On to the Next Chapter

This past year was incredible, and there's so many people we need to thank for making it that way. In somewhat chronological order, here is our long list of gratitude.

• Chris & Jennifer -- thank you for selling us your wonderful, lightly-used RV! It worked out so perfectly for us.

• Barry -- thank you for meeting us when we came to pick up the RV when Chris & Jennifer couldn't be there, and jumping the battery when we realized it was dead from sitting in storage.

• Esad (& family) -- thank you for welcoming us to your AirBnB on our first overnight stop with the rig, and immediately trimming tree branches upon our arrival to make it fit in your yard. Sorry again for the tire tracks through your grass.

• Dan/ChatGPT -- thank you for suggesting the name Prairie Smile Wagon for the rig. It's so bad but makes us smile every time we say it.

• Sean (& family) -- HUGE thank you for allowing us to stay on your Hipcamp property as we transitioned into full-time RV living, and for allowing us to keep the site as our permanent/domicile address to make this year on the road so much easier.

• Kenneth (& his dog Star) -- thank you for buying our RV furniture that came with the rig, which allowed us to furnish it on our own and make it feel more like home. And thank you for bringing Star with you.

• Drs. Matt & Jaimie (& Putter & Molly) -- thank you for allowing us to stop over at Jaimie's house in Pennsylvania, for giving us a full-length shower, and for traveling to Maine for Amy's graduation. Also S/O to Matt for visiting us in Arizona as our 3rd overnight guest!!!

• Brian -- thank you for the amazing campground experience in West Virginia.

• Stan & Cindy -- thank you for coming over to our site in the dark & pouring rain to help us figure out the water hydrant after arriving in WV, and also for keeping an eye on the Wagon whenever we'd be gone for the weekends.

• Dr. Meg -- thanks for being our first overnight visitor in the wagon and leaving us a glowing 5 star review!!!

• Kelsey & Grant (& Ren & Rudy) -- thank you for hosting us when we popped back to the good ol' Midwest for a bit.

• Sarah & Glen -- thank you for opening your space near Yellow Springs, OH for a great stop over stay, and letting us use the hot tub. Dear readers, please stay here.

• Dr. Madeline & Drew -- thank you for your hospitality in Minnesota and letting us have a sleep over in your hotel room when the rig was in the shop unexpectedly!!! Also for letting us do our laundry during game night. Jelly Jar Jelly Jar!!!

• Dr. Angie & Michel -- thank you for letting us keep our Turo rental in your driveway while we went up to camp in northern MN, and for taking us out for a lovely night of dinner & jazz!

• Drs. Vince, Stan & Ben -- thanks for coming to MN for the annual national park trip while we were already there.

• Natalie & Ron -- so many thank you's for you two: 1) feeding us multiple times, particularly homemade pizza night, 2) driving Chad to work/letting us borrow your car when needed, 3) letting us do our laundry at your house, and 4) making us feel so welcome in Milwaukee.

• Mike -- thank you for also driving Chad to work and ultimately preventing us from needing another rental. And a huge thanks for your work with the women's shelter in Waukesha.

• Pam - LOTS OF THANK YOU'S, including: 1) helping fund our RV tool kit, 2) becoming the Wagon's 2nd overnight visitor by coming to Milwaukee 3) gifting us our "Happy Camper" license plate frame and 4) coming to Maine for graduation!

• Jody & Terry -- LOTS OF THANK YOU'S, including: 1) meeting us for a weekend in Montreal to help us pick up the rig in upstate NY and drive it back to Maine, 2) letting us park in the driveway for Amy's rotation in Kansas and not caring if the HOA had a problem with it, 3) helping fund our truck bed cover, 4) traveling with us to South Africa, and 5) helping us move into our Boise home (the flowers are mostly still alive. Also thank you for coming to help too Taci!!)

• All of our Harvest Hosts -- it's been so amazing to have multiple restaurants/breweries and people open up their spaces to us strangers for the night.

• Liz & Dillon -- thank you for allowing us to park our truck in your driveway in KC while we were roaming around for a few weeks.

• Michelle -- thank you for hosting us/Amy in Boise, providing a car for Amy's rotation, taking us out to dinner to celebrate matching in Boise, and allowing us to send a bunch of crap from Maine to your house!

• Alex & MK -- thank you for the wonderful tour of Boise before we even knew it would become our new home.

• Drew & Savannah -- thank you for being our favorite Airbnb!!! This includes having Chad stay at your place for a few nights on his travels back to Maine, and hosting us while we were in between South Africa and Honduras. So pumped to bike around Boise with you when you visit!!!

• Nick, Kate and Chad's Maine dental fam -- thank you for making it work for Chad to come back to Maine for a few weeks in December, letting him borrow Blue Betty, and for being so generous with donations for Honduras.

• Mike & Amy (& Jojo) -- HUGE thank you for swooping in right before we left for NZ to buy our RV! You guys we're so easy to work with on quite a time crunch and we are so appreciative!!!

• Dr. Sara -- thank you for welcoming Chad into your practice for a day and for allowing us to store our truck at your house in Arizona while we were off in NZ.

• Wendell, Stacey & Sydney -- thank you for feeding us, showing us the ropes at the casino, entertaining us by going to Drunk Shakespeare, and hosting us after New Zealand.

• Lisa -- thank you for letting us borrow your car for our few days in Tacoma.

• Toni -- thank you for working so hard to find the perfect job for Chad in Christchurch and helping him navigate through the hoops of working internationally.

• Jo & Lance -- thank you for hosting us at your AirBnB in Christchurch and providing such wonderful hospitality.

• PJ & Christine -- thank you for welcoming us to NZ, providing your family car for our whole time there, and having us over to your family beach home in Mapua! And for all the lattes.

• Garden City Dental crew -- thank you for welcoming a wayward dentist, making Chad feel like a part of the team from day one, and being so good at not talking about work when we'd go out for drinks.

• Amy & Thomas -- thank you for hanging out with us and giving us so many recommendations around NZ. We can't wait to come back to Renegade!!!

• Sam, Erin, & Xae -- thank you for welcoming us so kindly to your casita and for your hospitality while in ABQ (and for sharing your pups with us).

• Dr. Oscar & Helinda -- thank you for welcoming Chad so warmly to your practice and letting us borrow your car in ABQ .

• Lexi & Matt -- thank you for spending part of your vacay in Santa Fe with us and bringing Sohla along for pats.

• Luke & Riley -- thank you for letting us stay in SLC for a few days! Also thank you for the laughs, snacks, and introduction to such amazing book stores.

• Elaine -- thank you for letting us crash in KC for a few days before we left for South Africa! We will send you a French press, don't worry ❤️

• Anthony -- thanks for the quick lunch and hangs in KC! Can't wait to hear about the next steps in your journey.

• Chad & Chantelle -- thank you so much for the warm welcome to South Africa. What a beautiful, wild story to lead us to you both. We are so excited to be a part of your story now, and can't wait to welcome you to the U.S. when you can make it!!!

• Erin & Mark (& Bella & Domino) -- thank you for hosting us in London! We can't wait to come back for another show and for more Indian food.

• Benji & Staci -- thank you for letting us forward mail to your address, notifying us when something looked important, and sending us a package of everything to wherever we were. And to Benji for coming to Maine for graduation!

• Erica -- thanks for also coming to Maine for graduation!

  
  
  

  

• TRedway -- thank you for the Moore's Fifth Edition of Clinical Anatomy. I am tearing up I am so excited to read it.

• Alex -- thank you for having 1 million friends and introducing us to your 1 million friends. We are so grateful for such an inclusive crew to hang out with. You are truly a dream, pal. And thanks for hosting us in KC, inviting us to Cancun, and for flying to Maine!

  
  
  

  

  

• Mainely Teeth team -- thank you for welcoming Chad as a teledentist so he had something to do on the road, allowing him to work chairside for a few weeks when we were back in Maine, providing tons of supplies for Honduras, and letting us use the company Bronco.

• Dr. Yee -- thank you for letting us crash for a weekend and for teaching us how to spin a wooden bowl.

• Honduras 2024 & 2025 teams -- thank you for the sweet memories and for allowing us to be a part of the team, especially Dr. Julia for your incredible leadership.

• Josh & Leah -- thank you for letting us crash in Houston for a night on our way back from Honduras.

• Jayce, Zak, and Natalie -- thank you THANK YOU for helping us in our first homebuying process!!! Mostly, thank you for not being scared of our unhinged logistics. We are so grateful.

  
  

  

  
  

For everyone along the way, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for how you have influenced our journey. Thank you for the snacks, the advice (solicited or not), and the well wishes. There was nothing better than getting messages from people we hadn't heard from in awhile saying they couldn't wait for the next post to drop or they were invested in our adventure.

We are so excited for this next chapter. We are all settled into our home in Boise, Amy's residency is off and running, and Chad has started his new full-time job. It's pretty cool that we have a house that doesn't move around and our sewage is underground and taken care of. (Important to note, though, that our first big project was laying a new sewer line. No rest for the wicked, I guess.)

And with that, consider this the official retirement of Docs in a Box. Thanks for the memories ❤️

Amy's first day of family medicine residency