep on getting worse, and all the weather apps and sites confirmed the same.
At that point I remembered Dans comment about getting to “as close to the blue line as possible”. So I started driving along Highway 380 eastbound towards Sulphur Springs, and hoping that maybe there the clouds were less and I would be able to see something. Lo and behold, as I drove the sky started clearing more and more and I was able to get glimpses of the sun. My flight back was at 4:35pm and I had real anxiety about traffic back to Dallas after the event, so I made up that I would stop short of Sulphur Springs at the a convenient spot beyond the clouds.
In all the little towns I passed through, folks were all staring at the sky and lounging around. The streets were empty, no traffic at any point. I finally got to an exit for Campbell, TX where I pulled off into a truck stop where 4 other cars were already parked and folks sitting around staring at the sun. One of them was a family who said they had flown in from Kosovo! I got my eclipse glasses on, and this being 1:15ish we were already a nice ways along. By now the clouds had basically disappeared, and the heat we usually feel in Texas was dropping rapidly. I couldn’t get any decent pictures using my iPhone (14pro) so I just gave up and focused on the sun.
Totally was unbelievable, and is a memory that will forever be etched in my mind. While it didn’t get as dark as I thought it would (I was thinking of the Tintin strip) it felt like a Bnei Brak shkiah - super fast and super cooling. I got chills, that’s how cold it got! The rings around the sun were vividly jumping, and for 4+ minutes straight I enjoyed every second.
Thinking of my flight and the traffic, I jumped into my car at 1:48 sharp and floored it to DFW. I didn’t have a drop of traffic on the way, so 20 minutes out I called Aderet to order a quick Schwarma for the ride. (It’s only a 3 minute detour off the highway). I made it to the airport at 3:15, waited 10 minutes for the rental car shuttle, and 10 minutes at TSA pre, and was at gate 40 minutes before boarding. We boarded on time, pushed back and took off early, and landed 35 minutes ahead of schedule in PHL. I told my wife I wouldn’t be home before 10:30pm, the shock on their faces when I walked in at 9:36pm!
I’m really happy with how it turned out, no agmas nefesh beyond the clouds Monday morning. Lesson for next time- get the right camera!
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Topic: Total Solar Eclipse North America April 8 2024 (Read 35653 times)