On The Road Again

El Paso, Texas

(November 2006)

We made it to El Paso, Texas. Since the RV weights less than 26,500 pounds, we won't have to take a test for our driver's license. The plan is to visit the department of motor vehicles on Monday (20th).

I read an article in the Escapees magazine regarding a couples experience in changing their registration of their vehicles in Livingston, TX where Escapees is located. Since we arrived on the weekend, we located the Department of Public Safety (DPS) where we will do our business. When we registered our vehicles in Indiana, all we needed was the current vehicle registration, proof of insurance and our currant California driver's licenses. That was all we needed.

So, Armed with all of this information, we headed off to the DPS on Monday morning. After waiting through a line of about 36 people we were asked if we had any vehicles registered in Texas. "That is why we are here", I said. "No, you need to do that at the Texas Tax Assessor's Department," she said. We needed for our licenses our birth certificates, marriage certificates, social security cards, proof of insurance and our Indiana licenses. So off we went. There was about 40 people before us in this line. The fellow who served us was quite nice. "We have a couple of vehicles we want to change to Texas registration from Indiana." I said as I laid down our proof of insurance, Indiana registration and our Indiana licenses. "This is going to take some time" he said. We needed to get our a safety inspection, an emission check and identify the lender's name and address. That took care of the car. "Next is our motorhome," I said. "That will involve a lot more," he said. "You have all the same things for the car and you need to get it's empty weight." "Empty weight?" I said. "We live in it and it is full." "What do you have in it?" he asked. I guess he didn't know what a class A motorhome was. He asked if we put it in a park and leave it there, and we said no that it has an engine and can be driven. So, we left with quite a "to-do" list in hand.

After filling out all of the paperwork, we drove around until we found a Quick Lube that checked out our car. I noticed the bay door was high enough for the RV to clear and they did said that they tested them. We drove back to get the motorhome. It didn't take long to pull up stakes and get back to Quick Lube. Even after pulling the mirrors in, the RV would not fit into the bay. I tried backing into the bay and we ran into a problem again. So, they suggested Lube and Go. Their bay door was about three inches wider than the motorhome. The mechanic was like a cat, he left his mark on a new area by leaving greasy foot prints on the carpet. All checked out fine and we headed to Flying J four miles down I-10. After weighing and filling the gas tank.

Well, we went to the Texas Tax Assessor's to complete the transfer of our vehicles. After waiting in line for over a half an hour, we were waited on. She noticed the permanent address was not in El Paso. WHAT? After another 15 minutes of checking and the answer came back that we needed to do all of this in the county that our address is located. That is 807 miles east of here. That is 1614 miles round trip. I was told by the DPS in Livingston that we could get this completed anywhere in Texas. Well, I guess she was wrong.

Now what? If we go to Livingston, it is the same distance as going to LA. We have until March 15th to change the vehicles over to Texas. So, it looks as if it is a better choice to go on to California now and then head to Livingston after we finish our babysitting job at the end of January 2007.