Like many from the northern states, we like to 'snowbird' in Florida. Our usual spot is the Fort Pickens campsite on Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola. It's an Army Corp of Engineers site, therefore federal.
In January during the last shutdown, park rangers told everyone to leave by 4 pm (including the campsite hosts), until the government reopened.
For the period of the shutdown, we traveled to Georgia where my wife's cousin lives. Getting there and back to the campsite added 600 miles to our traveling but others had nowhere to go and so, congregated at the local Walmart parking lot. The sheriff ordered them to leave after just one day.
This turmoil was a huge for hundreds who'd traveled thousands of miles for their retreat in the warmth. And this unnecessary disruption lasted just three days.
Fast forward ten months and here we go again. Thankfully we're not there but my heart bleeds for those who'd made plans for Christmas on the Gulf.
If you were out there on a federal campsite & are now using Walmart WiFi to read this, know than your fellow campers feel your pain and wish you a ...
Merry Christmas!
Federal Shutdown
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