VIP

We had a VIP come to visit this week. Sara's mother Debra flew into El Paso on Tuesday and flew out on Saturday. Wednesday morning the desert welcomed Debra with a stunning orange sunrise.

Since we only had a couple of full days to show her around, we tried to pack in as much as we could. First stop had to be the Big Bend National Park. The national park was beautiful and almost every plant was blooming, thanks to recent and copious rain. But a lot of the roads we wanted to travel were closed due to washouts.

Despite that setback, we managed to see a number of great spots,including the Chisos basin, the Ross Maxwell scenic drive, Castolon, the Rio, and Santa Elena canyon. Debby got to take a photo of her first wild tarantula and discovered that she loves ocotillo plants, despite having trouble remembering the name.

The next day we gave her the two-dollar tour of Terlingua ghost-town, took a stroll through the graveyard, and tried to find something worth buying at the Terlingua Trading Company. Unfortunately, we were treated very rudely by the man behind the counter and did not buy anything.

Just a few miles down the road, we had a completely opposite experience at the Lajitas resort. The posh resort, which basically is its own town, sits right on the Rio Grande and boasts many amenities and luxuries for its guests. After checking out the wares at Christina's World, we were strolling down the boardwalk when an employee came out to greet us. We thought that he was going to ask us to take the dogs away, but instead he enthusiastically greeted the dogs first and suggested we take them over to the amphitheater where they could play off-leash.

He gave us a mini-tour of the resort while guiding us to the amphitheater  and told us we were welcome to eat at the restaurant with the dogs if we didn't mind sitting outside. With a veranda like this, who could mind?

But we had already planned to eat at the Starlight Theater, so when we were done exploring the resort we all piled back into the truck and had a very nice meal accompanied by live music.

All in all, I think we did OK as far as giving the whirlwind-tour. Let us know if we missed any of your favorites -- we'll add them to the list for next time.

Dear Murray McMurray

Dear Murray McMurray Hatchery,

I am very disappointed that the chicks were sent over the weekend. I live on the border with Mexico and all deliveries take at least one extra day to arrive, and sometimes more.  It seems impossible that the chicks will arrive alive.

I am especially embarrassed because this order contained chicks for multiple families, and I had bragged to everyone that Murray McMurray was the best hatchery hands down.

I should mention that before this email went out and a simultaneous robo-call (4 am phone call? really? thanks), I got a call from a very confused and worried postal employee.  That's how I found out that the birds had shipped early.  A postal employee in El Paso cold-called me to find out what he wanted me to do about the chicks.

We've been very stressed about this since yesterday afternoon, and I wish there were some way to call anyone at the hatchery when the operators are off duty.

Thanks for the tardy notifications.

Sara and neighbors


QUOTE:

[BOLD added by me]


On 2/12/2012 4:00 AM, McMurray Hatchery wrote:

Dear SARA COLANDO,



Your chick order has been hand-filled and mailed by US Post Office Priority mail.
Your delivery confirmation number is 94-----------------33. The US Post Office does not have detailed tracking information. If you look this number up on the Postal Website it will only show that the order has been shipped. It will not show you detailed information or where this order is now.

You can expect your chicks to arrive anytime from Sunday through Tuesday
If you have not already done so you may want to call your local post office and let them know you are expecting a chick order and have them call you as soon as the order arrives.

You can access details about your order, at https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/acct/login.html.
After logging in, click the Order History link then click on order number 871992 in the list.

To help you get your chicks off to a great start, here is a document that contains information on what to do when your chicks arrive.

Care of Baby Chicks

Thank you for ordering your poultry from Murray McMurray Hatchery.
If you have any questions or problems with your order, please call us at 1-800-456-3280 and refer to order number 871992.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia (CDC) has asked us to distribute an educational Salmonella Brochure. As a public service we are happy to comply. McMurray Hatchery routinely vaccinates and tests our parent flocks to produce the healthiest chicks possible.

Sincerely,

McMurray Hatchery

Sorry Murray McMurray hatchery, but my post office isn't open on Sunday.  Is yours?  Geez....