Judy applied for and received approval for a sabbatical from her teaching job during the 2017-2018 academic year. During the fall of 2017, she announced her intention to go to Europe to reconnect with her family there, taking advantage of her sabbatical.

Rick asked pathetically, “Can I come, too?” To which she replied, “Sure.”

At that point the trip was a nondescript intention. No immediate action was taken.

Rick expressed a desire to include the girls in the plans. Alas, as it appeared spring or early summer were the ideal times for Rick’s and Judy’s schedules, they demurred. [Anna’s husband Alex would still be working, and she did not want to go without him. For Elise, it was too far away to consider, since she and Matt were planning a move to Chicago, and they had no idea where or when that would be, or what they would be doing.]

Fast forward to February, 2018. Upon hearing about forthcoming fare increases, Rick began to investigate dates. And flights. And the availability of cousins we intended to visit.

The general target timeframe of late May or early June was acceptable to German family (in principle). Using the app Hopper (a recommendation from Elise) Rick booked two tickets for a roundtrip to Frankfurt, and texted the girls about the plans.

Two days later, we were surprised to receive a call from Elise asking whether it would be okay if she came, too. Without much consideration, we said, “Yes.” She immediately clicked “Submit” and booked her flight—WHILE we were on the phone! (It seems she was looking at an itinerary when she called, and was all set to commit, pending a positive word from us.)

Anna was taken aback. You might be able to imagine the outline of her case: “She can’t just invite herself on your trip, Mom and Dad! This is your time for you…. I wish I could go but don’t want to without Alex, and he has to work…. I’ll be finishing up grad school, and we might be moving, and I’ll be looking for a job… That’s not fair.”

We offered to include her on the trip, and as it turned out, Alex was supportive of her going. So we added her to the itinerary. We would be making a swan song adventure for the four of us, perhaps never to be repeated.

We created a Google doc to share ideas, plans, details, and suggestions. We scheduled a FaceTime^® meeting with Elise (in Texas) for careful negotiations. We ironed out our itinerary, in consultation with the cousins, and proceeded to pack.

We would meet Elise in Germany, as she had booked a flight one day ahead of ours. We would spend two nights in Lüdinghausen; two in Fökinghausen; and three in Wasserfall. Then we would fly to Ireland (a “MUST SEE” recommendation from both our girls based on their independent, previous trips there) for six nights in Dingle, before returning home.

Rick’s itinerary unwittingly had Anna on different flight numbers, but it turned out they were the same aircraft with different booking designations. His oversight, however, also allowed only a forty-five minute layover at Washington Dulles. We had people praying we would make our flight, and we were prepared for a sprint to catch our connection.

We arrived at MSP airport in plenty of time, courtesy of our neighbor, Frank. Our flight was scheduled to leave on time, so we waited at the gate. Mindful of our tight connection at Dulles, we monitored the United app carefully for updates. One thing it told us was that we would be arriving at gate D24 (right below) and departing from gate C1 (left below)… a distance—we were soon to discover—of approximately 0.7 miles.

We pulled back from the gate almost on time. Then we sat in a queue of waiting planes on the runway for twenty minutes.

Our margin of error for making our connection had shrunk by nearly half!

We sprinted off the plane at Dulles as soon as we could, and lumbered down the concourse, dragging our luggage, Anna in the lead. We arrived—hot, sweaty, and out of breath—with mere seconds to spare before they closed the aircraft door. We found our seats, buckled in, took a few breaths, and prepared to settle in for the overnight flight to Frankfurt.

In the end, we needn’t have hurried. The loudspeaker came to life almost immediately. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. It appears this plane requires service. We will now ask you to deplane and await another aircraft to take us to Frankfurt. Please gather at gate C14 until it arrives. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

So we retraced half our steps— albeit at a much more leisurely pace; gathered at the gate; and waited. One-and-a-half hours later we boarded (again) for the transatlantic leg of our journey. Fortunately, we didn’t have a connection to make in Frankfurt, as had many of the other passengers.

The Frankfurt airport is huge, and that’s an understatement. We eventually found our way to the rental car (“Mietwagen” in German) agency; trekked to the parking garage; got assistance from the attendant for converting the car’s GPS to English; and began our two-hours-and-forty-minute drive to Lüdinghausen.

We hadn’t realized it was a holiday week. That drive ended up taking nearly four hours in stop-and-go traffic!

With our rental car, we followed GPS navigation through the intermittently crawling holiday traffic to the Pröbsting farm in Lüdinghausen. Reinhild and her dad Bernhard (whom we will see later) had visited Minnesota in 1999, so it was a thrill for Judy and Rick to see her again, and to meet her family. Our girls had both visited them on their travels.

Elise had arrived a day earlier, and was there to greet us. Reinhild had driven the five-hours-plus roundtrip to the Frankfurt airport to bring Elise to the farm. We discovered that she had graciously done this on her birthday!

Elise wasted no time re-introducing herself to the family, and had great fun with the kids, especially Greta and Johann, whom she had met on her previous trip. As evidence, the driveway and sidewalk were fully decorated in chalk, and the trampoline was in full service mode.

When we arrived, Anna had a grand reunion with the kids, as well. (Unlike Elise, she had met Ida on her previous journey.) It took no time at all for the four girls to become almost a single entity.

Johann, on the other hand, often sought solace in his Lego^® kits. With incredible foresight, Judy had brought a Lego book for him as a gift.

As we found throughout our time in Germany, the families warmly welcomed us into their homes and lives. We ate what they ate; we explored their surrounds; we chatted like cousins do.

Max Pröbsting runs the family pig farm, which was deeded to him upon his father’s retirement, under German law. He has some 3,000 pigs, and an intricate, computer controlled feeding and nutrition system for managing them. On the surrounding farmland, there are cows whose owners rent grazing space. The original family home (right) has been renovated and rented out.

The newer home sits across the driveway (below right) was subdivided to accommodate both his parents and Max’s family. There is a great combination of the old and new. For example, one of the barns is completely covered with a solar array.

We stayed in a dormer bedroom above the parents’ side of the home. It was lovely! There was even a box of chocolates on each of our pillows! We felt not unlike the Von Trapp family. Each of four beds was in a corner, with lots of open space.

Each morning Reinhild went to the store to pick out a selection of rolls, to be served with a wide variety of meats, spreads, and cheeses. (The kids—especially Ida—favored Nutella.) We also had juice, milk, coffee, and tea. We discovered we like Quark, a type of cheese we had never had before, made from soured milk fermented with mesophile bacteria. She also offered hardboiled eggs if we wanted, though admitted they normally only have the eggs on Sunday mornings.

The next day, we went for a bike ride around the town of about 25,000, which is located about 25 km southwest of Münster. The terrain is fairly flat in Lüdinghausen, and as a result it is a popular destination for bikers. On our tour we learned about some of the history of the area (the town was founded in the thirteenth century); saw the three local castles and learned about their history; and toured the Catholic church in downtown.

On our bike tour, Reinhild thoughtfully pointed out a local business (read about Polenz Metall Design Manufaktur here) which manufactures the white walls used in Apple Stores around the world. Rick was excited to see this and learn how the company had lost the brushed metal work which Apple had previously employed in their stores. The owner then competed to win the contract back for the white walls, partnering with a Belgian company to create the ideal product to meet Apple’s exacting specifications.

Along the way we stopped at a World War memorial, honoring local men who died in both World Wars.

We also stopped at a charming ice cream parlor in the downtown area for a “snack.” After our snack, we biked to an inn where we had a real dinner. It’s a good thing we were biking all day so we could justify (or at least rationalize) all those calories!

On 11 May it was time to move to our next destination, but not before heading back into town to “crash” the wedding reception of one of Reinhild’s friends, and to collect momentos from the local tourist bureau. Then we said our farewells and set out for Fökinghausen, following our trusty GPS.

Our destination was Waldhaus Föckinghausen, a “forest inn” run by Ute and Antonius Knippschild. Even with GPS, it didn’t take us long to miss a turn. Due to construction on the highway, several exits were closed, so we had to travel miles out of our way in order to turn around and return to our original route.

Our arrival was anticipated, as indicated by the welcome sign in front of the hotel. It was exciting to see Ute excited to see us. (She had stayed with us when we lived in California ages ago; Rick and Judy had not seen her since her wedding in 1999.)

They had set aside two rooms for us, which were darling. Again, the many novel (to us) features, such as heated towel racks and magnetically-sealing shower doors, fascinated Rick, and made the space efficient and charming.

The Knippschild family lives in an apartment on the second floor of the hotel. There is a deck on the roof of the entryway (above, left) which lets out from their living room. Upon our arrival, Rick and Antonius assembled a grill in the garage, newly purchased for the occasion (their old one had stopped working). We delivered the freshly-assembled grill to the deck, where a cookout was being prepared. Antonius is a bonafide chef (as we knew from the wonderful food at their wedding reception) and the barbecue showed it.

It was a wonderful meal (and only a foretaste of what was to come). For the occasion, Heiner and Suzanne Schulze Uphoff (Ute’s sister) drove up from their home just south of Bonn. They would be with us for several activities, which was nice, since we wouldn’t be able to visit their house.

We got introduced to the kids (Anna and Elise had already met them) and had a wonderful meal together. Suzanne and Heiner’s kids are Franseca and Christoff; Ute and Antonius’ are Karl-Anton and Johannes. We would often be without our girls, and would find them in demand for soccer (in the front yard) or trampoline activities (in the back yard).

We made plans for a forest walk the following day, along with some sightseeing. The Bestwig area is apparently popular as it is part of the Hochsauerlandkreis, a district that includes the two highest mountains in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

We drove about 30 km to Winterberg, a town very popular with snow skiers. There are trails from Winterberg along the Sauerland Mountains. We hiked a portion of the trail, as far as a restaurant near Hoheleye district (about 7 km each way).

We had a meal, then began the return hike. The interesting thing about the meal was that the restaurant was very busy. Ute and Antonius know the people there, and Ute undertook to be our server. She got menus and turned our orders in; then brought out the food and beverages when they were ready. Along the way back, some of our group elected to ride back rather than continue the trek, so Antonius took off at high speed on foot to collect the car and pick them up. The rest of us strolled leisurely back to the parking lot.

From the carpark in Winterberg we drove to the summit of Kahler Asten, the second highest mountain in NRW. It’s not an alpine peak, more like a high meadow, but it is beautiful and has a lovely view, even from ground level. (If you want to see above the trees, there is a building/restaurant you can pay to enter and use the observation deck.)

We ended our day back at the Waldhaus, where Ute and Antonius had planned a particularly festive feast. We were treated to a four course meal, which was truly amazing!!

We each had a white asparagus starter with a delectable sauce. This was followed by a platter with four magnificent meats to try, each better than the next, and a big bowl of potatoes. It was all topped off by trio of delicious desserts: rhubarb cream; fresh fruit; and strawberry parfait.

Judy was so excited, she hopped into the kitchen to test the boundaries of propriety, and upon approval (and aproning) from the chef, she helped Ute deliver desserts.

WOW! It was all wonderful.

Joseph and Margaret Dickmann (Suzanne and Ute’s parents) were able to join us for the meal, which was truly special. After dinner, Antonius emerged from the kitchen to sit with us, and insisted we have “one more beer”—three times!

The next morning was “moving day” as we prepared for the next stop on our sojourn. We had a leisurely morning; Ute and Antonius had some 120 “Mother’s Day” reservations to manage! Still they made time to get us on our way our next “cousin accommodation.” The “kids” enticed Elise to enjoy the trampoline with them one last time; and we sat in the shade to relish the lovely landscape.

For Mother’s Day we received an invitation to visit the Dickmann home in Andreasberg, basically across the Ruhr River valley to the south. We had been there in 1999, and were pleased to return.

This was the only day we had any “weather” to speak of. It poured heavily, blasted thunder and lightning, and pummeled our car with hail. We were glad to be inside and cozy, sharing memories with Joseph and Margaret… and the delicious cakes from Margaret’s magical, miniature kitchen. We had marveled at its efficiencies when first there nearly two decades earlier.

From there we continued south a few more minutes, past the Fort Fun amusement park (foreshadowing alert; stay tuned), to Ferienhaus Wasserfall, the vacation home run by Ruth Metten on the family property. Judy and Rick had met Ruth, along with her sister Reinhild (our Lüdinghausen hostess) and their parents, Bernhard and Marianne, at Ute’s wedding in 1999. Anna and Elise had met them on their travels as well. Now we were blessed to spend some time with them.

The family farm has been there for hundreds of years. Literally! When Bernhard reached retirement age, German law required that he deed the land to a descendant, in this case, Ruth. She took over, though he still works the land, managing the trees in their forest. When a big storm came through and blew down a lot of their trees, they had to sell them all at once. With the proceeds, Ruth built a vacation home on their lot, which she manages. The area has a lot of tourism, especially from the Netherlands, and the Ferienhaus is heavily booked.

The vacation home (left, above) accommodates ten people easily, and has many modern gadgets and efficiencies typical of what we saw throughout the trip—and with which Rick was particularly struck all along the way. For example, there are towel warmers in the bathrooms. What a great idea! We used them to great effect, drying our overnight laundry along with our towels. (This may be a good idea to investigate for implementation in Minnesota, where warm winter towels would be welcome.)

The family farm (right, above) is where Bernhard and Marianne live. Ruth built a home between the original home and the barn. Her home attaches and has a separate entrance (right).

We were welcomed and given a tour, then sat to visit and catch up. It was fun yet we had to keep on our toes to be sure everyone was able to understand. Anna doesn’t speak German; Rick and Judy speak a fair bit of German; Ruth is strong in both languages, as is Bernhard; and Marianne speaks only a little English. She had shared privately with Ruth that she was concerned about being alone with us and unable to communicate (Ruth would be away working during the day). However, our living room chat was enjoyable for all, and she was at ease, especially with her dictionary for tough words, and our rudimentary skills in German.

After settling in, Ruth invited us to her quarters for dinner. She prepared a white asparagus pizza and salad, which were spectacular. We sat around the table over drinks (also a special creation) and heard stories of her home’s conception and creation. We made plans for a tour of the family forest the next day, and retired (although the girls stayed up later, chatting with Ruth).

We had heard rumors of a surprise happening on Monday afternoon, but were given no clue, and so contented ourselves with a morning walk. We drove down the long hill into the town of Ramsbeck to purchase groceries. It was very picturesque. Rick was enchanted by the juxtaposition of the word “circus” with the family name “Trumpf” — given the current political climate in America. Who knows if the foibles of the current US administration helps or hinders the success of this circus. After breakfast and while Ruth was at work, Bernhard and Marianne showed us around the family land, introducing us to the trees Bernhard manages. We saw where the lumber is gathered after harvesting; a hunting stand and hunter’s cabin; and went wandering over the hill on our way back to the house. Marianne left before the hike, taking the car home.

When we got back we had a wonderful lunch, prepared by Marianne in our absence. We learned that it is high praise to say about the meal, “Well, one can eat it.” After eating, we got ready to head back to the Waldhaus for our promised “surprise.”

When we gathered at the Waldhaus, we noticed two things: there was a large bus (think of a party bus, but built for off-road driving); and there were many people there. Bernhard had arranged for a local touring company to transport us through town and up into a mountaintop quarry (not accessible to the public). The invitation included many other cousins in the area, so we got to meet some of the extended family.

It was a fun and hair-raising ride, as we lumbered through town; past the huge gravel trucks and mining facilities; and onto the top (well, it is currently the top, but a good bit of it has been ground up and hauled away) of the mountain. The view was amazing, though you had to watch your step. The mineral dust from the mining process does not wash out; and the edges of the scree piles are rather precipitous.

After exploring the quarry for a while, we were rounded up and taken to our next destination: the back side of Fort Fun. At the end of a winding service road we reached the hilltop extremity of the park, where there is a tower (not unlike a fire lookout) with yet another breathtaking (in more ways than one) view of the Sauerland. Some undertook the climb; some preferred the shade below; and the younger kids did both: running around, up and down the stairs, and all over the play equipment.

We were again herded back onto the “adventure bus” for our ride to a dinner reservation at Gasthof Nieder in Heringhausen, after which we were delivered back to the Waldhaus for the end of our day.

The Plästerlegge (as the waterfall in Wasserfall is known) is the highest natural waterfall of the Sauerland and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The word is apparently a dialect formation of the Sauerland Platt and means something like “raining schist rock,” composed of the terms blaring (“crackling, cloudbursty rain”) and legge (“schiefriger rock”). It falls about 700 m, first about 20 m almost vertically over a rocky outcrop of the shale into a gorgeous basin, and then flows about 500 m as a torrent over the remains of a debris glacier. Luther, a district nature conservationist for Bestwig, wrote in 1938:

South of the fall, a towering structure crowns the rock. Behind this breastplate lead was smelted. The molten metal was then poured over the drop. As it fell, round globules formed, which then cooled rapidly in the water. Even now you may find such pellets.

In the Sauerland region, preservation of the relics of this “ball foundry” („Kugelgießerei“) is viewed as important for national heritage reasons. The fragile surrounding ecosystem is also being protected.

There is a chapel

Text for Ireland…

Text about the trip back…