Travelers from across nation witness eclipse at Tyler State Park

TYLER STATE PARK, Texas (KLTV) - Thirty-one Texas State Parks were in the path of totality today, six of them in East Texas. One of those six was Tyler State Park in northern Smith County. For months it was a sold out destination, and though skies were cloudy for the morning, as totality approached, the clouds began to break as stargazers gathered. People from across the country came to East Texas, our home, to witness this moment. For those who traveled far, the journey was worth it. Don Lepley, who traveled from California, said, “Hard to put a single word to it. Awe. Community. Relief. Success that I got my spotting scope on it.” Robin Boquet came from Louisiana. ”That was incredible. Never experienced it before and will never again because I am not going to do it in 20 years,” Boquet said. Evan Rodriguez, a boy from Cleveland, Texas, pointed out that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event. ”Next time it’s going to be in Texas it’s going to be 100 years, so I’ll probably be dead.” No matter where we came from today, those who gathered at Tyler State Park will forever share this memory. “It’s a rare event. It gives you a different sense of scale about your place in the cosmos,” Lepley said.