FORT WORTH, Texas — Campers and RVs on Sunday filled the Buc-ee's parking lot across from Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Travelers there refueled and refreshed on the last leg of their journey to North Texas, in the total solar eclipse's path of totality.
“We’ve never seen it before,” said Tiffany Lohman, who traveled 20 hours from Utah to Texas in an RV.
“It’s about bonding time,” she added. "Family time you can’t get back and all the memories you make on the road.”
Across the highway, campers filled the 10-day parking lots at Texas Motor Speedway. Some visitors hoped to see two once-in-a-lifetime events in a single week: Monday's eclipse and next weekend's NASCAR races.
"Going to NASCAR races in this RV has been a bucket list item for me for as long as I can remember," Don Ewing told WFAA, smiling. "The eclipse is cool, but I'm here to watch Kyle Larson win."
The Texas Motor Speedway will Monday host a watch party during totality. The event is free and open to the public.
Others pitched tents Sunday in reserved spaces at state parks. A Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesperson says more than 30,000 people reserved campsites at the state parks in the path of totality.
Campgrounds at Pilot Knoll Park, near Flower Mound, were full Sunday. Sebastian Kautzor told WFAA he hurried to restore a 60-year-old boat before the eclipse, hoping to take the vessel on Lake Lewisville, cut the engines and watch the moon pass in front of the sun.
"It's just different than sitting at home in the backyard watching it," Kautzor said. "Just to be on the water with friends and family, enjoying an old school time - clipping the waves."