Wandern Deutschland

We interrupt this farm time for a brief trip to Germany.  We had been planning on a trip since Jon took his most recent job in Maryland. With access to free flights on base, we took advantage.  Two days of attempts to hop a flight and we were finally in the air, Europe-bound.  We had a brief idea of what to expect, but no hotel reservations....just another adventure.  We did have a rental car waiting for us!  So there's that.  After only about 2 hours of sleep during a 9 hour flight through the night we arrived in Germany at 7am local (about 1am Eastern).  You'd never know by the kids' behavior that they hadn't slept much, as they began a wrestling match in the lobby of the hotel we were hoping had room. No such luck, but there was a hotel not too far that had a room to accommodate us.

Side bar: do you know how hard it is to find a place in Europe that can accommodate more than 2 people per room??

We arrived at the hotel to find our room with a full kitchen, pull out couch, pack n play and queen bed in a separate room. As you can imagine, the kids slept the entire ride to the hotel and were now ready to jump off the walls. So, TV on, showers taken and a nap for the adults.  By dinner time the adults were awake, kids were asleep, and the sun was still shining. We moved the kids to the car, where they slept soundly as we took to the winding roads towards a restaurant on a castle ruin. It overlooked the town and was perched between two hills (that my Florida roots would call small mountains).  After staying up until midnight with the kids we finally got more rest.

We planned our Germany adventures and started piecing together the logistics. We found a two-bedroom Airbnb in downtown Garmisch that was perfectly priced. We booked the house and hopped in the car the next morning heading south.  Our first stop would be Heidelberg.  Stretch our legs, tour the castle, eat some food and be on our way.   We got to walk over the largest wine barrel in the world, capacity 58,124 gallons.

Our drive seemed to go on and on.  We knew it was a long one, but we drove well past sunset.  We even found ourselves driving through a spit of Austria.  I can only imagine the beauty we missed by the curve of the road and the pressure I felt in my ears going up and down through the mountains.  We made it to our rental home to meet the very sweet, bubbly and welcoming home-owner.  She passed off the keys and we got ready for a sleepless night.  

Neither Jon nor I could've prepared ourselves for the toll the jet lag would take on the kids.  I've only ever done international travel without children  when I could sleep as needed or force myself to stay awake a little while longer.  In Germany, the kids would fall asleep at breakfast and wake up at 1am for the day. We were all kinds of mixed up.

The local area offered plenty of entertainment. We were tucked in a town that was home to beautiful pastures where cows, sheep and goat wandered aimlessly at the base of the tallest mountain in the country, Zugspitze.  Numerous restaurants lined the streets and our Airbnb backed up to a beautiful park. We spent our mornings having coffee on the terrace with a view of Zugspitze, walking to the park or a nearby farm to watch the animals graze.

One of the highlights of the trip was, no doubt, our hike on the Hollentalklamm Gorge hike. We hiked up and back in 6 hours, further than we thought the kids would want. Over the raging gorge river, through countless tunnels, all with a view of the peak of Zugspitze getting closer.  We stopped about 2 hours in at the small pub perched high above the base for a coffee and some snacks.  The boys never whispered a complaint and Baby A slept on Jon's back for 2 hours up. But that girl can climb!  She did the first 2 hours all on her own.  The challenge of the hike, the beauty of the view, and the uniqueness of the trail have made it one of my top 2 hikes.

Now, we didn't make it the peak.  Nor did we intend to. But we did make it to the peak using an alternative method of transportation.  We crossed into Austria to ride the gondola to the top. In true Brynn and Jon fashion, we got on the last ride of the day.  Jon even did a short bonus climb to the highest point in Germany.  The kids were more excited about the glacier and snow at the top than the ride itself. 

We enjoyed plenty of German sausage, kraut, beer and pastries. Did you know Aldi's have pastry vending machines in Germany??  Blew our minds. 

One of the things about flying standby is flexibility.  We found another Airbnb near the airport and made the drive back.  We weren't going to make it back for at least another day, so I found some activities to do in the area.  One was the Stockschleifern hike.  One of the most unique hikes we've done.  The kids were hungry and in bad moods but I told them we were going to a forest where gnomes lived and we had to find the gnomes. That got them excited.  The race was on to find the next one.  We found a castle on the Rein to visit after our hike with a view of the spectacular vineyards set on steep hills along the river.  The boys were thrilled to find a paper mache dragon in one of the towers and Baby A still talks about the Princess dress hanging in one of the bedrooms.

We were able to hop a flight back to New Jersey, which complicated things a bit.  We had left the US out of Delaware, so our car was...in Delaware.  The kids and I checked into a hotel and Jon headed out with a few other people on a shuttle bus to rent a car and make the drive down to Jersey. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but it was a blast!  Next time, we will plan for 2 days of R&R when we land to beat the jet lag. 

Farm Work

There is a lot to be said about work. Whether it’s at an office, construction site, hospital or school there is so much to benefit from working. I think Jon and I both miss some aspects of working, but one of those is the feeling of accomplishment.  There are bits and pieces of accomplishment we feel everyday. The kids are still alive at the top of that list. But, when we get the opportunity to work, we tend to jump on it. Now you may have guessed that I’m not really talking about work in the traditional sense. There is of course my work with Trades of Hope, and Jon has his reserve duties. But I’m talking about anything that contributes to the success of someone else. We don’t have fulltime jobs which gives us a lot of freedom to be a part of other’s work. One of our favorites is the work we get to do alongside some of our family at “The Farm”.

Every year for the last 4 years we have spent time in New York at Wilkens Fruit and Fir Farm in the Hudson Valley.  My Uncle has graciously allowed us to park the RV behind the cider mill and plug in to the outlets and water there. The logistics get a little hairy sometimes, but we chalk it up to the adventure.  For example, when they are pumping cider from one tank to another we have to make sure not to use any electricity since we are plugged into the same 15 amp circuit.  Or when the cider mill is being cleaned the water pressure drops to a trickle. Don’t for a second take this as complaining.  I really kind of like that we get the rustic experience of living on the farm.  Not to mention, we are rarely in the RV during the day. That’s where the work comes in. 

Since the first day that Jon and I arrived at the farm years ago, we have both been trying to find our place where we can be as helpful as possible. Not helpful like trying to do something only to realize we don’t know how to do it, and asking for instructions would actually be less helpful than if we just did nothing. We truly wanted to learn the farm so we could just jump in wherever they might be short handed, or take on a project that they may not have time to do but in the end it would be great to have done. (Like the wagon wheels that I never got around to fixing this year, sorry about that.)  I think that this was the year. During the first weekend of Christmas Tree sales I was actually able to be a “floater”.  While Jon tied upwards of 20 trees to the roofs of vehicles, the boys ran around the farm with a walkie talkie and Baby A hung out in the kitchen or with a cousin directing traffic, I was able to move from bailing trees, to making wreaths, to running food in the bake shop, to punching the wine, to checking people out with their tree purchases.  While I felt really accomplished, the accomplishment was in the ability to be useful for my family.  I adore their farm and everything about it. I love that I have the freedom to be a part of it in any way I can, but I was so grateful to be able to give of my time in a useful way. I wasn’t in the way anymore, I was actually helping. (At least that’s my impression, Stephanie may have a different opinion.)

I could probably go on for an hour about my ‘why’ of loving the farm so much. Work just being one of the reasons. But nothing at all tops the opportunity to be with some amazing people. My Aunt and Uncle spoil my kids with love and quality time. Rarely do they say no to one of my kids asking to ride along on the tractor or golf cart.  Even during the busiest times they will take one of the kids along on their errands around the farm. AJ got to help fix a fence, LJ picked up tree trimmings and stored Halloween merchandise, Baby A helped direct traffic and pack apples.  And then there are my cousins. They adore our kids and are never afraid to back me up in my parenting.  Stephanie started the “Give me 3 reasons I should let you down from the dinner table” rule when Baby A was done eating and trying to sneak away without eating veggies.  Katrina held Baby A on her shoulders for, what seemed like hours, because she asked her to.  Toys are brought down from the attic and out of the basement when we are there.  Halloween baskets were borrowed and they even babysat the kids on 2 occasions that Jon and I got to go into the city with my cousins.  Our entire family gets filled up when we are there.  We work hard and play hard. Dinners are around one table every night. It’s such a blessing, the time we get in New York.

Something new this year for us, was participation in a Classical Conversations community. We found one about an hour north of the farm that had space for us and was willing to let us come along for the 6 weeks we were there.  It was great to give the kids some time with another “teacher” besides myself and Jon and time with other homeschooled kids. We did a field trip with the community and enjoyed our short time with them.  I’m excited about our next spurt of time on the road, but being a part of a CC community will be missed. 

Something that we are beginning to recognize is, while we believe home is where your family is (or where we park it) home is the place that you grieve when you leave it and rejoice when you return. New York has started becoming that for us. We always look forward to getting there and never look forward to leaving it. Maybe when we are done Wandering full-time, you will find us in New York. Enjoying time with family and hard, but fruitful (I had to) work on the farm.