Oh, Where or Where Has My Turtle Gone?

When cruising I have found talented people at most of our stops.  On the Rio Dulce, Jennifer of Gringo Bay, is one such person.  Jennifer can paint on almost anything.  She does passport covers and canvas rugs, and she paints turtle shells.  She also makes belts from snake skins that the locals sell to her and she then sells to the gringos.

So one Saturday morning at Swap Meet, Jennifer had a painted turtle shell.  I bought it and it has lived on boat for over a year.  It is in hot pink and purple colors.  I love the thing and the good news is that it is not an endangered species.  It is just a plain old river fresh water turtle that the locals catch.  I think that they eat them.

Since we are thinking of selling the boat we decided to have Michael take some things back to the RV.  Now we were a little concerned about putting this turtle shell in Micheal's suitcase.  We were concerned that it might get confiscated.  How do you prove it isn't an endangered open ocean turtle.  We couldn't figure that one out so we asked Bob and Trish off SV Barnacle to take it back with them.  Right, they were going to drive to the States from Guatemala.  They agreed and stowed the turtle shell.  We got word that they made it across all the borders without problem.

Not wanting to carry it across the country they were going to ship it to my parents in Tucson.  Michael could pick it up and put it in the RV.

Emails confirmed addresses and phone numbers.  Turtle sent, insured and tracking number sent.  And then it happened.  Tracking site said turtle delivered, however, my parents do not have the turtle.  Emails are sent back and forth.  Unknown to us Bob and Trish are in the wilds of Idaho and do not have INTERNET!

Here is my fathers story:

It's amazing how a simple thing can become a nightmare.

This is the Saga of the Turtle.

I had used the UPS tracking system last Tuesday just to see if I could locate the package. No problem - it indicated that we would receive the package on Thursday the 24th of June.

On Thursday I checked once again and found that everything was on schedule.  worked me shift at the VA on Thursday morning and Mom called Bingo that afternoon and I went to Adoration at Church from 1500 to 1600 hrs.

No package had arrived yet. Just prior to going to bed at 2230 I realized that the package had not been delivered. So I went back to the tracking service and found that the package had been delivered to our front door. Went to check, but did not find a package. Went out to the driveway and looked for it, but no luck. Friday morning I called the office here at Sonoran Terrace to see if the package might have been dropped off there. No such luck.

Call UPS headquarters to see what I could find out. They were adamant that the package had been delivered. When I told them No it had not, they said all I could do was have the shipper submit a lost claim. Not very helpful.

Later on after lunch we got a phone call from a man named Rob who said that he had our package. Wanted to know where we lived and when I told him, all he could say was "Way up there!"  He lives at 730 N La Cholla which is West of the I-10 Interstate and as far South at Speedway. He works for Qwest and got our phone number from them. The package was addressed to 787 N LaCholla Blvd, apt 2188.  He said he would call UPS and have them pick it up and deliver it to our address. I said "NO" and that I would come after it. By the way, there is no such address as 787 N La Cholla Blvd. La Cholla ends about 100 feet from his home and you have to drive in on a dirt path and through a deep wash to get there.  He came out when I got there and showed me where he had found the package. It was out in the road [path] just before the path becomes his driveway. His is the only place there.

Called UPS Headquarters after I got home and convinced them that the package had not been delivered to the front door and that I wanted the driver to be reprimanded and counseled. They said they would check into it and have the local supervisor call me. He did and I explained what had happened. While we were talking the driver returned to the facility and the supervisor told me he would be talking to him.

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Love, Mom & Dad

And now for page two...I went back and reviewed my emails.  Guess who screwed up?  Yup, it was me.  Got to check for typo's especially when sending an address.


So that is our story.  The Turtle Shell is were it belongs.  As for Bob and Trish...they got all the emails after the story ended.  Thanks again to everyone who helped in this Saga.