The HEB Lodge at Rockport Invaded by Wooly Worms

Richard works for a family owned grocery chain located in Texas called H.E.B., named after the founder, Herbert E. Butt. Founded in 1905 with a single one-room store run by Mrs. Butt, the company now has over 400 stores across Texas. 

H.E.B. owns two vacation lodges for its partners (employees) to use. One is in the Texas hill country, called the Kerrville Lodge, and the other is in Rockport at the coast. Twice a year, employees are allowed to stay at the lodges without cost. We have never been to the Kerrville Lodge, but we have visited the Rockport Lodge several times. 

 This is the large cabana next to the beach which used to have several ping pong tables for the campers' use. Now, it is locked up. We can see it, and the bay from the porch of Cabin #1, the only cabin we have ever stayed in. We always ask for Cabin #1 because it is the closest to the water.

Here is our cabin. It sleeps six easily. We love the screened porch which covers the whole length of the cabin. That is where we spend almost all our time when we are indoors. Do you see the little tree next to the bush with the red flowers? We found a momma cardinal nesting there. I will post pictures another time of the nest and the four speckled cardinal eggs she was tending.

Sadly, the days were very hazy while we were in Rockport. There were no beautiful sunrises or sunsets like we had on our last trip. There were no fluffy white clouds or deep blue skies. Mostly, the sky and the water were just greyish...

That did not stop me from taking pictures, though. It just made me work a little harder to get some interesting or beautiful shots. 

The main problem we encountered was not a lack of sunlight. It was dealing with the infestation of wooly caterpillars. They were on all the screens of the cabin, on the floor of the porch, falling from the ceiling, and climbing on everything on the porch. They were mostly confined to the porch, so we did not have to deal with them in the bedroom or kitchen (except for one or two of them), so we did stay in the cabin, but after a couple of days, we had had enough, and we headed home early. Now we know that early April is not a good time to visit the H.E.B. Rockport Lodge.

 They look vicious, but they do not sting. They do squish, though, when you step on them.Here is a picture of three of them on the back of one of the chairs, so you can get some idea of the size of the worms.