We made our reservations in early May to stay at one of the campgrounds around Smithville Lake during the total solar eclipse. It is only about 21 miles north of our home, but deeper into the path of totality. And a long weekend in the RV was what we needed to get away from the basement clean out and patio projects. In May there were still a few spots left and we were able to get a shady one we could comfortably fit into.
When we arrived early Friday afternoon, the campground was slowly filling up. We expected it to be full. All of the approximately 777 spots at the 2 campgrounds had been reserved. What we weren’t expecting were all the people that would be traveling much farther than us to stay here at the lake for the eclipse. We have met people from Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and have seen license plates from Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota.
It is exciting to see so many people coming out to the lake to experience this event. Campers and cars have been constantly pulling out and others pulling in. There are people in tents in many spots, which is a bit unusual for this loop. All spots are 50 AMP, with water. The neighbors in the spot next to us arrived Friday and have to move their travel trailer down 4 spots this morning before the eclipse because that spot was reserved by someone else for tonight only.
It has been a good relaxing weekend. We went on a long bicycle ride on Saturday morning.
When we got back, our 7 year old granddaughter called and asked if she and her sister could come up for the night. We couldn’t say no. We picked them up at a designated meeting spot and enjoyed the afternoon and evening with them.
After taking them back on Sunday morning, we enjoyed several hours kayaking on the upper arm of the lake, in the wildlife management area.
We are now preparing to watch the eclipse with hundreds of strangers in a few hours. We have our solar eclipse viewing glasses and a wide open area to sit in. The clouds are overhead now, but we are tracking the weather and they should be moving on before the eclipse starts at 11:41am.
Stay safe and wear your certified eclipse glasses for viewing.
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