Travelers put eyes to the sky for eclipse in Lusk, Wyoming

The long-awaited total solar eclipse has come and gone.

But was it worth all of the hype?

The total solar eclipse is bringing people from South Dakota to Wyoming, but people aren't just crossing state borders to watch today's solar eclipse. They're also coming from all over the world.

Lusk, Wyoming was the destination for thousands of eclipse onlookers - wanting to get a taste of totality - but not quite the amount of traffic.

Michael Janssen, visiting from the Netherlands, says "We thought this place would be better than Casper."

While Casper saw thousands more - that's not to say Lusk didn't see plenty of business on their own.

Campgrounds and hotels in the tiny town were filled nearly a year ago.

That's because plenty of people have been in planning mode for years.

Joel Goodman, visiting from Maryland says, "Ten years ago, when our friends moved to Newcastle - we said can we make our reservation for ten years from now?"

All of the excitement built the hype and did not disappoint for some of these watchers, including Deb Breckenridge, visiting from Dallas.

Mesmerized as the sun and moon met as one and made it a memory she'll never forget.

Deb Breckenridge, from Dallas, Texas says, "To go from light to dark - which seemed to take a long time. But dark to light seemed so very fast. It was really neat."

With all of the extra foot traffic, Niobrara County officials are excited more felt the love of Lusk, and made it a visit to remember.

Jackie Bredthauer, Chairperson for the 2017 Lusk Eclipse says, "We've had several comment that they'll be back. So that's always a great thing. We've had several comments there are very nice people."

The one-of-a-kind experience will happen again in seven years on April 8th, 2024 - but this time the path will lie differently - lucky for Deb and her family, totality should cross through Texas.