Eclipsed

Part of the reason for last week’s pause in posting was my trip to Texas to watch the solar eclipse. We saw the one in WY in 2017, and couldn’t resist catching this one, too. Road trip time! We started out with a horrific windstorm and battled it all the way down. By the time we got into Texas it looked like this:

At one point it was so bad we couldn’t see even 10 feet in front of us and that was in a town! Needless to say when we got to our hotel that night we had scratchy eyes and throats. It got better once we reached the hill country and there was more vegetation.

Being Texas in April, a lot of that vegetation was blue bonnets:

Interspersed with the red of the native paintbrush flowers, the fields were a sight to behold. They have scattered wildflower seeds in many of the exchanges on the highways too, so it was pretty.

On Monday we headed to Sugar Ridge Winery. They were doing an event just for the eclipse that included wine, Texas BBQ, and a lovely area of the grounds to watch the eclipse in. It started out cloudy, and the sun played hide-and-seek for a good portion of the morning. We all got ready to watch:

The sun was about 90% covered and there was a large cloud in the way, but just before it went to totality, the cloud slipped away. The small crowd cheered and we were treated to just over 4 minutes of darkness:

I didn’t take my good camera this time, as I really wanted to enjoy it, not fuss with photos, so this is on my cell phone. You have all seen much better photos, I am sure. It was still awesome. The birds stopped, but bugs started, then stopped again, as they noticed the darkness. When the sun slipped out again, everything went back to chirping and singing as normal. I get why folks travel around the world to experience this.

For the next two days it rained and was cloudy all day, so Mother Nature gave us a break.

Since we were traveling and it was raining, we had to hit a few thrift stores and antique places. Honestly, I didn’t see a whole lot of interesting things in Texas. On the Sunday before the eclipse, the sun was shining and we found a huge outdoor flea market. Best thing there was the old screen for the drive-in it used to be:

Must have been a sight back in it’s glory days with that wonderful mid mod styling. We spent a solid couple of hours wandering it, but didn’t see a lot or buy much. I bought a handful of beads at one of the first vendors, and that was about it.

Found a combination mini antique mall and hair styling salon in Austin. (It’s not weird for nothing.) The best thing I found there was this cool set:

It was plastic but very groovy. Not really my style or price range, so it stayed there. We found Austin so large and overwhelming that we really didn’t see a lot of it, and moved on to some smaller towns.

In Waco we found a beautiful antique mall that had been there over 60 years, but was being bought out to be made into a bowling alley. Sad to see so many dealers displaced, and talking to some of them, they had no where to go, and were just shutting down. We didn’t find a single thing in the whole place we needed, and it was huge. The scavengers had been hitting them hard, and being jerks, as the place was a mess and the dealers couldn’t keep up.

As we were so close (being a relative term here, as this is the West) we decided that a quick stop in Santa Fe was in order. Found a lot more fun things here.

This might have been the oddest thing I have seen in a while:

Combo clock and mini fireplace? The book gives it scale, and I am assuming when it was plugged in the fireplace had a light that flickered. I guess if you really had a small apartment and you wanted ambiance, then this would be the piece for you. Forgot to look at the price, but things were pretty pricey in this shop, so I think I just ignored it.

One of our favorite antique places in Santa Fe (not because we can afford it mind you, but just because it has cool stuff) yielded this gem:

It’s a cool old store display spool cabinet for thread. I want a spool cabinet desperately for my sewing machine addiction, but at over 600 bucks this was not the one. Plus, after posting a pic of it on my sewing machine group, someone pointed out that their cat would take one look at this and read scratching post, and thinking about it, I know mine would too. It was designed to look like a giant spool of thread, so the white was actually twine wrapped around it. The front had some issues with the veneer and the back, with the drawers, was poorly refinished and had lost the signage part, add in mismatched knobs and it was a big no. Sigh.

Same shop had these:

They were andirons for an old wood burning fireplace. Someone had glued marble eyes in them, but they wouldn’t have had them in the first place, as the heat of the fire would crack them. (I take that back, just looked and they make ones now that have the glass eyes!) I made grabby hands at these, too, but again a price tag halted me in my tracks. I saw a post on my Weird Finds Facebook group that someone was gifted a pair of these in their group. I could cry. Anyone have a set for me?

This cracked me up. I am sure you were the coolest kid on the block in your land speeder:

It was a battery operated car, and priced at only $600. Made by Western Flyer and looks like the original price was around $500, so it has gone up in value? Had to take a photo for the summer intern, as he would be amused, and was not able to come with us. Ok, it might be time to get to the giant H.R. Pufnstuf in the corner. I was trying to ignore him. Looks handmade but why? I might get it if it were a costume, but no, it is just a giant stuffy. This show was after my time, but not so far that I didn’t recognize it. No matter what, I really don’t think there could ever be a need for this, and yet it exists.

One more giant, of maybe a mini, if you get right down to it:

If you are in Santa Fe and don’t wander around the galleries a bit, you are doing yourself a disfavor. There are so many wonderful things to see. I think it is the best window shopping anywhere. You can see clothes and bags all over the world, but there is nothing like a free museum show. There were several of these large sculptures in the gallery, and photos were encouraged, which can be a rarity. This was probably my favorite, Bumblebee Transformer, for the less geeky among you. It was all made out of old auto and machinery parts, and extremely clever.

We had lots of good food. Steaks and BBQ in Texas, fantastic breakfasts and Mexican food in Santa Fe, drove over 2000 miles, and saw a total eclipse for the second time in a lifetime. Met some nice people, saw some strange things, and some pretty things. A pretty good trip I’d say.