A Big Bust...?

Fred Meyer's new sign today may be the harbinger of Eclipse Reality. What  will they do with the unsold inventory?

It ain't over 'til it's over...but it's looking like Eastern Idaho's share of The Great American Eclipse is going to be a Big Bust.  So far, none of the "cry wolf" "sky is falling" hoopla and hype have come true.  In fact, it's been so quiet around town today, it's kinda spooky.  A normal Saturday is a real free-for-all as weekday workers finally get to jet their jazz around town on a weekly spending spree, spouse and kids in tow.  Today felt more like a typical Sunday than a Hot Rod Saturday.

The stores we visited were so quiet they reminded us of a funeral visitation.  Empty checkout lines and just barely a modicum of shoppers.  We looked and looked for out-of-state license plates and saw very, very few.

We studied the ITD webcams periodically today and saw nothing unusual on I-15.  If there was going to be a crush of people, it would show up on I-15.  Some of the webcam views showed a nearly vacant interstate, much contrary to the "sky is falling" hype we've been hearing for many months.

The more we looked at that vacant highway, the more we began wondering about The Big Bust.  What if they held an eclipse and nobody showed up?

Susun and Karen were downtown today  and talked with an Eclipse Couple from California.  They said they had no trouble getting a room in a local hotel due to the cancellations.  Meanwhile, that couple went to one of the immensely popular local eateries out by the interstate.  The server told them the restaurant double Staff and tripled ordered food and they were all standing around with very few diners.

This sort of report seems to be the norm here today.  It's been a very quiet, sedate and relaxing day here in Idaho Falls.  Yes, there WAS some congestion and congregation down by the riverside this afternoon.  The local Rotary decided to do their annual Duck Race today instead of last weekend in conjunction with the Roaring Youth Jam.  But that's normal commotion.  It happens every year like clockwork.  It's nothing out of the ordinary.

What we've been looking for is something out of the ordinary and, so far, we've found nothing.

So...the distant drums are building for The Big Bust....

Smith's has 22 pallets of Eclipse Water outside the grocery.  Hardly anyone is buying them.