Here in Utah we have a higher concentration of national parks and federal land than most any other state, so the shut down has really hurt the southern Utah economy--the hotel, tour, restraunt, atv rental owners. I was glad to see such quick action by our governor ( a good man) to devise a plan to have state funding and many many many volunters to open most of our national parks--no thanks to all the monkeys in the east coast looney binn.
Anyway---back on my topic, I was wondering how the shut down has affected your riding across the country. For a while the dunes I ride at "though its a state park" was closed. By closed I mean it had a sign saying it was closed--no running water--no public restroom--nobody out there. IN other words--IT WAS FREEKIN AWESOME!!. It was just they way it was all my life as a kid growing up. You bring in what you need, you pack it out. You dont need to worry about getting a ticket for not having a flag--and there is no one out there so you dont worry about getting run over. You can shut off your motor and enjoy the silence of the desert. You and your wife can have sex on your ATV a top your favorite sand dune and not worry about ANYONE being around. (my two favorite sports). Oh and did I say that you dont have to pay your daily enterence fee because its closed
I hope it stays this way.