Live Oaks, Palm Trees, Cutter Ants and Dogs

We’ve had about a month now in Rockport, TX and are enjoying it.  The temperatures are a bit up and down.  Other than a couple of very cold days in the low 40’s, the temps have ranged from the mid-60’s to the low 80’s for highs.  We’ve had nights where we needed the heater and days where we needed the AC.  Each day seems to have some clouds but we see sun several days a week.  The forecast frequently shows a chance of rain but often that is just some drizzle.  Any real rain still isn’t a downpour but just a gentle rain for a short time.  We also deal with wind here.  It can go from days with almost no wind to a pretty good clip for several hours.  We have also had lots of fog especially in the evenings.  Overall, we are wearing anything from shorts and t-shirts to long pants and sweatshirts which is my idea of how to spend winter.  80 is a bit warm for me in the winter but upper 60’s and low 70’s is perfect.   As I write this I’m sitting outside in about 70 degree temps, with sunshine and some wind under a massive live oak tree. 

The park and the entire area is filled with live oaks and various types of palm trees.  The live oaks are massive and would make great climbing trees.  You typically see multiple large trunks with them so I’m not sure if they are all one tree or several together.  The palm trees are interesting as well and I know nothing about them yet.  It appears to me that there must be several types as you see them in various shapes and sizes and with differing types of trunks.  Some seem to shed these large bark-like things from their trunks and others shed what appears to be clumps of palm fronds.

I’ve also learned about cutter ants and they are not a good thing to have around.  There can be up to 2 million of them in a nest!  We saw them marching back and forth along about a one block area at the front of the park and many of them had bits of flowers and leaves in their mouths.  Apparently, they can strip a small hedge in one night.  They haul the foliage into their nests and let it turn to fungus and that is what they feed on.  I must say, they are hard workers!

Our girls (Bailey and April) have made lots of friends with the numerous dogs in the park.  I’m guessing there are more RVs with dogs in them than without.  Misty and Riley are cute brown Dachshunds, Charlie is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Samson and Goliath are huge Mastiffs that are gentle giants, Maddie is a Goldendoodle, a new red Standard Poodle has recently arrived, and Simon is a black lab mix.  There are so many I cannot remember all their names yet.  There is a pair of Shitzus, a Portuguese water dog, and numerous other mixed breeds.  There are also two ragdoll cats that are enormous named Gracie and Rags.  These two cats are much bigger than our girls and their Moms roll them around the park in carts!  What a life!  Our girls have not interacted with them.  Overall, our girls have met with most of these dogs with no problem at all, although April barks her fool head off when she sees one she hasn’t met.  The only issue we’ve really had to deal with is how to stop our girls (mostly April, the mouthy one) from barking when we are away from the RV.  They are used to being able to have the run of the place but even when we confined them to the back half of the RV so they couldn’t see out, they still barked a lot.  So, we have resorted to putting them in crates on the bed with the TV and sound machine going so they can’t hear outside noise.  So far this seems to have worked.  I don’t like to have to crate them for extended periods (4-5 hours) but I just remind myself that if we weren’t there and they weren’t distracted, they would be sleeping anyway.

We are slowly starting to make some friends and even friending each other on Facebook to stay in touch.  I’m getting to know a couple of ladies, Arla and Rene, a bit better and enjoy visiting with them.  Arla is Mom to Charlie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Rene is Mom to Misty and Riley, the Dachshunds.  Both ladies go to the exercise classes three mornings a week so I gave that a try yesterday.  They start with stretching and then do some yoga, which I had never tried.  Yesterday’s yoga was difficult and the rest of the class agreed so I think they are going to do some things that are bit less strenuous.  Then another lady comes in and does an hour of walking that is apparently very fast paced.  They do 4 miles!  Yikes.  I didn’t stay for that yesterday but will get started with that tomorrow and at least try to get 1-2 miles in and work up to the rest.  I found out in a very big hurry yesterday how out of shape I was.  I have no problem with walking but anything else was a real challenge so I need to continue with this!  Today I did feel better and less knotted up.  I hope with this and the massages I’m getting that this will loosen me up!

I’ll write again after the new year so I wish everybody a Happy and Safe New Year!