Annoyed by potential travel disruptions

[starry_solo]

I hope Congress passes an emergency funding bill while they work on a permanent solution....but that doesn't seem likely.

We have a trip planned in late October but will need to cancel flights and hotels a few days before to get our money back (or travel credit for flight) if they don't get their act together

 

[antmaril]

I have similar worries. We are flying to Las Vegas on Friday evening. Quick trip (well, it’s a four hour flight) to see Adele at Caesar’s Palace. We return on a red-eye VERY early on Monday. Hopefully, if the government workers decide not to work for free, that will happen after we are already home. Hadn’t heard about the restaurant workers. Ugh. Another thing to worry about.

I sure hope they come to some kind of agreement. They seem to hang this over our heads way too often. They need to do their jobs for crying out loud.

Good luck to you. I hope your trip works out! Sounds very nice.

 

[georgina]

It is awful. Your son in law will get paid what they will owe him, it just may take a little time to do so. Let's hope this mess is either averted or ends quickly.

Yes, he will eventually get paid, but there is a mortgage, car payment, and childcare to pay. They are fortunate they have 2 paychecks, many in the military do not and there is no carve out for military pay this time. Their income will stop.

 

[Marrila]

Yes, he will eventually get paid, but there is a mortgage, car payment, and childcare to pay. They are fortunate they have 2 paychecks, many in the military do not and there is no carve out for military pay this time. Their income will stop.

My husband served 23 years and worked 5 years as a civilian fed employee. We went through similar times. It's not easy.
Let's hope the situation is resolved quickly.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

That sucks! I wish they'd put a waiver in the budget that the NPS sites would still be funded. All the park communities are taking such huge economic hit when the NPS in their area shuts down and there is no backpay for those businesses/workers who are out of work when there is a shutdown.
We as well as planning a trip that will hit a few NPS in the coming weeks. Thankfully it is not our entire trip, just a couple days out of a 10 day trip so we are already making alternate plans.
But lesson learned is we will not book a NPS trip again for early October. At least that is what I was thinking prior to today, but then I was reading about previous government shutdowns and one a few years ago was end of Dec for a month as they passed just a few months of funding (maybe that's not the right word but somehow there was a budget after Oct 1st but not the full year).

 

[Rogue1677x]

Yes, he will eventually get paid, but there is a mortgage, car payment, and childcare to pay. They are fortunate they have 2 paychecks, many in the military do not and there is no carve out for military pay this time. Their income will stop.

I'm in the same boat. My teenage daughter told me that if money gets tight, I can take money from her bank account. I try not to let her see the stress this causes...

 

[Magical2017]

I hope it all works out and you can take your trip--it sounds like so much fun.

 

[starry_solo]

I hope it's over by next week..........

 

[Kestryl]

Update: parks will be officially closed. This is unlike the 2018-2019 shutdown, where parks themselves were left "open" (minus facilities and staff), which left them trashed and destroyed. Some states are still planning to pick up the bill, but I'll wager that they will not be nearly as well-kept or staffed as they typically are.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/29/close-national-parks-shutdown-00118946

 

[bcla]

Update: parks will be officially closed. This is unlike the 2018-2019 shutdown, where parks themselves were left "open" (minus facilities and staff), which left them trashed and destroyed. Some states are still planning to pick up the bill, but I'll wager that they will not be nearly as well-kept or staffed as they typically are.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/29/close-national-parks-shutdown-00118946

It's somewhat complicated. If there's a way to gate an entrance, the plan is to do it. That might not be possible at some National Park Service sites, and typically trails going into NPS sites aren't controlled in any way. For instance, I've hiked into Muir Woods National Monument in from Stinson Beach, and there was nothing keeping me from entering that way.

Some national parks don't have entrance stations at all. Great Smoky Mountains NP doesn't charge an entrance fee and as far as I can tell they don't have any way to gate their entrances. Bryce Canyon was mentioned, and their entrance can be closed. There's only one road in or out, and each lane can be closed off with a gate.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.640...JIEzYQMEcg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

Around here the Presidio of San Francisco (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) has this private financing that was required by law, and The Presidio Trust was chartered to handle that. They have lots of businesses and organizations that pay to use buildings/land, along with residential rental property. Lucasfilm (now owned by Disney) has a long term lease and now their buildings are the Lucasfilm headquarters. The Presidio is expected to stay open.

 

[Kestryl]

It's somewhat complicated. If there's a way to gate an entrance, the plan is to do it. That might not be possible at some National Park Service sites, and typically trails going into NPS sites aren't controlled in any way. For instance, I've hiked into Muir Woods National Monument in from Stinson Beach, and there was nothing keeping me from entering that way.

Some national parks don't have entrance stations at all. Great Smoky Mountains NP doesn't charge an entrance fee and as far as I can tell they don't have any way to gate their entrances. Bryce Canyon was mentioned, and their entrance can be closed. There's only one road in or out, and each lane can be closed off with a gate.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.640...JIEzYQMEcg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

Around here the Presidio of San Francisco (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) has this private financing that was required by law, and The Presidio Trust was chartered to handle that. They have lots of businesses and organizations that pay to use buildings/land, along with residential rental property. Lucasfilm (now owned by Disney) has a long term lease and now their buildings are the Lucasfilm headquarters. The Presidio is expected to stay open.

Right. I guess what I'm saying is we should expect this to look more like 2013 (when the parks that could have barriers were officially closed) than 2018-2019 (when they were open but unmonitored).

It'll be interesting what happens with the Smokies- I live nearby. The highway that connects Tennessee to North Carolina will be open (that's part of why entrance is "free"), but there are lots of off-shoots for parking for the trails and other sites. They just started charging for those. (Basically, free to drive through, costs to stop and visit.) This is what happened in 2013 with GSMNP: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/l...t-smoky-mountains-and-other-parks/51-95514992. Campgrounds closed, weddings cancelled, orange cones up, blocked off access.

Sucks, too- it's time for fall colors, and I know a lot of people vacation to that area for fall break.

 

[bcla]

Right. I guess what I'm saying is we should expect this to look more like 2013 (when the parks that could have barriers were officially closed) than 2018-2019 (when they were open but unmonitored).

It'll be interesting what happens with the Smokies- I live nearby. The highway that connects Tennessee to North Carolina will be open (that's part of why entrance is "free"), but there are lots of off-shoots for parking for the trails and other sites. They just started charging for those. (Basically, free to drive through, costs to stop and visit.) This is what happened in 2013 with GSMNP: https://www.wbir.com/article/news/l...t-smoky-mountains-and-other-parks/51-95514992. Campgrounds closed, weddings cancelled, orange cones up, blocked off access.

Sucks, too- it's time for fall colors, and I know a lot of people vacation to that area for fall break.

My understanding was that the transfer of lands from the states to the federal government included that no fees would be charged to access the roads. But NPS says that there's nothing in federal law that prevents the imposition of entrance fees.

Death Valley National Park has a numbered state highway going through it. It charges a fee, but this is paid for at self-serve kiosks and visitor centers. Anyone else just going through (without stopping at an NPS area like a parking lot or visitor center) can access it like any other road. There are also inholdings there that have never been part of the park, including the main amenities that most people assume are under NPS control, like The Oasis at Death Valley. But of course the roads and businesses are close now because of flood damage. However, it was open under previous shutdowns since it's a privately operated business.

 

[TippyThomas]

I had a 6 week stay at a few Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds planned down south in mid October to November and it looks like that's not gonna happen.

 

[Christine]

Well maybe you folks will get into those national parks and museums after all. We're getting there....

 

[TippyThomas]

Well maybe you folks will get into those national parks and museums after all. We're getting there....

It's definitely a good start.

 

[focusondisney]

 

[trompettecon]

Disclaimer: First world problems for sure. Just my own personal pity party should one or both events happen.

On to the annoyance...

My wife and I have a trip coming up in a little over a week to Las Vegas and Zion National Park.

Well we hope we do.

I knew there is the potential for disruption in air travel as there might be a government shutdown that starts just prior to our trip. I am not so sure that those required to work for free will be as forthcoming with the free work as expected. When less than the normally scheduled number of air traffic controllers or TSA employees come to work, there will be disruptions. There have been issues in the past when this has happened. I completely understand why there might be staffing issues so plan to arrive very early to the airport if the shutdown happens.

Another part of my first world problems is that Zion National Park will probably experience more than just a disruption. This is still peak travel time for Zion and they do not allow personal vehicles in most of the park and instead require everyone to ride a free shuttle. Not sure what they will do if Park Rangers are furloughed. I know in the last shutdown some of the national parks remained open with closed bathrooms and trash cans removed. Does anyone know how Zion National Park handled the last shutdowns? My wife has already said she is not going to Zion if the bathrooms are closed.

As a backup we planned to just remain in Las Vegas for the entire trip if Zion is closed.

But.....

Today I learned that the Las Vegas Culinary Union is having a vote to approve a potential strike. I guess a strike could occur as soon as tomorrow based on today's vote but at this point both sides are still interested in negotiating so no matter the outcome of the vote today there will more than likely not be a strike tomorrow but a week from now???? A big part of what we do in Las Vegas is eat. I hope the employees get what they want without a strike.

So if both the shutdown and the strike happen what should my wife and I do? Gamble all the money we would have spent on dining? Do we drive to LA and go to Disneyland? I guess cancelling the whole trip is an option but we used a 2-for-1 flight voucher and would lose all the money associated with the airfare.

Ugh.

Well your problems have resolved.

 

[kdonnel]

I think your trip will be fine. It's kinda up to you to decide whether or not to move on and enjoy it.

I was going to have a good time doing something no matter what happened or might still happen.