There were no last minute deals worked out in the back rooms of Capital Hill last night so we are now in an official shutdown (some are saying "slimdown") of the Grand Canyon.
Our supervisor spoke with us briefly moments ago and was very clear that we were furloughed and that we were NOT to do any volunteer activities nor have any contact with the public. We were told that we could remain in our campsite for a few more days to see if the government starts back up again or we could choose to say that we are ending our assignment and move on. We'll be hanging out awhile to see what happens. We at least have to wait around long enough to get our last batch of mail and a couple of UPS shipments that are on the way.
In the meantime, the campers that are already in the park can stay until their permits expire. But no new permits are being issued and once a permit expires they will not be allowed to linger as Law Enforcement will be doing daily sweeps to evict those with expired permits.
We are being told that the people in the lodge and cabins have been given 48 hours to get their stuff together and get out. I went by the employee dining room this morning about 7am and saw heaps of luggage on the sidewalk with two 15-passenger vans waiting. It looked like many of the behind the scenes seasonal laborers were being cut loose immediately.
We are only a few hours into it and the campground is eerily quite. Like I said in last night's post, I'm going hiking.
....so will you be able to start back doing the same things once the Govt. gets rolling again?? Sully
ReplyDeleteYes, if the government cranks up again we will pick up where we left off. This is provided that that happens in just a few days. The park was scheduled to close on the 15th anyway and most people are not hanging around to see if things get worked out. Folks are bailing out of here pretty fast.
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