Nothing has severely broken (yet)!!! The tune up was largely because someone nearly ripped off a chunk of the back end of our home (see previous post).
I have never felt like such an adult as I do when explaining how we live in this RV. Casual conversations about an extended warranty? Definitely. Making sure the DEF is topped off in the truck? Obviously. Calling Progressive about our insurance reimbursement? Yes. Discussing how Chad does the logistics for our campsites? I might be able to do that. We have already learned so much, and I know there's more waiting for us around the corner.
First of all, we're living the dream in Minnesota! More on that in a bit. Second of all, we decided it was time to take our gal in for a maintenance. In addition to fixing the back end, we decided it was time to check the appliances, flush the lines, and pack the wheel bearings. (See what I mean about learning stuff? Sheesh.) We found a place near our campsite and fought the Minneapolis traffic to drop her off. A route that should have taken us 30 minutes took us an hour and 20, so we rolled into our maintenance appointment a bit late. Adulthood comes in all forms.
Turns out, RV maintenance takes a long time. Who knew? Not us. We thought the Wagon would be squared away in an afternoon, but actually it turns out the shop needed it all week to do the work. Since it was going to be there all week, our campground plans changed. Actually, all our plans changed. We cancelled most the nights of our campground and ended up staying in a hotel, where coincidentally our friends, Madeline & Drew (a recurring theme for Docs in a Box 🙂), were staying for the week. You know what that meant: sleepover!!! We also got to see Chad's favorite band Wild Rivers and have a ~stunning~ dinner out on the town.
To no one's surprise, we killed the battery again. Actually, the battery was struggling after sitting at the shop for a week, but I digress. Again, you know what that meant: catch us jumping the Prairie Smile Wagon at random hours of the day!!! Also catch us airing out the freezer after a bag of fruit cooked in there while the rig sat in the shop. Lessons learned.
Minnesota has been so cool. We found ourselves in the Boundary Waters, which is basically like a Midwestern version of northern Maine. We canoed through a few lakes, had a PB&B on a lil rock island, and I obviously mostly carried the canoe while Chad carried the food and made sure we didn't get lost. Also, I got some of my first residency interviews where we had limited cell service. Yeehaw!!!
Chad also got to explore northern Minnesota with his pals from dental school on their annual trip. They choose a national park to visit every year, and this year they did Voyageurs National Park. Photog Chad was out in full force for all of these fall adventures.
Chad's part-time temp work quickly turned into a full-time gig after another part-time doc broke his arm. While this meant more commuting for him, it also meant more snacks because this office did not mess around when it came to pot-lucking. He brought veggies and/or dessert home almost every day. It's not the most visually appealing practice from the outside (Chad jokingly called it Jo-Ann Fabrics Dentistry), but the quality humans on the inside definitely make up for it.
Other hot gossip from our time in MN:
Living in an RV is the perfect reason to request an absentee ballot (cheers the giant margarita we had to democracy)!
We are currently on the tail end of both an ant infestation and lady bug infestation.
Chad was able to spend a lot of his free time caddying at Hazeltine National Golf Club (apparently the Ryder Cup was there??)
I am back to living my inpatient medicine dreams.
We spent a weekend at Oktoberfest in New Ulm.
Chad volunteered for a free dental day called TeamSmile at the Vikings stadium, where he got to meet Sam Darnold and was gifted some cool scrubs.
We made Chad's late grandma proud by attending bingo at a casino and won -$50.
Sometimes I think this year just keeps getting weirder but actually maybe we're just getting weirder? Again, I digress.
Comments