RE: Does living in Texas require a TX driver's license?
The answer to your question is in the information that you posted. Texas, like most states, requires that any person who accepts permanent employment in the state must change to a Texas domicile and as such register and pay taxes on his vehicles, get a Texas driving license, and do most of the other things which domicile requires. If you are a temporary worker then the rule of six months applies. Arizona law has nothing to do with what is legal when you are living in Texas. That would also be true in any other state and the rules, while not exactly the same, are similar in most states. If in doubt about the laws where you are, simply check with your local county clerk to see when you are required to move your vehicle registration and driving license. If you call they will be happy to help you with accurate information.
Okay, so since I don't plan to work in Amarillo permanently, then this would be considered temporary. We definitely aren't going to stay here for more than 6 months. We are actually planning to move down to Austin after being in Amarillo for 3-4 months, or maybe even sooner.
Now, Texas is big. It takes about as long to get from Amarillo to Austin as it does to get from Phoenix, AZ to Tucumcari, NM. You're saying more than 6 months in Texas. Couldn't we take the RV from Amarillo to Clovis, NM for a few days, keep the receipt for proof, and then come back into TX and "reset the 6 month clock"?
Also, if an RV'er is "vacationing" throughout Texas and taking their time to explore, would they expect us to change tags, etc.? Essentially, we are "vacationing". We are just taking our time to explore and working as we go. Eventually, we will head back to Arizona because our house is there. In fact, we might go back there in January, and then hit the road again in February.
BTW, I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to this thread in awhile. I was in a car accident that nearly took my life. I was very blessed to come out of that with a few bumps and aches.
RE: Does living in Texas require a TX driver's license?
I already know that my taxes are going to challenging at the end of the year. I worked in AZ for the first 3 months, NM for 3 months after that, and now TX.
I spoke with the RV park owner about the whole license and registration issue. He states that it is much better to keep your tags and license under the same state. If you start changing stuff and it doesn't match, then it could look bad. He says the best thing to do if pulled over, is to tell them that you are either "passing through" or you are visiting friends/family for a couple of weeks. The cops aren't going to ask any other questions, unless you give them reason to.
RE: Does living in Texas require a TX driver's license?
To answer some of the questions:
1) Both of our cars and RV are registered in AZ.
2) Our physical address is in AZ, although we will be renting out the house.
3) Our RV is parked in TX, and I am working in TX.
Honestly, I'm not sure how long we'll stay here. I only said 8 months, because I wanted to stay in one place while we get things fixed up on the rig. We might decide to get a few things fixed and then move on within 3-4 months.
If we plan to stay at different locations 3-4 months at a time, then it is just insane to have to get new driver's licenses and re-register the vehicles in every state we go to. That just sounds ridiculous. Plus it would be very expensive and to the point where it just isn't worth traveling around anymore.
I also found this quote from a Texas University in regards to what they consider a TX resident:
"To qualify as a Texas resident, an individual must reside in Texas for 12 continuous months and establish a domicile in Texas the 12 months prior to census date."
Does living in Texas require a TX driver's license?
My family and I are full-timers, which is why I'm posting this question. And here's the reason I'm asking:
A week ago, I was driving back from NM to see friends and heading back into TX where my RV is at. The speed limit is 70 on the I-40. I was going 74mph, and a State Patrol pulled me over. Although his "reason" was for speeding, I honestly think he was checking to see if I was intoxicated and if we were wearing seatbelts. It was Father's Day, and I saw quite a few Staters pulling people over. He had me standing still outside, asked me tons of questions, then asked some questions to my wife, etc.
Anyway, one thing came up that concerned me. I told him that we had recently moved in to TX and I was working there. He said that my AZ driver's license is no good after 30 days, and I would need to get a TX one. I think he said this BEFORE I told him that we were full time RV'ers, and that we were going to stay in TX for about 8 months or so getting things fixed up on the rig. He didn't say much about the license after that.
My AZ license is a valid license, and my address on it is my house which I still own. It's my permanent address. It seems rather stupid to get a TX license when I have no permanent address to put on it. All I would have is the address of the RV park, which could easily change if we move to a different one.
So back to my original question. As a full-time RV'er, do I have to get a TX Driver's License since I'll be living here for the next several months?
RE: Concerns about tornados in Amarillo, TX
Someone said don't try to outrun a tornado.... what is wrong with going in the opposite direction or head toward the blue sky.
That was my original thought as well, but I think they are saying not to outrun one because they can be so unpredictable and much faster than an RV can drive down the road. I had watched some tornado/bad storm footage on Youtube, and I saw cars driving on the Interstate during it. That's why I figured you could drive away.
The advice that everyone left has been really good. The park does have a storm shelter at the bathhouse, plus the owner is a great guy. Very friendly, and he cares about the people that stay here. He's got one of those "blow horns" that is really loud to warn everyone.
TV won't do me much good anymore, because we have an analog one. I don't have much interest in a converter box, because there isn't anything on TV I really want to watch that I can't get off the internet. A crank, weather radio, on the other hand, is an excellent suggestion. A friend of mine has one down in Houston, and I was there after the hurricane hit last year.
I've been told that winds can be just as bad in Amarillo like they were in Tucumcari. I'll be honest, though. They have not been THAT bad. There have been a couple days here and there, but overall it hasn't been that bad. In Tucumcari, though, it was like every friggin' day that the winds were bad. I was told that it was due to all the mesas surrounding the area, and the wind comes down in between it or something.
Even now, the wind isn't that strong. I've been here almost two weeks now, and I think I could have put the awning out about 90% of the time. Naturally, I would roll it up before going to work. Tucumcari was not like that at all -- more like 10% of the time. And when you think it's okay to put the awning down, then a wind picks up and makes you wonder why you even bothered trying to put it down in the first place, lol.
Concerns about tornados in Amarillo, TX
My family and I are from AZ, so we're not used to tornados at all. We've been in Tucumcari, NM for the past 3 months and we're a bit tired of being here. We recently had half of our main awning ripped off by the gusts of winds here. We had to pull it off in order to prepare for us to move the RV in a few days, and we don't know if the awning is damaged beyond repair.
I've already got a job out in Amarillo. I work at The Big Texan, which is fun and a great opportunity that would never have come if we didn't live full-time in an RV. The 1 1/2 hour drive every day is really tiring, though. We are planning to move the RV there in a couple of days. It would make it easier for me on the commute.
But now I'm worried that we could be leaving the lion's den and entering the pits of hell because of tornados. I worry that one will touch down, blow near the RV park, and toss my RV over and really damage it. The RV park even has a storm shelter. The park owner's RV looks fine, so I guess I'm worrying about nothing.
I'm just wondering if I should be concerned, or will I have fair enough warning to start my RV up and move some place safe until the tornado storm goes away? Does anyone have any experience or advice to share?
RE: AC trips the circuit breaker on a 30 amp hookup
Is there a technical way to hook up the two AC's so that you have the following options:
1) Both run at same time with 30 amp
2) One can run on a separate 20 amp plug as an option
3) One can run on a separate plug that goes to the generator.
I know that I can do either of them or maybe a couple, but is it possible to have all 3 options? I like flexibility.
RE: AC trips the circuit breaker on a 30 amp hookup
Are they the original 1990 air conditioners? Consider a new 30 amp main breaker and two brand new high efficiency 13.5 air conditioners. You will be able to run both at once on 30 amps.
New AC's like these?
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/high-efficiency-brisk-air-13-500-btu-air-conditioner/17965
How well would they cool a 34 foot Class A with no slide outs? Our rear AC cools the bedroom off really well. The front one struggles when it's over 95 degrees outside.
RE: AC trips the circuit breaker on a 30 amp hookup
Our water heater is on LP. I'm not experienced with electric, so I won't be able to do much. I don't have a voltage meter to take readings, but I might be able to find someone in the park here that does.
I love the idea of splitting the rear AC and putting it on it's own 20 amp circuit. I would need a pro to do that for me. Plus, I think the AC's are the originals. A new one would be more energy efficient and a good idea.
Would a park charge you the 50 amp rate if you plugged in to 30 amp most of the time, and then the separate 20 amp plug once in awhile for the extra AC?
RE: Change of address for full-time RV'ing
Our house isn't empty nor rented, although we thought of renting it. It'll take money to fix up the house to rent it, so we haven't. If anything, our Mesa house has become a "second home" and kind of like a vacation home.
We keep it as our permanent residence, because we homeschool our daughter in an online school that is connected with Mesa Public Schools. We also have all of our W4 info being pointed there, since we need our W2 forms to be in one place for taxes.
My mother lives with her husband in California. They have a park model home there, but she has her RV and cars registered to her property in Golden Valley, AZ.
If I change my DMV address, am I required to change it on my license also?
AC trips the circuit breaker on a 30 amp hookup
Our Class A 1990 Pace Arrow is 30 amp, and it is equipped with a front and rear AC. We cannot, however, run both at the same time. We have a switch that is either "off", "rear", or "front" before we can turn on the particular AC.
By trial and error, we learned that we cannot have too much running in the RV when the AC is on -- especially if the AC is on "high". However, we have had some issues with our front AC tripping the circuit breaker even when we don't have anything else running in the RV. We just turned it on to cool off the front, but it still tripped the breaker.
What would cause this? Do we need to upgrade our circuit breaker box?
And since I'm on the subject of AC units, is there a way to upgrade an RV from 30 amp to 50 amp and be able to have the RV set up to run BOTH AC units? (I'm assuming that we would need 50 amps in order to run two AC units like the newer RV's.)
Change of address for full-time RV'ing
My family and I are living full-time in our RV, but our permanent residence is in AZ. We have a house in Mesa, and our vehicles are registered there. Which means we would have to go back to AZ every year to renew the tags on our RV and do an emissions test.
My mother has property north of Kingman, AZ, and she is not required to get emissions testing when renewing her tags. She said I can do a change of address for my vehicles and put them under her property up there.
Now, what I'm wondering is if this is going to have any legal repurcussions. Would I have to change information on my insurance to match and my driver's license? I keep thinking that this is "too easy" of a way around emissions testing and that I would be doing something wrong. Then again, it's not like we are driving the RV (or our cars) all over the city and adding to the pollution problem, and driving back to your home state once each year is a bit of a pain if you are casually taking your time exploring America.
I have read on AZ's MVD site that you can request a waiver form for emissions if you are traveling, but it is good for only one year. I was considering that option, but I'd like to get some feedback on this.
I can tell you that I am NOT interested in changing my residence to another state at this time. There are personal reasons why we must keep it in AZ that I do not wish to get into.
RE: Problems with insects and mice when full-timing?
I wouldn't be as concerned about Sta-bil as I would about the fuel level in the tank. You want to try and keep the tank as full as possible for a couple of reasons. Number one is to inhibit the development of mold and/or algae in the tank, number two is with the running of your genny at some point the genny will cease to operate when the fuel level drops below it's pick-up level. Ours generally quits just below half a tank.
We have about 3/4 of the tank full of unleaded gas. I have read from various posts that if you have a full tank of gas, then stabilizer really isn't needed. Not sure how true that is or not. I have read posts of RV'ers who have gone a year before running their generator, lawn mower, powersaw, RV, boat, etc. and they had no problems.
For us, we will be starting our RV up once a week, and starting our generator up once a week for a few minutes. Once a month or so, we'll be driving to the Flying J to fill up on propane. With this in mind, is Sta-bil needed?
Also, thanks on the responses about the pests. My wife has been wanting to know about that. Sounds like we shouldn't have much of a problem, and our cats are indoor only. We do have a dog, however, and she will go outside most of the time.
Problems with insects and mice when full-timing?
My family and I are going to be in Tucumcari, NM anywhere from 9 months to a year. We might move the RV from one park to another, just so we can keep the engine running and working. (We intend to start it and the generator once a week.)
Have any full-timers had any problems with pests such as mice and insects? We have 3 cats, so I'm not sure if it'll be much of a problem or not.
Also, we have about 3/4 tank full of gas. Will the gas be fine if we are starting the RV once a week, or should we put some Sta-bil in it? I've read some posts that Sta-bil should be put in at the pump, but it makes more sense to me to put the stabilizer in when you know the RV will be in storage for several months. Ours won't be in storage, since we'll be living in it.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
Thanks again for the responses. We are in the process of moving the rest of our stuff from the motel over to the RV, which is now parked at the RV park.
The final cost came to just over $5300. This was for replacing gaskets, a broken water pump, and having the radiator cleaned out. There's more to this than just gaskets.
Yes, we did choose to have the RV repaired here, and there's probably not much more we can do at this point. But I can still investigate them, and if they were dishonest then I can certainly warn other RV'ers not to stop at this place.
I have met some locals in town that have told me that they know the people there as being honest and good people. So, we'll see.
We did not have the patience to spend a lot of money having the RV towed to some other place we are not familiar with and wondering what that shop will charge and what their quality of work is.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
Also, I wanted to return the original intention of what this post was about.
We were told that the engine block could be cracked, and that the whole engine would need to be replaced. That was the major reason why I originally posted this message. Everyone we have talked to has said they highly doubted the engine was cracked, even here on the boards.
Everyone has helped us in the following way:
1) You let us know that it takes A LOT to crack an engine, and it would be like if it really was cracked.
2) You informed us on how we were being overcharged. Although many are unhappy that we chose to get the RV repaired here, believe me I will have this company investigated. We will have our bill analyzed by other repair shops and see what they would have charged, plus we will investigate the "book" on labor charges to see if they charged us correctly. If they screwed us, then there will be hell to pay, because I will seek out an attorney.
3) We know not to suggest what to repair. In this instance, we knew SOMETHING had gone wrong. The only reason my wife suggested them to look at the gaskets is because this same situation had happened to her mom's van.
4) In retrospect, either we were overcharged for this, or we have paid an honest price for excellent quality work. We will soon see.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
Since you need some time there before moving on too Huston, I would spend a $100 in fuel and run up and down the interstate a few times to make sure that all the problems were resolved with the first repair. No since getting down the road a couple hundred miles and finding another problem.
Although this is a good idea, should anything go wrong, we won't have the money to pay for another repair. We are financially devastated at this point. We are too nervous to try to go anywhere at this time without some type of financial back up plan. The RV is probably fine and could make it to either Houston or back to our home in Arizona, but we feel it is our financial responsibility to pay back our family and not take any chances.
I like the idea of the throttle usage, and I will pass that on to my wife who is the major driver of the RV.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
I'm still here. We have been sick and worn out. Everything has happened to take us down, including our health. I have been sick for over a week now, and my poor wife has come down with someting horrible. The whole event has really weakened us. The good news is that the RV is fixed, and we are getting it tomorrow. We intend to test it to MAKE sure it runs, and then we are moving over to Tucumcari to financially recuperate from this. It will take time, but as one poster said -- this is happening for a reason.
As much as I wanted to tow our RV someplace else, we just felt that it wasn't the right decision. We could have towed it back to our house in AZ, which my wife felt badly that it was the wrong decision. We could have towed it to Houston, however, we don't know anyone there personally as far as fixing it. For all we know, we could have paid more in the long run having it towed some place else and getting it fixed.
Please continue to watch this post. I WILL be posting a copy of my receipt for everyone to see. I will show you what they charged us, and with your help you can let us know where they overcharged us. If this company is dishonest, then the truth will come out.
We want our "home" back. We can recuperate where we are. Tucumcari is a nice town, and we've been happy to meet the locals. There are two major things that we've learned from this experience:
1) Don't push your motorhome for hours thinking that it is a car on a road trip. I think we drove that beast anywhere from 3-4 hours without stopping -- towing a Saturn SC1. Next time, we will take our time and only drive two hours at a time.
2) Don't try to drive that motorhome 65 or more mph. Several times I had to tell my wife to slow down. Next time will take it between 55 and 60 and let everyone honk and pass us.
3) ALWAYS have a financial back up plan. We did not, and we should have. We were bailed out this time, and we're lucky. Have a fund saved up anywhere from $5000 to $10,000. And this should be savings. Don't rely on credit cards. This company refused to charge anything more than $2000 and stated the rest would have to be either cash or some sort of certified funds.
Once we have our RV set up and our computers working, I will be posting up the pictures we have taken so that you can get a visual on our story.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
We're learning more about why it's costing so much. There are more than just the two head gaskets they have to replace. There are other gaskets that have to be removed just to get to the head gaskets, and once they remove those other gaskets they can't be used again and need to be replaced with new ones. That's why there was confusion on the number of gaskets needing to be replaced. Yes, there are only two gaskets, but apparently they have to replace other types of gaskets as well. They don't have the parts in stock, so they have to be shipped in from Dallas.
We did check other shops in Tucumcari, and they were quoting us around the same price.
I would have responded sooner, but our Sprint Internet has been acting badly and either has been slow or not working at all.
RE: We are stranded in San Jon, NM. Possible cracked engine.
Thanks again for the responses. I have further updates.
1) We called the service center and canceled the order for the head gaskets. We told them that we need to consider all of our options. We did not know there were only 2 gaskets. Believe me, we are learning a lot from this experience.
2) I have driven around Tucumcari and got some advice from the local Flying J that is here. They don't do repairs, but suggested two shops that do: Ray's and also Jack's. Jack's Truck Repair also states on their billboard that they specialize in RV repair. We have already heard from a couple of people we have met in town that they are a very good company. As soon as they open, we are going to call them up and ask them their prices. If they are cheaper, then we are having the RV towed over here to be looked at.
3) We will be sure to make sure the RV starts before we leave San Jon.
4) Unforunately, there are already some grease stains on our carpet in the RV. Some of that is from us when we were getting all of our stuff out. We'll do our best to have it steam cleaned.
More updates to follow. And believe me, I am definitely LISTENING to what everyone is saying here.
