RV- self-contained, not too large, but containing the needed everyday amenities of a fixed home......a dream I entertained for years. Dream stemmed from perceiving ever-increasing control over my life by "the system". Being a fighter of status quo, as well as a dissenting old bas.ard now, I see it was just a dream. The implications were savory: Drivers License? Pick the state. License plates? State where they cost the least. Tired of one place? Move along. Climate? Winter where warm, summer where tolerable. State of residency? Tough call, likely where D.L. issued. Bureau MUST mail license to an address, no P.O. box. Driving is not a given, but rather a gift one buys for oneself. Bit tougher call. I listed my nephew's address in Flagstaff (Arizona) as my residence when we left AZ and moved to Missouri. MO law said, if you own property in another state, yoou may retain that state's DL no matter how long you stay in MO. Clever, when registration time came, mailed to Mike's house, he forwarded it to me, I filled it out, inserted check, mailed to DMV, they no doubt could have cared less about a postmark, maybe I mailed it while on vacation, out of state......... Why do this? Rebellious, sure, ulterior motive, though? Sure. Arizona issues a non-expiring lifetime (until age 65) Drivers License; we moved to MO when I was 57, true that, so I only got an 8 year license. The neighbor from Phoenix who bought into the MO property with us at age 37, still lives there driving with an AZ license 18 years later, and can continue to do so for another 10! Why would any state issue a lifetime DL, one might ask. Kinda long story, but interesting one, I'll explain if anyone cares to know.
Well, @Frank Sanoica , since it looks like no one else is interested, I'll ask. Why would any state issue a lifetime DL, one might ask.
@Shirley Martin The DMV situation in the Phoenix area had become untenable. There were at least 5 locations that I recall, one in Mesa, 2 or 3 in Phoenix, which understand covers about 400 square miles; Chicago in compariuson with nearly 4 times the population covers about 100. 1 in Chandler, I think. Anyway, folks had to drive a long way to get their DL and registration business done. The DMV office closest to us offered the experience to witness bureaucratic madness. Folks lined up at 6AM outdoors, waiting to get in at opening, 8AM. Some of those earliest arrivals did not get service until mid-to late afternoon. Arriving at noon meant failure to get to a window by closing time. A public uproar ensued. The "fix" was the lifetime DL. It worked. The fee was increased only moderately, in response to great public concern for the poor being unable to pay for their renewal. We had at that time already experienced litigation against the State's mandatory car insurance: the poor were being ticketed driving to work with no insurance.....the fix? Subsidize their car insurance, using taxpayer dollars. Of course, subsidized residential rental payments came after that. Frank
We have a 17-year DL in Maine. At age seventy, I think, it switches to a five-year time period, though. So, probably the next time I have renew, it will be only a five-year license.
@Ken Anderson 17?? I wonder if that number had something to do with Patent Rights. Nah. Too far removed. Still, all states where I have resided, and complied with, twisted and convoluted vehicle and driver licensing requirements, mainly went 5 years, never more. My best "besting" of the system came when I was living in Colorado, had a Colorado DL and registration, and was anticipating a move to a new job in IN. My registration about to expire, I contrived to make (and DID) a fake renewal sticker for my license plates. It looked formidably official! The colors and all. Stuck them on, and soon proceeded to engage in the process of moving. Having entered Indiana, my speedometer cable disconnected to [preserve "low miles", I came up on a cop, gradually, guessed he was doing about 5 under, and slowly passd him. He pulled me over, asking if I knew how fast I was going. Told him no, speedometer had busted yesterday crossing Kansas, I was moving to IN to start a new job, blah, blah, he never looked closely at the registration or the plate: the sticker numbers didn't match, obviously! Slick talker, me, in my younger days, he admonished me verbally, telling me to get the speedometer fixed as soon as I got to Churubusco, and off we went. My Mother, then living with me since my recent divorce, and riding shotgun, was visibly disgusted. She remarked about not having raised a son to become a law breaker. She didn't. I got that way after leaving the nest. Frank
I drove illegally in Hungary for 6 years. My drivers license had expired in Indiana and I didn't renew it because I was in Hungary at the time. I didn't get an international one like I should have so when I would get pulled over, they'd look at my drivers license not knowing what was what and let me go...I also still had my Indiana plates on my Altima that we took over there.
What a nice surprise we got today. My brother and Mary who are the one's who live in Oregon showed up at our door a short while ago. They drove all the way from Banden, Oregon because they are going on a Cruise leaving from New Orleans with my brother's son and his family this Sunday. Could this be and omen that the trip including Oregon might happen after all? I guess we just will have to wait and see.
The past few days all the tour books, etc. from AAA have been arriving in the mail and as I open these things I feel an excitement running through me. I really don't know if it's this trip in particular that I am longing to take...or if it's just the fact that my heart is longing to take "one" more big adventure before we settle down to a life of smaller adventures. I also don't know if I am really up to taking this last big adventure, especially when I now know my Honey's heart is not longing for it like I am. Because I know him so well, I am aware that his vision problems have tapped down his excitement at exploring new places...especially when these new places would mean driving so far from home when some days he needs me to drive him back and forth to work because his vision isn't good when it's foggy or rainy, etc. Now that I'm developing cataracts my vision isn't what it used to be either. And I never have liked driving that much either. So why is my heart longing for this trip? Or is it really this trip my heart is longing for? Why would I even long to make this trip when I won't even consider driving to my daughter's in Texas because of the drive through Houston traffic or even drive myself to Florida to visit with my sisters! If I don't feel I can do these things anymore, how in the world could I be thinking I could take a trip to Colorado, Utah, and Oregon? I'm not even very close to my Honey's brother or his daughter since I have only met his brother and visited with him and his family one time and his daughter just a few times. I am very close to my brother who lives in Oregon though and could see myself going to visit with him as often as possible. I'm beginning to think that this trip is about so much more than just taking one more big adventure before we settle down to smaller adventures. My enquiring mind will find the answers here.
I can really relate to your feelings about traveling , @Babs Hunt , and I have gone through those same kinds of contradictory thoughts myself. I barely drive further than grocery shopping and our daily pilgrimage to the fitness center; but still I get the desire to just travel and see more of this beautiful country we live in, while I am still able to do that. But, the sad truth is that, like you mentioned, I do not want to have to drive through large cities or even spend hours and hours a day driving somewhere anymore. Bobby and I have talked about taking even a short trip by train, just to see how he likes traveling that way; but we can't really just go off and leave the house and the dogs, even overnight. When I took the train from Idaho to Virginia, we stopped at each little town, and all of the smokers got off of the train and smoked and then came back on again. Since Bobby smokes, this is what he would have to do. However, I think that if a person used one of the e-cigarettes, they could probably do that even on the train, as long as it was in private; since they don't stink like cigarettes do. I think it is just hard to face not being able to do things that we have been able to always do when we wanted to do them, and I still miss living in the country and having horses and riding for hours. Even though I know I can't do that any more, I still miss it. Didn't both you and your husband take the train to Texas to visit your daughter ?
Yes, he actually rode the train to Houston by himself @Yvonne Smith and then we rode it back to Louisiana together. He did just fine on that too. After my Honey and I got married, I used to dream about our buying an RV and traveling to see the States in America that we had never been to. I would research for hours how we could work at Campgrounds in National Forests. etc. for free RV parking and spend as much time as we wanted exploring places we had never been to before. I would print off these "dreams" and put them in my "dream" folder. My dreams about what we would do when we retired didn't include things like vision or other health problems that would hinder or even prevent those dreams from coming true though and now that these health problems are a reality I don't know how to adjust my dreams to "fit" these problems in with them. On the other hand, I don't know how to give up completely on those dreams either. But talking about things helps to see the realities of things now...and it helps me to figure out what is really important here. If we want to travel and driving for long distances won't be an option, then what other options can we consider? And if we can't go all over like I had dreamed of, is going one place at a time still possible? There are options...they just didn't fit in with my original dreams. So I have to go back to the drawing board and sketch some different plans or even scrap the whole dream if it just won't work anymore. I have to ask myself what is it I really want to see..if it's mountains I don't have to go all the way to Colorado to see them. I can go almost straight up from Louisiana and see mountains in Tennesssee, etc. There is another obstacle I didn't count on....and that is my Honey who once shared my dreams....now doesn't seem to want to do anything more that come home from work and sit on the porch smoking his cigarettes and drinking his beer. Whether he has lost interest in traveling because of his vision problems is something we are going to have to discuss. Because even though I know he can't get as much time off of work at this time, if we wait until school is out and the summer help is available...then we could take more time off and do some traveling. It just might have to be shorter trips or taking a train to a place and then renting a car for a few days while we explore, etc. Where there is a will, there really is a way. I just have to make sure there is a will still there for both of...otherwise it won't do any good looking for a way.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that: To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven... I guess our season for making that last driving trip is past except in my dreams. But oh what a nice dream it was.
Yeah, sometimes we just can't fulfill our dreams but there is still a slim chance something could happen to make it possible....you never know! I have dreams of train trips but alone it's not even worth considering.... I've also been thinking of finding an affordable group travel club or something along those lines....as long as they're not all couples and I'm the third wheel.
No, there is no more slim chance that this dream is going to come true Chrissy. Because the reality is becoming clearer every day that the dream was and is just my dream and not my Honey's too. I thought it would be his dream too because we would be going to visit with his brother and his daughter...and my brother too. And to be honest until and if I can get these health problems I'm experiencing stable, it is no time for me to go on a long distance trip either. It is disappointing to me, but just because the time is past for one dream to happen....doesn't mean there aren't other dreams that are possible. I just have to let go of this one all the way so that I can see the other possibilities and most importantly I have to find the answers to the problems I'm experiencing with my health and get those stablized too.