One two three...go!

We visited this beautiful  park, located 45 miles away from Las Cruces, New Mexico on a beautiful sunny January day. The gypsum dunes make for a nice walk, since they are firmer than regular sand dunes.  Dogs are allowed on leashes and let me tell you, our dogs loved the sand hike! For more information on this great park visit www.nps.gov/whsa Check out our pictures from our visit to White Sands by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/Eo65p65YRk4

I am sure you had the occasional or regular anxiety leading up to Christmas ? Finding the right gifts on your long list for everyone , making sure the house sparkles and the best meal yet will be served this year? We've all been there. Stressing over these self made rules in our head. They aren't written down anywhere; no law telling us it is mandatory to follow, or else! Well lucky me; the list in my head was clear, non existent this year. Instead I dealt with a new anxiety, one I wasn't familiar with and didn't like at all: Facing the holidays without my kids AND in a new town, in a new State, where we don't know a SINGLE person. We just have each other. Period. Now if you are an introvert and enjoy your alone time, this would be the best news ever, right?   Not this one. I enjoy people (well the nice ones that is....). I enjoy emerging myself into community,  things that bring people together. Don't get me wrong. I love my husband and spending time ...

As I am finishing my Christmas cookie production in my tiny kitchen,  I realize that some of you might wonder if cooking is possible, living tiny. The answer is YES! Often, when Joe amd I talk with people the assumption is made quiet regularly, that we only eat as if we were camping: Hot dogs and burgers, freshly prepared over the fire pit. They couldn't be farther from reality. I should start with this fact: Because our 5th wheel toy hauler is only equipped with a small fridge and freezer, we go grocery shopping about twice a week. No such thing as buying in bulk like we used to. But you know what?  It's not the end of the world, seriously. Growing up in Germany we never had a big fridge, like the typical ones here in the States. I remember my mom riding her bicycle (and later driving, after she got her driver's license around age 40) to the local market. It was about a 1 mile ride each way.  Grocery bags were stored in the attached bicycle basket or hung on the h...

It's the end of another ordinary day here in rural Kansas.  Today I decided to take my bike out to explore the area.  Every landscape has its beauty. Isn't that what "they say"? Well who are they anyway,  I ask? I tell myself though, to keep this saying in mind as I am choosing my path today. The dirt road I decide to take ends at a paved road, followed by another dirt road. I am always amazed by the diversity of this country.  Riding down this dirt road,  I come across the occasional farm, along with its silos and barns and hay bales. I can imagine their residents and the hard life they chose. They find comfort to come home to the familiar sounds and views. They probably would not trade their lifes, even if they could. I imagine driving on these endless roads in the harsh of the winter, the wind screaming.  What I can't imagine is my life here.  I feel lucky that Joe and I get to choose where we want to be. ...

It's a bitter cold  morning here in Wakefield, Kansas. We are parked on my daughters 3 acre property, deep in the countryside.  I am watching the sun slowly rise in the distance. The neighbors cows have been mooing in symphony for hours already. What a concert! This morning I have not heard the usual eary howling of the coyotes in the nearby fields. Instead the rooster is announcing the new start of a day. Today is November 2nd 2019. I am happy that I get to spend my soon-to-be birthday with my children. What a great gift in itself. The biggest miracle is yet to arrive any day now: We are awaiting the birth of our grandbaby Finley Joseph. Our arrival here in Kansas last Saturday marks the 13th destination since we started our life in our tiny home 11 weeks earlier. 3936 miles later! O'Malley and Peanut,  our puppies, now have the newfound freedom of running around with their cousins all day. A German Shepherd, Boxer and Mutt.  Every...

It's obvious that over time there comes a day here or there when you are stuck in your RV because of bad weather. As I am writing this blog we are staying overnight in Nomansville,  USA. Well okay this sleepy town goes by the name of Tucumcari,  New Mexico. Been there? At some point, a long time ago this place looks like it had boomed, being conveniently located along famous Route 66. But after driving around town (we always enjoy getting to know new towns, so we take a new town safari) it becomes clear that those days have long passed. What were once hip new facilities, such as RV parks, motels and restaurants,  are now closed down properties.  So, it's a cold late October day here in Tucumcari and because the weather is anything but good for travelling, we are staying an extra night, unfortunately.  It has taken me a bit to figure out how to entertain myself while living in a whopping 280 sf! You can't just pack up ALL your...

 My husband has this wonderful gift. He can step outside our trailer and meet somebody, strike up a conversation and have a new friend. Voila'!  Are you kidding me? For me this is more like work. If somebody starts a conversation with ME then it's a piece of cake. I can do that! And because I haven't mastered his art, I miss my friends. Add to that the fact that my kids live in different States for the 1st time in my life, does not help either. Joes kids too. I call them MY kids. After having them in my life for 6 years, I  love them just as if they were mine. They all are beautiful adults, and it's hard to only see them every now and then. I miss the in betweens of their lifes. This part is extremely hard. I wonder if I ever get used to it. I cannot relate to people who are happy with the fact that their kids no longer live near them. I am not one of them. And I never will be. Oddly enough I have now turned into one of "those" people that call their d...

A lot of things are going thru my mind tonight. Most of the time we stay at camp grounds or State parks. Tonight we happen to be en 'route to our next destination and are staying the night at a halfway point.  I am sitting here in a Walmart parking lot  looking out my livingroom window, not far from Lake Tahoe in Nevada on this beautiful sunny September afternoon.  I am reflecting back on the last 8 weeks of my new gypsy life. The life that my husband and I chose very willingly. Is it what I thought it would be? Is it what I was hoping it would be? It's what you make of it. I am a firm believer that we are not the victim of our circumstances. We make choices and if we don't like them, then we need to adjust them. A close and caring friend of the family wrote us this beautiful letter not too long ago, and how true it is! "Dear Ulrike and Joe, You are now seeing Phase One of your new life more clearly. It's the Discovery Phase wherein you begi...

We surround ourselves with beautiful things that make our home special, unique to us and our personalities,  lifestyles and quirks. The look of our home represents us and who we are and how we want the world to see us, at least on the surface. Enter the process of letting go. You know you're not gonna fit all your collections,  big or small, into your trailer. This means you must let go of an entire lifestyle.  But it's a choice. Joe and I made this choice willingly. Our then home was big. 6 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms.  A corner lot that required a lot of upkeep. Lots of stairs. It seemed all we did all the time was vacuum, dust and mop. We were tired of cleaning all the time, fixing things and everything that goes along with 2500 square feet. We were tired of all the stuff we had surrounded ourselves with all these years that we thought we needed at one point or another. Things take up space and they take time from us and for us they became a burden...