UPDATE: The post-eclipse traffic nightmare has begun in Madras and other areas of Oregon after Monday's total eclipse.

For the last six months, Madras has been bracing for chaos. Now, as the weekend of the 2017 total solar eclipse has arrived, those expectations began to fizzle out Saturday.

The small Central Oregon town is considered one of the best places in the U.S. to see the big eclipse, thanks to favorable weather, and in all the town expects to see an influx of up to 100,000 outsiders, choking highways, filling makeshift campgrounds and flooding local businesses.

But as Saturday rolled around, and traffic trickled through, many locals felt let down by the pre-eclipse hype.

"I'm wondering where all the traffic is," said Ashlyn Etter, who was selling solar eclipse merchandise in a lot near downtown Madras. "It just means we're going to have to hustle the last few days," and drop prices come Monday.

Etter was joined by several other pop-up businesses on the side of the main road through town, all of which were empty come noon. A steady stream of traffic drove by, but there were no jams or backups - it looked like a moderately busy holiday weekend, locals said.

Dawn Stecher, assistant manager at the Thriftway grocery store, said the store had stocked up on everything - especially water, soda, beer, wine and Gatorade - anticipating a crowd several times larger than what they usually get for the Fourth of July. By Saturday afternoon, at least, that crowd hadn't materialized, meaning their stock may not sell out.

"We're lucky that next weekend is the [Airshow of the Cascades] and the following weekend is Labor Day," she said. "It really took off the bottom line."

Thriftway hired extra help for the eclipse, but over the last few days the store has had to send some people home. Employees hung balloons and wore matching eclipse-themed T-shirts for the event, but on Saturday afternoon the store was quiet, the shelves all still full.

Just up the street, employees of Antlered Teepee Espresso sat at a table outside their drive-through cafe, waiting for customers to come in.

"It hasn't been what I expected yet," owner Brittney Smith said. "We have had record days, but it's not the chaos we expected."

Smith said she bought three to four times as much milk, coffee beans and syrups as usual, and might end up with quite a bit left. But she said she's not concerned about leftovers: Any extra they'll use for a community event.

Even the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, where Madras is hosting the big Solarfest event, was relatively quiet on Saturday afternoon. People milled about the fairgrounds, perusing booths and strolling through misting tents. A single long line formed for the building where representatives from NASA explained the science behind the eclipse.

At the festival campground, however, visitors were happy with the lack of crowds.

Jeff and Robin Strong drove down to Madras from Tacoma, Washington. As they set up their tent Saturday, they marveled at the "chill and homey" vibe, though they admitted they might not be staying there for the solar eclipse itself.

"This is a pretty fine spot, but I just want to see the lay of the land and see if there's a better spot to see it," Jeff said, as Robin unloaded a mountain bike from their car.

On the other side of the campground, a group of friends from Richland, Washington - and one from Boulder, Colorado - sat talking beneath their big, colorful solar eclipse sign. The seven-foot-high by eight-foot-wide sign, bright blue featuring a yellow sun wearing sunglasses, has been drawing strangers in for days, they said, spurring interesting conversations.

Mark D'Agostino, the creator of the sign, said he wanted to offer a flair of creativity for what he calls "the Woodstock of the new millennium."

Terrie Webber, the only one in the group to have seen a total solar eclipse before, said they've all been getting excited about the cosmic event.

"We've decided that the group may be solar eclipse chasers!" she said.

That kind of enthusiasm is still alive outside the campground in Madras. Even some of the business owners who lamented the slow flow of traffic said they've been having a blast meeting people from all over the world. Several started listing off countries, still in awe: Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Zimbabwe, China.

Joe Davis, owner of the Black Bear Diner, said one of his hosts spent his shift writing down countries from which people are visiting. At the end of six hours, he had 42 countries on the list.

The diner was one of the few businesses in town that was consistently busy Saturday. Davis said he whittled the menu down to 10 items apiece for breakfast, lunch and dinner to help streamline the crowd, and raised prices to make up for portable toilets, extra garbage and security. All in all, it stands to be a good weekend for Black Bear.

But even if that level of success doesn't pan out for other local businesses, many in Madras seem to be enjoying the fact that the small town is world famous for a weekend.

With thousands of people coming into town, it's an opportunity for Madras - and central Oregon - to show people why it's a place worth revisiting.

"This is our chance to really shine," Davis said.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB