The 2024 Total Eclipse & Grape Country
The 2024 Total Eclipse
Upon hearing about the eclipse late last year, we decided to make a detour in our route to be in the path of totality for the 2024 eclipse. That detour took us to a little spot out in Arkansas’s grape country, near a town called Altus.
Ben and the kids had seen the 2017 eclipse in Torrington, Wyoming, but I had stayed in Colorado for that eclipse. While they were in the path of totality, I observed crescent shadows on the ground that seemed to last for hours. This time would be my first.
We set up the camera, Ben dragged out his large monitor, and we tethered to two together to piece together a makeshift studio.
As the moon crossed in front of the sun, we began taking shots, and as it progressed in front of the sun, every few minutes we would take more.
As totality commenced, the sky darked and became like twilight. We took off our glasses and looked directly at the sun.
What an indescribable sense of awe!
Such perfection in creation.
The camera snapped away every few seconds for the next few minutes, capturing the purplish-red solar flares coming from the corona. When we took them back in to look at the shots, Ben found he had captured this masterpiece just as the sun began peeking out at the end of totality. To me, this flash of light looked like the eye of God as it brightened the twilight sky.
Ellie made sure that Quinn saw the eclipse too.
The next solar eclipse won’t occur for another 20 years, in America, anyways, but if you get the chance to see it, jump on it. There are no words to describe that feeling of beauty in God’s creation.
Grape Country
While we were in grape country, we decided to try out a restaurant that was on the grounds of a local winery. The people who began growing grapes in Arkansas, had migrated from Switzerland in the late 1800’s. They found that the soil and temperatures were just right for grape growing and opened the first vineyard in the area.
The restaurant also harkens back to its original Swiss roots, serving native Swiss foods which were surprisingly authentic and very tasty.
We picked up a few bottles of grape juice on the way out. Move over Welch’s, these guys have you beat.
Grape Country RV Park
We made a reservation for the time of the 2024 eclipse. When I called to make the reservation, we spoke to the owner and he informed us that he was not going to price gouge us because of the eclipse. He told us that others were raising their rates during that time and was encouraged to do so, but he just charged us normal rates. Much appreciated! Not only that, but on the day of the eclipse, he BBQ’d up some pork and offered us free lunch during the eclipse party.
When we arrived, we found our site and placed a check in the box by the office.
We had full hookups and had no problems with the utilities. Everything worked as it should. Easy pull thru site, mostly level, and on gravel.
Starlink gave us 74 down and 12 up. We had 2 bars on the Verizon phones (12/6) and 4 bars with the cell antenna (1.6/0.5). AT&T was 5 bars with the cell antenna (25/20).