Hitchhikers

First and foremost a note for all my loyal followers:

I recently discoverd that my original sailing blog, Travels With Faith, has been hijacked. Every time I try to go there it opens and then immediately gets re-directed to a Neoworx advertisement. This has made me very sad as I've lost several years of writing but I am attempting to look on the bright side and start over. Here is my very first post on the new blog. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

We are finally south of the border, 3 weeks after leaving home, and this was one of our slower transits to our winter entertainment in Mexico. Both of us had to survive a cold so that sapped a goodly amount of energy, and, in addition, a substantial number of wind and rain storms chased us down the I-5 corridor so most of our stops ended up being 3 or 4 days instead of 1 or 2. That is not a bad thing…just different.

One constant this year – as in the past – has been our hitchhikers! The first bunch made themselves known when we arrived in Sutherlin, OR and closed the drapes on the front windows. There they were, probably 25 or 30 of the little beggars – Stink Bugs! 

Every fall in the NW the Stink Bugs start looking for a warm place to spend the winter months. They are apparently Snowbirds like us as they seem especially adept at hitching a ride to warmer weather. The first bunch got off (with a little help from Chris) in Sutherlin but some made it to Redding, CA, a few more got to Bakersfield, Huntington Beach, San Diego and Tucson, AZ. The last two were off loaded in Amado, AZ (just north of the Mexican border). 

I’m not exactly sure how they get inside the coach but “Adios Amigos” is what they hear as they are unceremoniously deposited out-side in their new home. Hopefully some hungry bird or lizard will find them to be delicious!