You may have heard recently that there was a total eclipse of the heart sun that passed through Texas. Although the area of totality would pass through the Dallas / Fort Worth area on Monday, we were scheduled to be in Houston for the Bayou City Electric School Bus Festival on Saturday. Bonnie & I decided to make a mini vacation out of it and see the eclipse near Austin.
Despite our careful planning, we started out during rush hour on Friday. Tesla had recently granted a free month of Full Self Driving (FSD), so rush hour was a breeze. All I had to do was keep a hand on the steering wheel and watch for any quirkiness. (But there was some later…)
We had a reservation to stay the night at a hotel located in the far north end of Houston, but our late start meant we’d need to have dinner before reaching our destination. Following my “feed your EV when you feed yourself” philosophy, we stopped to charge at the Buc-ee’s In Madisonville, Texas. We could have made it all the way to our hotel, but we would have to charge the next morning, before attending the festival.
By the way, if you’re not from Texas and haven’t heard of Bucee’s, their huge convenience stores, beaver-related souvenirs and vast refueling infrastructure (gasoline & electric) are legendary. You must add a stop at a Bucee’s to any Texas itinerary!
We walked across the street to dine at a barbecue restaurant (I don’t recommend dining there) and before we could finish eating, the Tesla app in my iPhone notified us that our Model Y was close to finishing its charge session. Bonnie stayed to finish her dinner while I fetched the car.
<<Road Trip Tip>> I try to schedule our meals to coincide with charging to prevent charging from impacting our trip duration. In other words, if you charge while you’re busy doing something you would have done even if driving a gasoline-powered vehicle, the charging session does not delay you. It’s multitasking!
The next morning, we headed to the festival and it was great! Live music, free beer, a bouncy schoolhouse, a nice selection of electric vehicles (provided by members of the Houston Electric Vehicle Association) and an electric school bus children could decorate were the attractions.
We got a prime spot to display our (now bug-encrusted) Model Y, right next to the electric bus. We had the frunk and hatch opened to show off storage for road trips and our inflatable Lost Horizon mattress. We had reclining lawn chairs, a table and an inflatable paddle board on display, to pitch the idea of electric vehicles as “adventure vehicles,” something I did when I sold EVs for a living.
As for the live music, check out The Fire Ants String Band.
Enjoying a Model-O by my Model Y 
Camping mode! 
My good friend, Robert Powell and his Experia electric
motorcycle and a Rivian R1T
By the time the Festival ended, the forecast for the Austin area was not conducive for eclipse viewing, so we decided to stay in the Houston area for the night, before checking the forecast the next day. My youngest brother, Curt and his wife Roxanne took us to dinner at a favorite spot, Mamacita’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina. There were no EV chargers nearby, so we stopped by a bank of Tesla Superchargers after dinner. These Superchargers were located next door to Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q in Webster, so now you know why we didn’t dine & charge simultaneously. We had barbecue for dinner the previous evening.
After dinner we decided to head to Galveston Island for a nighttime walk on the beach, some drinks and a well deserved night’s sleep.
Bonnie soaking it all in 
The next morning, we headed back to the beach for a stroll before breakfast and the next leg of our trip to Austin. The forecast for the next day showed a chance of rain in the morning and cloudy skies afterward, but we’d been invited by our friends Smitty & Karen to camp on their land near Dripping Springs and we definitely wanted to check that out. We figured if the clouds were going to prevent viewing the eclipse, we would still have time to head north, toward home, to try to catch some clear skies.
We stopped to charge west of Houston, at a Bucee’s in Katy. We had breakfast in Galveston, so once again, we didn’t combine dining and charging, but Bonnie wanted to buy some gifts at Bucee’s and I just wanted to recline my seat and listen to some music. Bonnie arrived back at the car about two minutes before charging was complete, so we did our multitasking after all! On to Austin!
When we arrived in Austin, Smitty and Karen were not home, as they were giving another couple a tour of the area outside Austin. We decided to use the time to top off our charge, in preparation for driving north, if necessary, the next day. We used the time to shop at an adjacent grocery store for supplies. Once again, we multitasked, arriving back at the car about 5 minutes before charging was finished. At Smitty’s home, we walked in the natural preserve behind his property along Slaughter Creek, had seafood for dinner (Bonnie got her fill of crawdads!) and headed back for an evening with old friends and new. Smitty & Karen’s friends, Tom and Margot were delightful. I was pretty tired and retired early while Bonnie stayed for more conversation.
The next morning we rose early, to beat the expected eclipse traffic around Austin. It was a beautiful, hour long morning drive on FSD, even though a light, misty rain had begun. The only worry was the possibility of deer running across the road. We spotted two, at different locations along the ride, but none of them darted in front of us. Smitty’s property was gorgeous, nestled in the Texas Hill Country near the Pedernales River. We enjoyed a short hike along the “grotto” but although the rain had stopped, the clouds continued to thicken. Bonnie and I decided to head north, in search of clear sky.
We didn’t camp, so stay tuned for that adventure. 
Bluebonnets & prickly pear cactus. What could be more Texas? 
According to the Tesla’s calculations, we had enough range to make it home. However, we took Smitty’s advice and decided to take the scenic route, along back country roads. We would just stop when the eclipse started, if we had found a good viewing spot by then. The further north we traveled, the clearer the skies became. There were lots of entrepreneurs along the route, advertising $200 eclipse parking, eclipse t-shirts, festivals, etc. We decided to dine in the little town of Hamilton, where a bank of Superchargers was located.
While we were plugging in, a Mustang Mach-e pulled in beside us. The driver got out and looked around, as if unsure of something, so I asked if he needed help. He had rented the EV for an eclipse drive but had never driven (or charged) one before. I explained that if he didn’t have an adapter, he would not be able to charge because the Tesla chargers use a different plug than what the Mach-e required. He said the person who handed the car off to him had told him it had an adapter. I helped him look all through the EV, but we could not locate an adapter. I also noticed that the tow bolt’s storage slot was empty, making towing problematic, if he ran out of range before locating a compatible charger. I walked him through downloading the PlugShare app onto his smartphone and configured it to only show CCS DC fast chargers. Fortunately, the Mustang still had over 100 miles of range and there were compatible chargers in Waco, Bellmead and Temple. By the time we got the other driver on his way, our charging session was complete, so we hit the road without dining. However, once again, we multitasked! SUCCESS!
We decided to find a restaurant along our scenic route where we would arrive right before the phase of the eclipse known as “totality.” That way we could avoid exorbitant parking fees (I’m frugal, not cheap). Based on drive time calculations and the forecast, it appeared the stars would align (or, the sun and moon would anyway) in Cleburne, Texas.
As predicted, we started noticing the eclipse as we drove along. In some instances, the cloud cover was so thick we could see the moon’s silhouette, partially obscuring the sun, through the Model Y’s expansive sunroof. Between the clouds and the tinted sunroof, we didn’t even need to use the solar eclipse glasses we’d brought along. We arrived at a restaurant in Cleburne about ten minutes before totality. We pulled out the reclining camping chairs and eclipse glasses and started watching the eclipse.
Those ten minutes seemed an eternity, watching the moon slowly track across the sun. Then, it finally completely obscured the sun. The temperature got noticeably cooler. I took off the glasses to view the world around me. It looked like dusk. Some stars were visible, even though it was about 1:40PM! We were the only people in the parking lot, other than restaurant employees who’d stepped outside for totality. Off, in the distance, people started yee-hawing (it is Texas). Finally, I glanced to the sun/moon and was amazed to see the eclipse without the need for the dark eclipse glasses. It looked very much like the top image in this post. The moon’s silhouette looked like a hole in the universe. I wondered what primitive people would have thought, seeing that.
