How to become residents of Texas so you can RV full-time!

Trent will be your driver for this post.

We chose to become residents of Texas after a bunch of research. Technomadia has a good blog post about choices and keeps it up-to-date. In summary, people who decide to become full-time RVers generally choose between Texas, Florida, and South Dakota if they don't stick with their home state. We picked Texas because given those three choices we would rather end up in Texas.

This is our step-by-step guide to getting Texas residency. We did steps 2-6 in a day and quarter.

1) Sign up for the Escapees Mail Forwarding Service.
This gives you a Texas address to use on official paperwork.

2) Take your RV to Livingston, TX.
Stay at the Escapees park (where we are right now with a good Verizon signal). You can complete these steps elsewhere in Texas but Livingston is an RV friendly town and state agencies here are used to dealing with full-timers. This makes everything easier.

3) Visit a local insurance agent
Get your insurance transferred to Texas or sign up for Texas insurance for your RV and towed vehicle. We used State Farm* since have been with them for a long time. The important part here is getting the paperwork showing you have the required insurance coverage for Texas on any vehicles you need to get plates for and the insurance paper work showing your Livingston address counts as one of the two pieces of paperwork needed to prove residency.

(*State Farm will not issue new policies for full-time RVers but if you are an existing customer with RV coverage you can transfer to Texas and keep your coverage.)

4) Get your vehicle state inspected. 

Bring your insurance paper work because it's required at the time of inspection.  This costs a total $5 per vehicle. We used Soda Auto at 6709 U.S. 190, Livingston, TX 77351 at the suggestion of the Escapees club and suggest you do, too. A single guy appears to run that somewhat rundown place but he is a member of Escapees and was extremely easy to work with. The inspection takes less than 10 minutes (maybe 5). We didn't even have to take the cat out of the RV. It was super easy and he later installed our plates for free (he needed to drill holes in front of the car) in exchange for a plate for his wall.

5) Know your GVWR and UVWR (or CW). 
The GVWR is probably posted in a plaque inside your driver's side door of your motorhome (I don't know where it would be in a 5th wheel). You will need to print or email a copy of this photo to the tax collection agency (the next step). We didn't know this ahead of time but I had taken pictures of every plaque in/on/under the RV and so was able to email the photo from iCloud as we were in the office.  They don't require proof of the UVWR or CW (I think they used a different abbreviation here - basically they want the unloaded weight).

6) Visit the local Texas Tax office to get your plates (M-F 8:00am - 4:30pm)
In Livingston the office is at 416 N. Washington Ave.  Take your insurance paperwork, state inspection paperwork, a check (or lots of cash - our cost was $438 for the RV and car), a passport, your loan(s) lien holder name and address, and registration paperwork from your old state. You will need to fill out a form. As stated above, you will need to print or email a photo of the GVWR plaque and know the unloaded vehicle weight. Pay your fee and get the plates and texas registration. The registration paper counts as your second proof of residency.

You don't have to have the passport as there are alternatives listed but having that makes it easier.

7) Visit the Driver's License office of the Department of Motor Vehicles (M-F 8:500)
at 1737 N Washington Avenue, Livingston, TX 77351.  It's across a parking lot from the police station. Take your passport, SS card, current driver's license, car/RV registration (1st form of residency and otherwise required to have), and your insurance forms (2nd form of residency and otherwise required to have).  You do not have to take a driver's test - just an easy eye test. I wear glasses for reading and was able to pass it no problem.

8) Have a drink
You are now a Texan - or as Susanne would say, a "Fexan" (a Fake Texan).

The Great Stuff Purge, Part 3: Garage Sale

Before dewinterizing Clark this past weekend, we held a last-minute garage sale in an attempt to get rid of as much of our stuff as possible. Although many full-time RVers put at least some of their belongings in storage, we want to avoid that. First, we don't want to spend any of our money on a storage unit (cash is going to be kind of tight, and we'll need it for essentials), and second, we don't want to be burdened by things. We plan to keep and carry only what we really need. We want to feel light.

Our decision to have a garage sale was pretty last minute - less than 72 hours beforehand. We batch-mailed about 300 people from my workplace, stuck a sign at the end of our road, and crossed our fingers that someone would show up. (Did I mention that we've never had a garage sale before and had no idea what we were doing?)

Then we rushed around dusting and sticking price tags on everything.

Thankfully, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. We got up early, moved Clark, and started setting up shop in our driveway. Sam totally stepped up to the plate: he was out there from the get go, helping to move things around and organize our wares in an aesthetically-pleasing fashion (neither Trent nor I have ANY. style). We were really proud of him.

The sale was supposed to start at 9 AM, but the first people showed up around 8:40. I guess that's the thing about shopping garage sales: you only get the good stuff if you get there first. We didn't think about that and were still trying to shove our couch out the front door when our first buyers came through.

All in all, it was a huge success. We sold our couch, a TV stand, a desk, our kitchen table and chairs, mirrors, picture frames, glassware, mixing bowls, kitchen gear, toys, a bajillion Hot Wheels cars, and even an old litter box. 

Whew.

This is what our house looks like now: an open space covered in random bits and kibbles.

One thing that's surprised us is how well Sam's adjusting to this change. We expect that at some point it will catch up with him, and we're (sort of) prepared for the fallout. I mean, his life is definitely going to be upended for a while. But he seems super excited about life on the road, unconventional schooling, visiting relatives and friends across the country, and hanging out in his bunk. So at least at the moment, he's happy to give up some of his things in exchange for an adventure.

We dewinterized Clark. Nothing broke and nobody cried.

Last night we drove Clark to Two Rivers Campground in Kentucky to flush out his systems and dewinterize him. We were nervous about this because we'd never done this before and our user's manual is not always helpful (sometimes it references other models, rendering the instructions kind of useless). We had a walk through when we purchased Clark, but the guy giving the tour explained everything really quickly; as a long-time RVer, he clearly seemed to think some of our questions were rather ignorant (I'm sure they were).

Besides, Trent and I have a long history of accidentally breaking stuff or buying things that turn out to be duds. We were concerned that this could be the moment when we realized that Clark isn't as fit as he looks. This is going to be our home and we paid a lot of money for it, so the thought of realizing we'd made a bad purchase totally freaked us out.

We chose Two Rivers because it is close and relatively inexpensive ($36 per night with a Good Sam discount), and has full hook-ups. Not knowing what to expect in terms of quality, we were pleased when we arrived at a clean, well-equipped campground with flat RV sites, picnic tables, plenty of space, and a viewing platform overlooking the river. 

After initial setup (making sure Clark was level and hooking up the electric), our first task was to find the low-point drains and close them. These drains allow water to drain out of the rig; what we wanted, however, was to fill up our freshwater tank, so the drains needed to be shut.

There are two low-point drains in our rig (don't I sound all official when I say "rig"?) One is easy to access and was already closed. The second is located underneath the bathroom sink... and to get to it, I had to stuff my arm down a tiny space behind the lowest drawer in the sink vanity. But I couldn't actually *see* the valve, so we spent a good 45 minutes or so using our phones to take pictures and orient ourselves with the setup.

See that little white rectangular thing? That's the low point drain valve.

So I stuck my arm down there and turned it, and then we turned on the water... which proceeded to cascade from the undercarriage of the vehicle to the cement pad. I stuck my hand in there again and rotated the valve, thinking that maybe I had not positioned it correctly. Still a waterfall.

At that point we decided to give it a rest and just connect our pipes to the city water so that we could flush out the antifreeze in the pipes. We were thrilled when that worked. We made a little video to document our success.

Next step: activate the hot water heater. We got it to heat up water... but the hot water wasn't flowing through the pipes. Trent spent some time interpreting the owner's manual and realized that (predictably) a valve was closed. The manual suggested that we could locate this mystery valve by opening up the grate beneath the fridge, so we did that. Once again, we couldn't actually *see* the valve until we stuck our phone in there and snapped a picture. Once again, I had to stuff my arm into this tiny space in order to access it.

No joke - here's how my arm looks today:

But it worked! We opened up the taps and voila - hot water.

The last thing we needed to figure out was how to open up the low point drain. Trent posted an SOS on our Facebook RV group asking for help, and within minutes someone responded to let us know that these valves don't work by rotation... they work by pushing them in or pulling them out. 

Duh. Why didn't we think of that?

By this point my arm was actually bruised and swollen, but we were determined to get it figured out. It was worth the effort because it totally worked! We were able to clean and fill the freshwater tank and rinse the system.

All in all, it was an extremely successful trip. It allowed us get to know Clark better, boosted our confidence in our ability to problem solve without destroying anything, and demonstrated just how helpful the RVer community can be.

Three more weeks until we're doing this full time!

RVing with Kid: Shakedown Trip

This past weekend's two-night trip to the state park was designed in part to identify issues with Clark, traveling with our cat (see previous post), and living the RV life. One of our big questions: will Sam, our opinionated, technology-loving nine year old, get bored? Will he want to spend all of his time holed up in his bunk, playing Angry Birds and wishing his parents could be more normal?

As soon as we arrived at the campground and set up our rig, Sam brought out his bird guide, sketch pad, and colored pencils, took them out to the picnic table, and started drawing.

The next day, we woke up and went on a hike... and miracle of miracles, the kid did not complain once. He just walked. 

Maybe he was just too transfixed by his surroundings to complain. 

Doesn't hurt when your hike leads you to an awesome playground and a wide open field.

Then I needed (more) coffee, so we went into town for a snack and silly conversations (I can't recall exactly, but the discussion here probably revolved around poop jokes).

And yes, Angry Birds did make an appearance - albeit a relatively brief one. 

Verdict: we think he'll be okay.

Biscuit's first RV adventure

This Friday and Saturday, we took Biscuit the cat on her first RVing adventure at our local state park.

Getting her into the RV was pretty easy: we tossed her favorite toy into her cat carrier, she ran in, and Sam closed the gate. Trent drove the RV (Biscuit's litter box was safely stowed and latched in the shower for the trip) while Sam, Biscuit, and I followed in the car. After arriving at the park and setting up camp, we released Biscuit into her new abode.

This was the first safe spot she found: in the bedroom right below the "closet." She seemed happy enough.

It eventually dawned on her that something unusual was going on in her life, so she hotfooted it up to the cab and squashed herself under the driver's side seat. For hours. We were relieved when she made an appearance to use her Modkat kitty litter system, which we placed in the cab in order to keep it out of the way yet still accessible for her.

We pretended we didn't notice, but silently, all three of us were cheering. Biscuit is unpredictable when she's uncomfortable or unhappy. A couple of weeks ago, she peed on our bed (while we were in it!) for reasons that are still unclear and that, according to the vet, were entirely unrelated to her physical health. We hope that was a one-time occurrence but with her? Who knows. So the RV Modkat use so early on in the trip was a victory for everyone.

The situation went a bit downhill when, at bedtime, Biscuit hopped up on the bed, made a horrible yakking sound, and proceeded to throw up all over the duvet. A few minutes later she knocked over her water dish and created a mini-tsunami that rolled through the slightly-tilted rig. We dug out a few rolls of paper towels and all was well again. 

Sam was wondering whether Biscuit - who's not the most coordinated feline you've ever met - would dare to hop up into his bunk space. She waited until everyone was settled down, gave her best leap, and made the jump from the table to the loft. Then she gazed down upon us as if to say, "I will allow you to stay. For now."

I'd call that a success. It might sound silly to be so worried about a cat, but she's a part of the family and our happiness is somewhat dependent on her happiness. If she can't get on board with our new lifestyle, that's going to be a problem.

So far, though, all signs point to a cat that will be ruling the road the same way she rules the house.

Welcome to the adventure, Biscuit!

Gear Check

Trent will be your driver for this post.

This past Friday night we took Clark out for our first overnight in the RV. Clark is still winterized and we didn't do anything to change that. It has been dipping below freezing at night and so we will wait a few weeks before we de-winterize.  This means we did not use the plumbing/water systems. This trip was mainly an electrical and propane check and experiencing our first night in the RV.  Susanne will blog later about that aspect. This post is about the equipment.

Summary: It all worked!

Electrical hookup: We bought a Progressive Industries PT30C 30 Amp Portable Electrical Management System to protect us from high voltage, low voltage, and a host of other possible electric issues. It worked well and we were able to see exactly how much voltage was being supplied at the post, how many amps we were drawing, and that the AC was cycling as expected (60 times a second). If there are any problems with the electricity, this system will not allow it to pass to the RV.

We did consider getting a similar system hardwired into Clark but decided against it after reading about how people to tend to switch RVs after a few years of full-time living. We also wanted to save some money.

Electricity in Clark: I was able to test all the AC outlets in Clark and they all worked. I did additional tests using a multimeter and again everything was good. It's not that we were really worried but we had not checked every outlet before buying Clark like we should have.

Slide-out: Our RV slide out worked. It's amazing how sliding out part of the RV just a few feet really makes the whole RV seem much larger.

TVs: Yes TVs. Clark has more TVs (3) then we do in our sticks and bricks home (1). The antenna went up well and we checked out two of the TVs. They worked and were picking up about 8 strong channels.  We watched a dog shake in slow-motion and then turned off both TVs and put the antenna down. If given the choice we would have used the money on other improvements for Clark. However, the person that bought Clark new picked the entertainment package.

Refrigerator/freezer: We bought some food and drinks along for our trip. This was our first check of the frig and it worked well. I did discover how small it really is when I could not fit a gallon jug of water into it. I think we will be eating a lot more fresh food because we don't have the storage to stock up for more than a few days.

Microwave: Susanne heated up some yams and some dinner she had made ahead of time and it worked.  Most importantly it supplied the hot water for our morning press pot coffee.

Heat pump (powered by AC): It was our first test of the heat pump and it worked.  The heat pump was able to supply heat that worked well enough in the early evening. However by the middle of the night it was too cold for the heat pump to work well. The RV was cold.

RV cover: We got an outside RV cover for privacy and to add a bit of insulation to the big heat sink that is the front window.  The cover went on well and stayed on during the night wind and rain.

Furnace (powered by propane): I read the manual and then opened up the propane tank and fired up the furnace. It started up quickly and the furnace supplied the heat needed to keep Sam from revolting. The furnace supplied heat worked very well.

Generator: We didn't have to use the generator but the user's manual recommends that it be run for about two hours once a month if it's not otherwise being used. So I disconnected the AC from shore power (the electrical post at the park) and hooked it into the generator after it was running. We ran the  generator for about two hours and used the heat pump to supply a load (about 20 amps) on it.  The generator worked well and we used its power to bring in the slide out.

Clark's Chevy chassis: Clark got us the 7 miles to our spot in the State Park and got us back home. Good going Clark.

Not checked: We will de-winterize in about three weeks. We will then have to test the black and gray tanks, the hot water heater, the shower, the sink, the freshwater connection, and will have to drain the tanks as we sanitize the systems.  We also didn't bring the cat.  She will provide another test for us on the next trip.

Still need to get:

TPMS: I really want to get a tire pressure monitoring system. All the full-time RVers suggest them as a must have safety system. Checking the air pressure on Clark is a pain because the hub dust covers must be removed to get at the values. This is the brand I'm thinking about but I need to do more  research and bite the bullet money wise. This system likely will cost less than a tire blown out.

Cellular signal booster:  I need to get and install a signal booster before we leave. I am basically waiting to make sure we have the latest technology.  I'll likely go with the recommendations from the https://www.rvmobileinternet.com.

??? other stuff ??? I don't know what we are forgetting or don't know we don't know but we will find out quickly when we start RVing full-time.