Xcapers and the Solar Eclipse
Paris, TX. Have you ever had this experience? You’ve been told what’s going to happen, but you don’t REALLY know what’s going to happen? Something far more extraordinary that you expect takes place. I’m referring to our experience for the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. For us, it was both the eclipse itself as well as the eclipse event we attended.
Before going on the road, we joined the Escapees RV Club and its subset Xcapers. The biggest reason why we joined them was their mail service (we’ll talk more about that another time). Escapees formed to support people who were frequent RVers and they provide multiple services to that end. They also found a need to facilitate social events for RVers - particularly ones that are full time or close to full time. They call these events “convergences” and, when we found out they were doing one for the eclipse, we decided to see what it was all about.
The Solar Eclipse Event was held at the Red River Fairgrounds in Paris, TX right at the center of the path of totality. We didn’t know what to expect. How geriatric would this crowd be? How active? Around 150 RVs in one place - what would this be like?
Well, we found out - it was a BLAST! It was unexpectedly fun! We thought of it like attending summer camp for adults. Over the weeklong event, there were things like RV Crawls (think bar crawl from RV to RV), day drinking, bike rides, “stichin’ and bitchin’” events, scavenger hunts, karaoke, live bands each night. We met and befriended so many people! The sub-club Xcapers, of which we were part, is geared towards RVers who work so most events were outside of work hours. It aligned with what we needed.
And then there was the eclipse. It. Was. Astonishing! We’ve all seen photos of a total eclipse. They’re beautiful, but we’ve all seen photos so much they are commonplace. The experience, however, is not. While we’ve seen partial solar eclipses before with up to 95% coverage, we’d never experienced a total eclipse of the sun. Yes, partial eclipses seem like they should have similarities, and they do have some, the difference is like night and day. Literally. When the eclipse transitioned from that last tiny sliver of sun to the full blockage of the sun, it was as though we were transported to a science fiction movie. It’s possible to then look at the sun with bare eyeballs and eyes can hardly process what they are seeing. The sun is no longer in the sky - all that’s visible is that halo ring. The stars in the sky emerge. Looking to the horizon it is twilight in all directions. The birds are silent. Evening insects emerge.
Before this experience, I had heard stories of ancient peoples’ fear and trepidation when they experienced a total eclipse. I’m not sure how they could have ever processed it. With modern science, we can experience the eclipse with knowledge and certainty and eclipse glasses. We know exactly when the eclipse is happening, for how long, and what is actually occurring. We can watch the transition of the moon over the sun. Ancient peoples didn’t have that advantage. You see, just before the sun totally disappears behind the moon, that sliver of sun is still too bright to look at with bare eyes. To the uninformed, there isn’t really a hint of what’s about to happen and the moment totality arrives is sudden. Ancients didn’t know it was coming nor why the sun went black. All they knew was that the sun disappeared and they didn’t know if it was ever coming back. When it returned, they didn’t know what it all meant. I now completely understand why they lost their minds!
Our eclipse experience was known. The only mystery of ours was whether it would be visible at all because of cloud cover. We had overcast skies until they suddenly cleared with just minutes to spare. For example, the first two photos below are where the sun momentarily peeked through the clouds with the moon partially covering it. We came close to missing it and we were ecstatic when the clouds miraculously cleared for us.
It gave us one of the most amazing experiences of our lives!
