Becoming real Texans, Part II

The clerk at the Livingston County, Texas DMV office instructed me on the use of their exam system. “It works better if you use the pencil eraser than your finger [to answer test questions],” she said, pointing to a small screen and chair in the corner of the office.



I sat down at the testing station and entered my DMV number. Up popped question 1: How many inches off the ground can mud flaps be on a commercial truck? How the frack should I know!!! I made my best guess. Eight inches. “Correct. 1 of 20,” read the screen. Next question: Which of the following vehicle types is not required to have mud flaps in Texas? Crap! I don't know this one, either!

And so it went. Turns out I had studied the wrong section of the Texas commercial drivers license manual. It was my university general chemistry first semester final all over again.

 

Our carefully thought out plan to become licensed Texas drivers was now at risk. Even before Leonard and I had entered the DMV office to take our written exams – a pre-requisite for taking the road skills test – completing the licensing process was proving to be more difficult than either of us expected. We had a narrow window between the time we arrived in Livingston until the time we needed to depart for Topeka, Kansas to accomplish the deed. (For reasons I won't go into here, a late arrival in Topeka was simply not an option.) By the time we completed everything needed to schedule our written tests (see previous post for details), we had enough time left for just one of us to book an appointment, thereby becoming a fully-licensed Class A non-CDL driver.

Leonard was the obvious choice since he had logged so many more miles towing Kong than I had. What's more, unlike Leonard, I had never backed up the KongZilla combo. So, I would get a learner's permit, giving me until my birthday of 2020 to take the road exam. Meanwhile, I could drive KongZilla when accompanied by a Class A licensee (and drive Truckzilla without restriction). Failing my written test would force Leonard to bear the entire towing burden solo until such time as we could return to Texas when I would retake the exam. While I have absolutely no problem riding along the nation's highways being carried like Cleopatra sitting in her barge down the Nile, it would be neither fair nor safe to place all that responsibility on one member of our two-person team.

 

RVers are exempt from getting the full commercial

license. My advice? Study sections 2 and 14, 14, 14!

Don't panic, Sally. You can do this!

 

As with that college final, my guessing skills and some deep breathing carried the day. I passed. The clerk printed out my temporary Texas learner's license. Now, it was Leonard's turn.

He sat down at the terminal. A very short time later, he stood up, looked at me and shook his head from side to side. Oh, no!

 

Undaunted, Leonard returned home and spent the rest of the day studying. He passed the exam the following day and even managed to talk the examiner into scheduling his road test for our last day in Livingston. And, yes, he passed that with flying colors. Phew!

 

Today, we trek northward in our rolling condo. Just two real Texans and a beagle. Git along, little doggie! 

Becoming real Texans, Part I

The last time I took a driving test, I was 16. To say I had a case of performance anxiety would be putting it mildly. I drove the family car, a 1961 Plymouth Valiant station wagon, to the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Topeka, Kansas, parked and waiting for the examiner to join me. I started the engine and proceeded to pull out of the lot, at which time the examiner pointed out that the parking brake was still set. I was mortified, so much so that I released the brake but forgot to stop the car first! We lurched forward. I regained enough composure to proceed through the rest of the test. When it was over, the examiner said, “I've seen better, but I've seen worse.” (He passed me, but I gather it was a close call.)

It seems life has handed me yet another opportunity to humiliate myself. That's because I have to do it all again, this time driving KongZilla. This has to do with our decision to switch domicile from South Dakota to Texas. (If you want to know why we initially selected South Dakota, see “Domiciling in the State of Emergency.”) Why? Health insurance, that's why.

When Leonard, Sprocket and I returned to the U.S. after three years in Costa Rica, my only affordable health insurance option was a high-deductible plan that covers catastrophic illness. It might have kept us from filing bankruptcy should I become really sick, but that's about all. Once the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces opened, I went shopping and discovered that none of the South Dakota providers in the network reaches beyond the state's borders. Worse yet, none of the companies writing plans for South Dakotans cover full-timers. In the words of that great philosopher Scooby Doo, ruh roh!

I searched the Information Highway and ended up in Texas where a major insurer in Texas' ACA marketplace was offering just what I was looking for: coverage for anyone (including full-time RVers) at lower costs than my existing plan and access to a provider network that reaches 30 states (and counting). Save money by paying lower premiums and in-network rates nearly anywhere we might travel? Count me in! Now, all we had to do was become real, legal Texans. Sure, except that this sh*t gets complicated! Here's why.

 

Before we could get Texas drivers' licenses, we would have to register the truck and 5^th wheel in Texas. Before we could register the truck and 5^th wheel in Texas, we would have to get them inspected in Texas and get Texas liability insurance. Before we could get Texas liability insurance, we would have to get a Texas address without buying or renting property. Like I said. Complicated.

The entrance to Escapees Rainbow's End RV Park. So many RVers

use the club's mail service that the mailroom it has its own zip code.)

The address part was the easiest. We simply joined Escapees RV Club and signed up for the club's mail service (similar to a service we used in South Dakota). This got us a street address with personal mail box number. Voila! A Texas residential address.

During our San Antonio stay, Leonard took Truckzilla to a local inspection station. Driving a truck onto a lot where a certified inspector can take care of business is one thing. Getting Kong inspected was a whole other deal. Our choices – assuming we could find a station in San Antonio authorized to inspect trailers - would be to a) pack up all our stuff, disconnect utilities, hitch, tow the 5^th wheel in for inspection, drive back to our parking spot, unpack our stuff and reconnect utilities; or b) pack up, hitch, tow Kong in for inspection then drive on to Rockport (our next destination). We chose “b.” Thankfully, there was a station right along our route. An hour stop there, and it was mission accomplished!

In 2013, the Texas legislature changed the state's RV inspection

requirements. Unless lobbying efforts succeed, every RVer

registered in Texas but not visiting there will have to return

for annual inspection.

Next, Leonard (Chief Operations Officer of our little enterprise) checked out insurance options and found we could use Escapees' endorsed insurance broker to get the policies we needed. The broker's office is located at Escapees' headquarters, just a short walk from where we'd be parked at their Rainbow's End park in Livingston. Here again, we ended up with better coverage for less money. So far, so good.

With proof of insurance in hand, we gathered up the rest of the necessary paperwork (titles, SD registrations, inspection certificates and proof of residency) and walked into the Polk County Assessor's Office and walked out with brand spanking new Texas license plates.

If all of this sounds like fun, just wait to you ready my next post where I will attempt to explain the ABCs of Texas RV drivers' licensure, a subject so complicated it warrants its own section.

 

To be continued....

 

Escapees RV Club National Headquarters. The club trolley gives guest tours of the property twice a week.



Rainbow's End is enormous! It includes this community center - watch for announcements about free movie nights, dancing and other fun activities - a swimming pool and activity room where residents gather for daily socials.

Sweet tooth? Satisfy your cravings here with the week's selection of soft serve ice cream flavors.

RV safety includes knowing how much your rigs weighs as well as how that weight is distributed. Escapees offers several weighing locations, including this site at Rainbow's End.

 

The Escapees CARE (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees) Center helps full-time RVers who need help when they cannot take care of themselves. Residents continue to live in their RVs while accessing the center's services during the day.

 

Escapees shares the Rainbow's End property with other business that cater to the RV market. Want to RV in England? Adventure Caravans can arrange that. They'll even help arrange for your trip insurance.

Testing our limits on the Texas gulf coast

Want to know what I love most about full-time RV living? It's being able to live on some of the most beautiful spots around without making a long-term commitment or paying a king's ransom for the privilege.

Itching to climb mountains? Go to mountains. Yearning to hike the desert? Find one. Wanting to hear water gently lapping on a lakeshore? Get out your map and drive! I find this way of life to be emotionally truly freeing.

Another great backyard at an affordable price!

Our latest experience along these lines was found at Goose Island State Park near the community of Rockport, Texas. Leonard, Sprocket and I parked at the very edge of the Gulf of Mexico for just $22 per night, plus a $5 per person daily entrance fee.

To some, $32 probably seems like a lot to spend for camping at a public park. Consider that not only did this cover water, electricity, grill and a lovely ramada complete with picnic table, it also featured entertainment courtesy of Laughing gulls - their call sounds more like Burgess Meredith in his role as The Penguin in the old Batman TV program than it does a laugh - pelicans diving for dinner, red-headed ducks bobbing in the water, cormorants and other birds that call the Texas seashore home during the winter months. Then there were the Bottlenose dolphins enjoying their sushi breakfasts while swimming the waters off the back of our parking spot. Paying a heftier price to stay in a similarly-situated private park ($50 per night in most cases) would not have enriched our experience. Not one bit.

Stinky beach? Only in summer when sea vegetation rots under the hot Texas sun.

Too good to be true? Not quite, but there were a couple of catches.

The first relates to a Texas state parks rule limiting camping to 14 consecutive days. Those of you sneaky enough to figure out that being “tardy” to class only matters if you get there after the teacher does probably already have reckoned that the way to skirt this rule is to move out of the park for some period of time only to return for another 14 days. (But why do that when so many other cool spots await discovery?)

Goose Island State Park is home to “The Big Tree,” a live oak whose trunk measure 11 feet in diameter and 35 feet in circumference. It stands 44 feet tall and has seen more than 1,000 summers. Truly awesome!

The Texas gulf coast attracts many species of birds...and birders during the 

winter months. Volunteers lead free birding walks at Goose Island.

The second concerns RV tanks, specifically black and gray tank capacities. Note that when mentioning Goose Island's amenities I said nothing about a sewer connection, a feature that allows RVers to clear a rig's waste without having to move to a dump site. Our stay at Goose Island would offer us a chance to test our fitness for “dry camping” (i.e. park with no hookups at all) as prelude to many such experiences in store for us during July and August when we plan to spend a significant amount of time exploring the national parks of the West.

Successful dry camping requires significantly changing many daily living habits we normally don't give a second thought to. Think about it. Every time you brush your teeth, wash a cup or go to the bathroom brings you that much closer to needing to pack up your possessions, in preparation for the rolling earthquake to come, disconnect any hookups you have and go to the dump station only to return to your space and repeat the entire setup and unpacking process. Who needs that?

Reaching Port Aransas requires a ferry ride to Mustang Island. The ride is 

free and takes less than 10 minutes.

Kong can hold up to 50 gallons of black water (the stuff you flush down the toilet) and 75 gallons of gray (the stuff that goes down the shower, sink and laundry drains). We knew how long it would take to fill the black tank. That's because when we're parked, we let that tank fill then dump using the onsite hookup. (This helps to avoid the "black mound of death" I wrote about in an earlier post on dumping.) We did not know how long it would take to fill the gray tank. Our strategy was simple: do as much as possible to keep as little as possible from going into both tanks!

Browsing at Felder Gallery in Port Aransas. Leonard studied painting with Larry, a fellow expat we met during our Costa Rica days. The gallery is now owned by Larry's son Robby.

This would probably be an appropriate time to mention that Kong came with sensors that let us monitor tank levels. The black tank sensor has never functioned correctly, and we're not really sure about the gray tank. Only the fresh water tank level appears to read accurately. Since Kong's still under warranty, we plan to address the matter in an upcoming visit to our dealer in NW Arkansas.

Truckzilla enjoys a visit to the beach.

As for our quasi-dry camping at Goose Island, some changes of habit were easy, like not leaving the faucets running while we brushed our teeth or soaped up our hands. Others required more forethought, like remembering to pack up everything we needed to shower before schlepping off to the nearby (and spotlessly-clean) bathhouse instead of our in-house (also spotlessly-clean, thank you very much) shower. During our six day/five night stay, we got in two runs of the dishwasher and one load of laundry and still managed to come in under limit. Success!

So, you see, there are some tradeoffs to living like nomads. I suppose someday we might consider a more stable arrangement, like leasing or buying a spot at an RV resort. For now, I'm not ready to give up the freedom of the road. There will time enough for that soon enough.

Remembering the Alamo

The Gonzales flag, on display at capitol visitor center, was first flown at the Battle of

Gonzales in 1835. The flag came to symbolize Texas pride.

Yesterday marked the 178^th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo (also known as Mission San Antonio de Valero). The mission remained under siege for 13 days as Texians, fighting to restore constitutional rule in their sovereign nation of Mexico, and Mexican troops, commanded by Mexican President General Antonio López de Santa Anna, played out their historic drama. To Santa Anna, the battle amounted to little more than a skirmish with rebels resisting his dictatorship. To the Texians and others who would rally under the cry “Remember the Alamo!” it would open one of the more dramatic chapters in Texas' history.

Ultimately, the Republic of Texas would gain its independence from Mexico and become part of the United States of America.

Two lessons I've learned about Texans: 1) they are proud to be Texans; and 2) they know how to throw a great party!

Our month-long stay in San Antonio gave Leonard and me a chance to see and learn more about the Alamo, an experience made somewhat more meaningful to me by that fact that one of my ancestors fought in the Mexican-American War and was bivouacked for a time at the Alamo. Our studies of the events of 1836 included watching a film at a nearby IMAX theater. Sitting there, I couldn't help but wonder what great-great-great Grandpa Andrew Jackson Finney would think of my walking where his footsteps fell so many years ago.

 

In addition to learning about the Alamo, we also took advantage of our proximity to Austin to visit the state capitol. While touring the capitol grounds, the sound of canon fire alerted us to the fact that something unusual must be going on. (We're kind of sharp that way.) A few cannon blasts later, and we realized that we had stumbled into Austin's annual Texas Independence Day parade winding its way through downtown. It was great fun, and a terrific way to wrap up our time in south central Texas.

 

We look forward to more adventures in the Lone Star State, including our upcoming driving tests to acquire Texas licenses. Yes, we'll have to take both written and road tests. This ordeal is part of shifting domicile from South Dakota to Texas (more on that in an upcoming post).

 

For now, I'll leave you with some images from our day trip to Austin. Enjoy, y'all!

 

The State Capitol in Austin stands as one of the city's most beautiful architectural works.

Everyone gets into the act when it comes to celebrating Texas independence, even these antique car buffs!

  

No Texas parade would be complete without caballeros!

 

Lots of veterans marched in the parade, including one who apparently returned from the grave. (Douglas, is that you?)

The capitol grounds features several monuments, this one dedicated to the state's early white settlers.