How To Become A Texan.

This blog will take you through all the steps it took for us to become Texas residence.  It is my intent to help answer some of the questions one might have on the subject. 

We do not claim that your experience is going to be the exact same as ours or that you will not have any difficulties by using our examples.  Also if the Texas residence requirements change from what they were for us, they will not be updated on this blog.

We decided to become Texas residence mainly for the home school requirements, which are easier in Texas than in West Virginia.  In West Virginia we had to register the kids every year with the county school board and then have their work evaluated by a licensed West Virginia teacher to be turned in to the school board by June 30th each year.

Meeting the above requirements, on the road, got a little complicated and was just one more issue to deal with.  Becoming Texans eliminates the issue and lets us concentrate on other matters.

As with anything that you are given complete control over, we have to stay disciplined with the home schooling so that we do not slack off and cheat our children out of an education. 

Another bonus is that there are no personal property taxes on our RV in Texas or state income tax, which saves us a pretty penny every year.

So even though our hearts will always be in West Virginia, we are now Texans and proud of it.  It is like I tell everyone now, "Just call me Tex."

The first thing we had to do is get a Texas address which we did through the Escapees Mail Forwarding Service.  We actually drove down to Livingston, Texas to the Escapees Headquarters and did all the paper work there.  It was easier this way, plus we had to physically be in town anyway to become Texans.

The amount for the first year of service is $185.00 which pays for all the start up costs and your $50.00 of postage on-hand.  The next year will cost $85.00 for the annual fee along with you maintaining the $50.00 for postage.  You can read more about their rates by clicking here.

If you go to the link of Postal Form 1583 With Mail Service Contract you can download pdf files of the forms you will need to fill out.

The booklet titled, "How To Become a Real Texan" also on the above page will explain everything required of you to become a Texan.  This is actually what I used to get started when we decided to become Texans.

Escapees book on How To Become a Real Texan.

When you come to Livingston to Escapees headquarters, they give you a step by step list of what you have to do to become a Texan with a map which makes it pretty easy.

After we received our new Texas address we took our vehicles to Harrison Body Shop located at 1806 N Washington Ave, Livingston, TX 77351 and had them inspected.  

They are open Monday through Friday and all you have to do is call so they know you are coming.  I do not know whether they do travel trailers or fifth wheel inspections, but they do inspect regular vehicles along with class A motor homes.  Their phone number is 936-327-4338.

After we had our out of state vehicle inspections done, we took the inspection paperwork, our West Virginia registrations, proof of insurance (that we had changed to Texas) and a filled out Texas DMV Form 130-U to the Polk Count Tax Assessor Office in Livingston and registered the vehicles.

For a pdf version of the Form 130-U you can get a copy at the TxDMV website.

After we had the vehicles registered it was time to go apply for our driving license.  Now if your RV weighs more than 26001 pounds and your tow vehicle does not weigh more than 10000 pounds, then you are going to be required to get your Class B non-commercial license, which means you will have to take a written and a driving test. 

I'm not going into detail on this, but this is what we had to do in our situation since our Fleetwood Discovery 40G GVWR is 32,400 and our tow vehicle GVWR is 8000.  You can go to the Texas Department of Public Safety website for the specifics on the different classes of license.

Sounds scary, but it really is not.  Both Misty and I passed the written test and driving test on the first tries, because we studied and practiced.  We probably would have done fine with the driving test, without practice, but since we did practice, we knew all of the ins and outs of the course.

First we filled out a Drivers License Application (DL-14A.pdf) and then headed to the Drivers License Office in Livingston.  We had to have our vehicle registrations, proof of insurance (which we changed over to Texas after getting our TX address), and West Virgina drivers license. After filling out a couple of other forms they give you there, we took our eye test, had our picture taken, and took the written test.

For the written test all we did was study Chapter 14 of the Texas Commercial Drivers Handbook (DL-7C.pdf) and did fine on it.  It is a 20 question test that is given to you on a computer. 

After passing the written test, we were scheduled for our driving test, which was a month later.  So we just stayed in Livingston at the Escapees Rainbow's End campground.

RV parked in front of the Livingston, Texas Drivers License Office to take our driving test.

As I mentioned earlier, we figured out what the route was for the driving test and actually drove it ahead of time, which helped a good bit.  I feel we would have passed without the practice, but it really helped Misty, just to know what was coming up.

Livingston Texas Class B Drivers License Route.

Looking at the above picture I will try to lay it out for you.  I used colored circles and arrows on the map to try and show the route easier.  These are for the blog only and are not really on the route you drive. (So in the below route instructions, the colored circles referenced are only for the above route map.)

All that was required for the driving test was the tester to check that all of our flashers, brake lights, and horn worked on the RV and then have us drive the below route.  There were no technical questions asked, such as "how to do an air brake test?" and no parallel parking.

Starting at the (green circle) in front of the Driver License Office on N Washington Ave drive south to 190 W Church Street.

At the (blue circle) turn right on 190 W Church St and drive west.  Drive west on it until the US 59 Loop-N.

At the (red circle) turn right on US 59 Loop-N feeder road.  Drive on the US 59 Loop-N until you reach N Houston St.

At the (orange circle) turn right on N Houston St.  

After crossing RR tracks turn right at the (yellow circle) on N Washington Ave and drive south. 

Once you reach Allie Bean Dr (pink circle) turn left.  This is the street that they will have you back up in a straight line on for about 20 yards.  Follow it to N Houston St.

At N Houston St (purple circle) make a left and follow the street back to N Washington Ave.

At the (teal circle) turn left on N Washington Ave and drive south until you are back in front of the Driver License Office.

Easy peasy lemon squeezey!

After passing the driving test you will be issued a printout with your license info and photo as a temporary license until you receive your permanent license in the mail.

We also signed up for our voters registration cards off of our drivers license applications.  You can either get them then or when you register your vehicles, but why fill out a drivers license application and voters registration form when the drivers application will suffice for both?

So now we are 100% Texan.

I hope that our experience will help someone else to become a Texan without any problems.  I had all sorts of questions and fears heading into it, but now know that there really was nothing to worry about.

God bless!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

How To Install A Futon In A RV Bunkhouse

One day Misty told me she had a great idea for the RV bunkhouse.  She said that we should install a futon to replace the bottom bunk so that the kids would have a bigger sleeping area.

So after thinking on it for awhile, I came up with the idea of installing a futon to replace the bottom bunk in the bunkhouse!  This way the kids would have a larger sleeping area that could be stowed easily when we put in the slides.  

I'm not sure how I come up with these great ideas?  They just seem to come to me somehow.

Original bunk with the mattress removed.

After measuring the area and looking up futons on-line, I determined that there was enough room to install one.  I figured that I would use some type of drawer slider to enable the bed to slide in and out, but had to abandon that idea once I got started.

I went to our local Walmart which had a Mainstays Metal Arm Futon on display that I could get measurements from.  After I measured the frame length, width, and height, I decided to buy it.

Futon I purchased at Walmart to install in the RV bunkhouse.

I went with their cheapest one since the dimensions were just about perfect to fit in the bunkhouse space. Also since I knew I would really only be using the back panel, seat panel, and mattress I did not want to pay for wood arms or anything.

After buying the futon I went to Lowe's and bought some drawer slides to mount it with.  The ones I purchased were the 16 inch ones that are rated to hold up to 100 pounds.  (The results are not in yet, but I am considering upgrading to a larger slide like a 22 inch that can hold 200+ pounds now.  The kids are being a lot rougher on the current slides than I anticipated.) 

Since the bed was really only for the kids, I figured the slides would support them fine.  Misty and I would probably never be sleeping on it anyway and even if we did, I think it would support Misty if she slept on the extended side.

Drawer slide I bought at Lowe's.

After buying the futon I put the seat and back panels together and made sure they fit in the bunk area.  

Fitting the right side of the futon panels to make sure they fit.

Fitting the left side of the futon panels to make sure they fit.

I laid out both panels as if the futon was folded out to get my marks for the slides.  The main thing here was to ensure that the back panel had room to lay down flat.  

I then marked the panel along with the bunkhouse where the slides would go.  I also figured out how thick of a spacer I would need to make up the difference from the length of the seat panel.

Figuring out where to mount the right side slide.

Figuring out where to mount the left side slide.

Next I had to attach the slides to the seat panel.  To do that I used a level to make sure the slides were level and marked my holes.  I then drilled them out using an 1/8 bit and attached with metal screws. 

Using level to make sure the slide attachment is level.

Slide attached to right side of seat panel.

On the left side I used a piece of the oak sub-board to space the slide out about 1/4 inch to enable the slide to get past the bunkhouse trim.  I also used the same type of sub-board to put the hinge up approximately 1/4 inch off of the bunk base.

Attaching slide to left side of the bunkhouse wall.

I attached the right side drawer slide to the bunkhouse walls using a spacer board to get the correct distance between the slides, ensuring that they were also level.  The spacer ended up being a 1 x 2 inch board 30 inches long.

I used the same piece of oak sub-board to put the slide up above the bunk base on the right side too approximately 1/4 inch.  That left enough clearance for the futon seat and back panels to slide in and out.

Attaching slide to the right side of the bunkhouse wall.

Originally, I wanted to keep the hinges that came with the futon, so that the seat and back panels were hinged and would make it easier to slide in and out.  Unfortunately the hinges were too wide and interfered with the slides so I had to think of something else.

My next solution was to buy some slimmer hinges, but they too were hitting the slides, so I had to do something else.  If I could have found some flip hinges that had the hinge on the back rather than on the side, I could have made that work and one day will, but for now I improvised. 

Seat panel and slides fully connected so that it will slide in and out.

Using zip ties that I had left over from installing the heater ducts in my old house, I fastened the back and seat panels together.  It is not a perfect solution, but will work until I get the hinges I want.

As you can see the bed lays out perfectly and gives the kids almost twice the sleeping room.

Using zip ties to hold the back and seat panels together.

Right side view of zip ties used to keep the panels together.

Left side view of zip ties used to keep the panels together.

We are very happy with the modification and think it has really helped improve the kids sleeping arrangements.  We have the queen sized sleeper sofa that we use, but it is a little bit harder to set up than our new futon. 

Right now since the kids are not that big, four of them can sleep easily on the futon if they put their heads toward the window, which leaves the top bunk open and then the sofa, which does not need pulled out now.

Futon fully extended with mattress.

The next morning all that has to be done is push the futon back in and the kids have a couch to sit on, all their own.  

One down side is that it covers up the window when pushed in, but that is really not that big of a deal.  Another down side is that it is harder to get into their cabinet or shelves since only the left side door can be opened when the futon is in the couch position.  But that is a small price to pay for more sleeping area.

Futon pushed back in.

We are sure there are probably better solutions or methods to increase the sleeping area in the bunkhouse, but we are very happy with the results.  It took about six hours of work and cost around $145.00 total with the major cost being the price of the futon.

Also you do not use any of the frame for the futon, so be prepared to either give it to someone or a local recycling center, which is what we did.  The left over piece of 1x2 wood I will keep though, since you never know what I may need it for in the future.

Left over parts from futon that we did not use.

I would not even want to guess how much it would cost if we had a professional do the work.  Sure the product would probably be more efficient or elegant, but we are happy with this simple fix.

So if you want a quick and easy way to increase your sleeping area in a bunkhouse on a Fleetwood Discovery 40G, you can do what we did and install a futon.

I may also have to add legs to fold out on the extended part of the futon, so that it can support more weight.  Even though I tell the kids not to roughhouse on it, kids will be kids and I am afraid that two or three of them jumping on it will exceed the 100 pound limit and make the slides fail.  As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I may also go with a bigger slide that can hold more weight, but will see what happens with the current ones over time.

I also realize that my instructions are not very detailed, so if you need more details, leave me a comment and I will tell you all that I know. (Which is not that much!)

All of my plans were in my head and the end product was completely different from my original concept of how I was going to do it.  

My original design include a slide out drawer that the futon would have been mounted on, but after fitting the futon panels, I determined there was not enough room for a drawer and the final solution was much easier.

We are so blessed in our fulltime RV lifestyle and pray that God keeps his blessings upon us and all of you too.  We accomplish something everyday and overcome any and all obstacles.

For with God nothing will be impossible.  (Luke 1:37)

If you like our blog we ask that you please follow it and also like our LivelyRV Facebook page.  Also comments are always welcome.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

North Carolina Zoo Visit

While in North Carolina we visited the North Carolina Zoo located near Asheboro which is about 78 miles from Durham.  We went with our wonderful friends the Gloade family, who were also great tour guides.

Misty and I were at the zoo about ten years earlier when we visited her aunt and uncle who used to live in the area, but did not remember everything about it and also much has changed since the last time we were here.

Upon entering the zoo we decided to get on the tram bus and start at the far end of the zoo and work our way back as suggested by our friends.

The Gloade and Lively families preparing to tour the zoo.

Avery was prepared with his hat and map of the zoo.

Avery is ready to go!

Miss Chloe looking cute as ever riding on the tram to the far side of the zoo.

Chloe looking cute!

Ian can hardly wait to start our adventure in the zoo today.

Ian waiting to start the tour.

Good golly Miss Molly, you are as cute as ever!

Miss Molly, cute as a button.

Here is a map of the zoo in case you are interested.  You can also click here for pdf version of the map.

Map of the zoo.

The Gloades usually like to ride to one side of the zoo and then walk back to where they started rather than walking all the way to  the other side and then riding back.  I guess it is six of one and a half dozen of another.

Riding to the other side of the zoo.

Misty looking like she is thoroughly enjoying our zoo adventure today.

Misty anticipating our zoo adventure.

Avery looking like he has a mission to accomplish on the trip with his big blue eyes.  Well they may not look blue now, but they are.

Avery with his big blue, not looking blue eyes.

Our first stop on the tour is the Cypress Swamp.  If you like amphibians and reptiles, then you are in the right place.

Entering Cypress Swamp.

Throughout the zoo there are great sculptures like this one of a cougar.  According to the zoo's webpage, there are only about 50 cougars left in North America with most of them living in swamps of Florida.  That seems like a very small number to me.

If you go to the Mountain Lion Foundation FAQ page, they say that there are 24,000 to 36,000 adults in the United States, so I'm not sure about the zoo's statistics.

Cougars are also known as the puma in South America and a mountain lion in North America, but are actually the same species in both places.

Sculpture of a cougar, mountain lion, or puma depending on where you are.

One of the reptiles we enjoyed was of course the turtles.  This one was ready to pose for the camera.

Turtle.

Of course you can not go to a swamp exhibit and not see any alligators.  Below are two American Alligators that were just soaking in the sun.  I took this picture with my new iPhone 5 which I thought did a good job, especially when using the full zoom feature, such as with this picture.

American Alligators getting a tan.

Here is a cougar, that we talked about earlier in this blog, enjoying the shade.  The temperature was in the lower 90's today.

Cougar enjoying the shade.   The temperature was in the low 90's today.

And of course, what would be a swamp tour without a snake or two.  I was close enough to this one to take a picture with just a little bit of zoom.  You may think this is a cottonmouth, but it is actually a northern water snake.

Northern water snake that is commonly mistaken for a cottonmouth.

Below is how close I was to it with only a chain link fence between it and me.  Luckily I'm not scared of snakes, but I did not let Misty know where it was until she was well past the spot.  No need to make her have an accident in her pants.

Northern water snake right next to the chain link fence that separates it from the trail.

Throughout the zoo there were hands on exhibits for the kids, such as this bubble one.  Here Kelsey tries her hand at making one.

Kelsey making a bubble.

During our tour we went to the puffin exhibit.  Not only were the puffins neat to watch, but the temperature in the exhibit was down in the forties, which cooled us off.  So, we lingered at this exhibit for a bit longer than the others!

Puffins are found in the northern Pacific Ocean and Bearing Sea and spend six to eight months living in the water and come back to land usually only to bread.

Puffin exhibit.

The zoo also has a great playground that the kids really loved.  They did not get to play on it too long though, because we still had a lot of the zoo to see and little time to do it.  We especially wanted to make sure we saw the dinosaur exhibit in the zoo, which was going to close shortly.

Ethan in the playground.

Every statue or sculpture had to be climbed on by the kids and there were plenty of them at the zoo.  Allison posed on this one for her photo opp.

Allison and the rest of the kids playing on one of the many statues at the zoo.

Ethan, Christian, Ian, Courtney, and Molly at the bear.

Now these next pictures may be too much for someone with a weak stomach.  We are entering the dinosaur section of the zoo and a couple of them broke out of their enclosures.

Some of the kids and parents did not make it, but don't worry, we got a full refund for their tickets, so it was not a total loss.

Poor, poor Ian was the first victim to be eaten by a dinosaur.  Tia jumped on the T-Rex's back to try and stop it, but it was just too big and strong.  Last thing we heard Ian say was, "Ouch!"

Ian getting eaten by a dinosaur!

After Ian was attacked we ran into a Parasaurolophus which was guarding its eggs and freshly hatched babies.  She was in no mood for us to be in the area, so we made haste and split.

Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus eggs and babies.

The next dinosaur we ran into was a Amargasaurus which did not really care whether or not we were there, so after a quick photo, we marched onward.

Amargasaurus.

Before we knew what was happening, a Quetzalcoatlus swooped down next to us with its impressive wing span.  Even though it is not really a dinosaur, it is supposedly the largest ancient flying animal ever found.

Quetzalcoatlus with it massive wing span.

After barley escaping our last peril, we spied a Citipati through the weeds.  We could not afford to lose anyone else, so had to sneak our way around it.

Citipati.

Just when we thought we were safe, we ran right smack into a Deltadromeus who looked like it was very hungry.   We knew that we could not outrun it, since it is thought to be one of the fastest dinosaurs to ever live.  So we just had to be faster than our slowest person in the group.  

Sometimes you just have to take one for the team and that is exactly what Tia did.  Actually she tripped and fell, but her sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Deltadromeus who had Tia as a snack.

Just when you thought that it could not get any worse!  We were stopped dead in our tracks by a pack of Coelophysus that were roaming around on the hunt for food.

Luckily for us, they heard all of the commotion by the Deltadromeus with Tia and went to investigate, which gave us a window of opportunity to escape.

Pack of Coelophysus on the hunt.

A Coelophysus up close and personal.

As we moved through the forest, we ran into an Acrocanthosaurus, another carnivore that would have surly eaten us, but once again, luck was on our side since there was a dying Triceratops in its path.  It was more focused on it than us and so let us pass without incident.

Acrocanthosaurus ready to eat!

Dieing Triceratops that saved us from the hungry Acrocanthosaurus.

Once again we barley escaped, but our luck was soon to run out.  Just around the corner we ran right smack into a Giganotosaurus who was not distracted like our previous diners.

Un-distracted Giganotosaurus.

Poor Misty and Chloe were the unfortunate ones who gave this dinosaur its meal today.  Courtney was able to distract it with her umbrella and escaped.

Misty and Chloe becoming a meal for the Giganotosaurus.  Courtney escapes by using her umbrella as a distraction.

After getting past a few more dinosaurs we finally made it out and had time to do some digging for fossils.  Ethan found some bones and a small dinosaur tooth.  Well it may be a shark tooth but I'm not really sure.

Ethan digging for fossils.

Some bones and a tooth was found.

After our near death experience in the land of the dinosaurs, the Gloade family and Ethan sat down to take a needed rest.  As you can see, poor Ethan was overcome by exhaustion and collapsed.

Jenny, Kelsey, and Christian Gloade taking a break while Ethan takes a nap.

Even though we were out of danger from the dinosaurs, there were still other animals you had to watch out for while in the zoo.

While taking a break, Courtney had an unexpected visit by a snake.

Courtney and her snake.

Even though the snake did not bite her, she was severely traumatized by the entire event and will probably never be the same.

Courtney traumatized by a snake.

We did get to see some lions though and even Courtney enjoyed them after her snake episode.

A male and female lion.

Here is another shot from my new iPhone5 of a giraffe and zebra without any zoom.

Picture of a zebra and giraffe without zoom from an iPhone 5.

Now here is the same picture with full zoom from the iPhone 5.  I think it does a very nice job and is not grainy at all.

Zebra and giraffe picture from an iPhone 5 zoomed in.

Well those were some of the adventures we had at the zoo today, but not all of them.  It is a very nice zoo to visit and we would gladly go back to see anything we missed or already saw.

Also, there were no real injuries or fatalities while we visited the zoo either. I made it all up just for the fun of it.  You know I should not have to put such a disclaimer, but probably should, just in case.

We had a wonderful time with the Gloade family at the zoo and can not wait until we get together again on some other adventure.

We are truly blessed and know that God had a hand in us meeting the Gloade family during our time in North Carolina. 

God also has a hand in your life too, so just listen and let Him guide you.  God bless!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...