TOURISTS REJOICE AS YOSEMITE RETURNS TO BUSINESS AS USUAL.Byline: Jean H. Lee Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. After waiting seven days in a hotel just outside Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park (yōsĕm`ĭtē), 761,266 acres (308,205 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890 as a result of the efforts of conservationist John Muir. Located in the Sierra Nevada, it is a glacier-scoured area of great beauty; Mt. , Australian tourists Elizabeth Browne and Robert Elliott Robert Elliott may refer to:
National Park Service employees were among the 280,000 federal employees sent back to work under special legislation passed by Congress on Friday night and signed by President Clinton on Saturday morning. The measure provides the NPS NPS National Park Service NPS Naval Postgraduate School NPS Net Promoter Score (customer management) NPS Non-Point Source pollution NPS Native Plant Society NPS Norfolk Public Schools (Virginia) with funding through the federal fiscal year, which will end Sept. 30. Browne and Elliott, of Sydney, Australia, were among the first visitors who trickled into the park. The couple didn't learn of the budget standoff until landing in California for a vacation they had planned last summer. And it wasn't until they drove up to the front gate of the park that they realized they might not see Half Dome, El Capitan El Cap·i·tan A peak, 2,308.5 m (7,569 ft) high, in the Sierra Nevada of central California. Its dramatic exposed monolith rises some 1,098 m (3,600 ft) above the floor of the Yosemite Valley. , Bridle Vale Falls and other spectacular Yosemite sites. "We saw the signs and said, 'What do you mean it's closed?' " Browne said. They stayed at Tenaya Lodge, where they viewed Yosemite through photographs, hoping the budget impasse might end before their vacation. They learned on the morning they were checking out of their hotel that the park had reopened. "It's spectacular. It was worth the trip," Elliot said. Most recreational facilities and winter camping areas were ready for business by noon. Housekeepers at the Ahwahnee Hotel dusted furniture and wiped windows for the 60 guests with Saturday reservations. In the kitchen, pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, and bakeries. Jason McKowan baked pecan pies, while other chefs shelled peas and prepared sauces for dinner. Visitors were treated to an unusually quiet day in the Yosemite Valley Yo·sem·i·te Valley A valley of east-central California along the Merced River. It is surrounded by Yosemite National Park and has many waterfalls, including Yosemite Falls, with a total drop of 739.6 m (2,425 ft). . "We're going to enjoy the trails without the crowds," said Dan Bradford of Mountain View, who was with his wife and son. John Healey John Healey (born 13 February, 1960) is the British politician. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Wentworth and Minister of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government. brought his 9-year-old son, Kellan, to visit relatives in Oakhurst, a gateway town west of Yosemite. The two were among a handful of visitors ice skating in Curry Village. "This is great. Nobody's here," Healey said. Employees of Yosemite Concession Services, a private vendor, said they were glad to be back at work. Some 1,000 concessions employees were laid off during the holidays, and about 400 worked part time. "Some saw it as an opportunity to party, some bailed out and left the park, and some gritted their teeth. My strategy was to take it one day at a time One Day at a Time is a long-running American situation comedy that portrayed a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters (Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli) and their building superintendent (Pat Harrington, Jr.). ," said Vicki Jordan, an ice-rink attendant who lives in the park. The company offered employees free skating, video rental discounts and parties during the shutdown. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo Allan Rollo sweeps up dust that accumulated during the Ahwahnee Hotel's closure. Associated Press |
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