Apr. 6—ANDERSON — The campground at Mounds State Park is expected to be full well before the total solar eclipse on Monday, with some visitors arriving early.

Cindy Poulson, from Merrillville, arrived at the campground on Thursday but planned her visit to Madison County as soon as the state park opened for reservations.

“We sure did come here for the eclipse,” she said. “We’ll leave on Tuesday.

“The 100% totality is why we came to Anderson,” she added. “I’ve been through an eclipse before, but not 100%.”

She said in northern Indiana, there would be only an 80% eclipse.

Poulson said she, her husband and some friends went to a Mexican restaurant in Anderson because it was too cold to cook at their campsite.

“We have some friends coming in the next couple of days,” she said. “Some are from Merrillville and some are from the Indy area.”

Poulson said it will be a big party.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it,” Cindy Poulson said. “We’re hoping there won’t be a lot of clouds.”

Dawn Bradley said she was excited to be in Anderson for the eclipse.

“We started planning this for six months,” Cindy Poulson said. “As soon as we heard there would be 100% totality, we said let’s go.”

Bob Bradley from Munster was spending time with the Poulson family at the campground.

“We decided to come to Mounds State Park because friends invited us,” he said. “I’m excited about the eclipse.”

Bradley said the total darkness will be interesting to observe.

Jeremy Doeard from Hartford City said his family made the reservations to camp at Mounds State Park but wasn’t aware of the solar eclipse.

The family made reservations about six months ago

“We camp quite a bit,” he said. “We lucked out. It will be interesting, because it’s something I’ve not seen.”

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter@KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.