The Great Texas Eclipse: Buckle Up, Because Everyone's Coming (Maybe)
How many people are heading to Texas for the big eclipse? Well, strap yourselves in, folks, because the estimates are about as wide open as the Texas sky on a clear day (which, let's be honest, is most days).
The Official Maybe: A Million More or Less
Experts are throwing around numbers like confetti at a high school graduation. Some say upwards of a million starry-eyed tourists will be flooding the state. GreatAmericanEclipse.com, the self-proclaimed kings (or perhaps queens?) of eclipse cartography, predicts a million visitors basking in the totality of Texas. That's a whole lotta sunscreen and cowboy hats, y'all.
Hays County: From Humble Hamlet to Hipster Hotspot?
Cities in Hays County, smack dab in the path of totality, are bracing for anything from a cozy gathering of 200,000 to a full-blown apocalypse of two million eclipse enthusiasts. Imagine Wimberley, that quaint little river town, turning into a temporary Burning Man for astronomy nerds.
Llano: Hold Onto Your Stetsons, Folks
Small towns like Llano, population 3,300 (give or take a tumbleweed), are getting ready for the stampede. Their mayor might as well be dusting off his bullhorn, because things are about to get wild. "Hunker down, hold on tight," he advises residents. Sounds more like a rodeo than an eclipse, but hey, that's the Texas spirit!
So, How Many People Are Actually Coming?
The truth is, nobody knows for sure. It's all a big beautiful guessing game. The weather could throw a wrench in the whole thing, turning those million visitors into a puddle-stomping mess. Maybe it'll be more, maybe it'll be less. But one thing's for sure: Texas is about to be in the spotlight, and it's gonna be a sight to see, one way or another.
Just remember: If you're planning on joining the eclipse extravaganza, book your hotel room yesterday, and maybe invest in some industrial-strength earplugs. Texas hospitality is legendary, but with that many people, things are bound to get a little loud (and crowded).
