'clips day 1 report

It's 6:10 and the sun is just gilding the mountains. We are in Madras to watch the eclipse which will happen on Monday. Tom and Cheryl are the best! They have around 20 people camped out here, with meals organized, and protective glasses for all. 

Kyle and I are in the RV. I am watching the sunrise. Young jackrabbits are scampering across the lawn. A covey of quail scurried by a minute ago. Doves are calling. The traffic is a steady drone from the highway already. 

  Yesterday, Miz L and Mia E were helping me prepare some fabric for dying. I was using a variety of techniques, including tearing a stained white sheet into strips and braiding three of the strips together. Mix E decided that it would make and excellent tail. Then we took another strip and some rubber bands and made a unicorn headdress. I am so glad I brought the bellydance scarves to play with. This is going to be a highly entertaining visit.

Things are just tinder dry in Central Oregon right now.  There's a big fire west of Sisters which has closed  great tracts of forest and campgrounds to would-be eclipse-watchers.  Another fire started north of Madras up on the Warmsprings Indian Reservation.  The smoke was blowing our direction, but I think they got it under control, because the air is clear this morning.

The campers are slowly arriving.  Some folks have the big, comfy trailers and RVs.  Some folks have brought their little pop-up tents and rented a space in some farmer's hayfield, flat on the dirt in the baking sun with no shade or comforts, and a quarter mile walk to the port-a-potty.  Some folks have set up tent villages on their property.  Many folks are renting out their homes or apartments for the week and crashing with nearby family.   I heard of one young lady who is renting her 2 bedroom apartment to a Danish news crew for four nights, a thousand dollars a night, and sleeping on her mom's couch for the duration.

The local gas station ran out of gas two days ago, refilled overnight, and just about ran out again yesterday.  The eclipse is Monday at 10AM  I'm thinking that by then, the tanks will be dry, the shelves will be empty, and the black market will be charging $15 for a roll of toilet paper.  Then, by noon, the roads will groan with the weight of departing tourists.  This will be an interesting few days.