Pat Vaillancourt went on a trip last week that was intended to showcase some of America\u2019s greatest treasures.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Salisbury resident said she and others on her tour bus witnessed an ugly spectacle that made her embarrassed, angry and heartbroken for her country.<\/p>\n
Vaillancourt was one of thousands of people who found themselves in a national park as the federal government shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1. For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, were locked in a Yellowstone National Park hotel under armed guard.<\/p>\n
The tourists were treated harshly by armed park employees, she said, so much so that some of the foreign tourists with limited English skills thought they were under arrest.<\/p>\n
When finally allowed to leave, the bus was not allowed to halt at all along the 2.5-hour trip out of the park, not even to stop at private bathrooms that were open along the route.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve become a country of fear, guns and control,\u201d said Vaillancourt, who grew up in Lawrence. \u201cIt was like they brought out the armed forces. Nobody was saying, \u2018we\u2019re sorry,\u2019 it was all like \u2014 \u201d as she clenched her fist and banged it against her forearm.<\/p>\n
Vaillancourt took part in a nine-day tour of western parks and sites along with about four dozen senior citizen tourists. One of the highlights of the tour was to be Yellowstone, where they arrived just as the shutdown went into effect.<\/p>\n
Rangers systematically sent visitors out of the park, though some groups that had hotel reservations \u2014 such as Vaillancourt\u2019s \u2014 were allowed to stay for two days. Those two days started out on a sour note, she said.<\/p>\n
The bus stopped along a road when a large herd of bison passed nearby, and seniors filed out to take photos. Almost immediately, an armed ranger came by and ordered them to get back in, saying they couldn\u2019t \u201crecreate.\u201d The tour guide, who had paid a $300 fee the day before to bring the group into the park, argued that the seniors weren\u2019t \u201crecreating,\u201d just taking photos.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe responded and said, \u2018Sir, you are recreating,\u2019 and her tone became very aggressive,\u201d Vaillancourt said.<\/p>\n
The seniors quickly filed back onboard and the bus went to the Old Faithful Inn, the park\u2019s premier lodge located adjacent to the park\u2019s most famous site, Old Faithful geyser. That was as close as they could get to the famous site \u2014 barricades were erected around Old Faithful, and the seniors were locked inside the hotel, where armed rangers stayed at the door.<\/p>\n