By Maria Tsvetkova, Brad Brooks and Rich McKay

NEW YORK/ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colorado (Reuters) -Angie Hill felt relieved when she arrived with her family for a long-planned visit to the Statue of Liberty on Thursday morning and discovered the site was indeed open despite the U.S. government shutdown a day earlier.

Visitors to other U.S. national parks and historic sites were less fortunate, their travel plans spoiled by the partisan divide in Washington.

Hill, 39, a nurse from North Carolina, bought tickets for a boat ride to see the Statue of Liberty for her family months in advance of their trip to New York City. When news about the government shutdown broke, they thought they may not get to visit Liberty Island, which has an on-site museum, but decided to take their chances

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