DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — We do our best to capture and show the big moments with our phones and cameras, but sometimes, the best experiences are meant to be shared together.
In Dripping Springs on Monday, an eclipse viewing event called the sunBLOCK Party was held on Mercer Street. The Texas State Guard used the event for its annual training.
The Czajka family made it a mission to mark the total solar eclipse as a moment together as a family.
"There's things like that sometimes we don't pay attention to, you know, we don't realize it in their everyday lives. And so, when you get to experience it firsthand, it's just, it's unbelievable," Danielle Czajka said. "We'll always remember that we were here at this time, Downtown Dripping Springs as a family, watching the eclipse."
Esteban Robles and Ana Gonzalez traveled from Houston to the Hill Country for the eclipse.
"It just seems something so out of the ordinary that we don't see every day and having the opportunity of being in Texas at the right time at the right moment," Robles said.
Timing is everything for Pete Folz, who is from San Diego and made it a mission to travel to and from Dripping Springs in less than a day.
"I learned that the next eclipse is in 2044, I think, and who knows where I'll be and what'll be happening then. So I figured I got to make the best of it, make it happen," Folz said.
Folz said sometimes, these moments are best embraced by being present.
"I was trying to get a good picture on my phone and this wasn't working, so I just gave up, put it away and just kind of enjoyed the moment," Folz said.
The city estimates about 5,000 people showed up to the party.