Thursday, August 02, 2007

The Trip - Waiting for the Title

The pastor, whose house we're staying at, invited us to come to the church and use their wireless internet. What a great joy after stolen moments in parking lots getting onto unsecured wireless networks to get my pre-written blog post up (yes, I was desperate enough to do that)!

We're still in Seeley Lake, and we're waiting for the license plates for the motorhome to arrive. The temporary title, a piece of paper stuck to the back window, expired July 31st, so we can't drive the motorhome anywhere (thank God we've been towing my car!) until we get the plates. But the dealer back in El Paso, where my mom bought it, didn't have the title, so they haven't been able to get the license plates yet.

They've had to track down the previous owner, who was on vacation, and get the title from him, but he didn't sign it, so they had to go back and get him to sign it. And then there's some piece of paper my mom has to fill out, which the dealer didn't have her do while we were there. So they were supposed to FedEx that, along with an extended temporary license we can stick on the back window, to some friends here in town. But when I mentioned FedEx to the pastor's wife, she said FedEx isn't reliable delivering to Seeley Lake. She had ordered something to be shipped in 2 - 5 days, and it took 9 days to arrive. She thinks they keep their Seeley Lake packages in Missoula until it's worth their while to come all the way out here.

So, even though the dealer is shipping the paperwork overnight, it might not get here today the way it should. We have to wait and see. Once we get it and my mom finishes her paperwork and "overnights" it back to El Paso, then we'll hit the road for North Dakota to visit one of my mom's friends. It will take two days just to get there--Montana's a big state when you're crossing it East-West.

In the meantime, we've been adjusting to life on the road in a way we haven't had to so far. When we're at my mom's house, she's in charge. And when we're at my house, I'm in charge. But now that we're out here away from either of our home ports, nobody's in charge. And that takes a little getting used to. Decisions have to be shared, or at least run past the other person. Preferences and foibles need to be taken into account. It's a bit like marriage, if I remember back that far, and still a bit of a challenge. We're both fairly easy to please, but we both have things we want to do.

We've found a place for most of our things, and we're even remembering where we put those things (after searching for the less-frequently used items a couple times). We're getting more accustomed to how the air conditioning and heating systems work (yes, we needed the heater, because it got down into the 40's the other night, after being in the 90's during the day) and how to use the microwave, which works but doesn't show anything on the display. We're getting into a routine, and it's a good one.

But one other bonus comes with being in Montana: There's no sales tax. I need new tires for the car. The Toyota dealer at home recommended a new set "soon." So I'll be getting them this afternoon and saving about $30 in sales tax. And that makes me a happy camper.

No comments: