Phil D

In Texas the initial registration period is for a full year, less the elapsed portion of the current month. For example, a vehicle registered in Texas today, March 21st, will be issued registration good through February 28, 2015. Except for a few specialized types of registrations, there are no partial year registrations issued here.

We're still up here, Phil. It doesn't look like this assignment will be ending any time soon.

The regular, non-emission inspection is still $14.50. But Danielle got stopped in a county with emissions inspection. Even though they're registered in a non-emissions county, the only inspection available where they were was an emissions inspection, so that's what they had to get. I gave up several months of valid inspection on two of my vehicles and had them re-inspected before I came to this current work assignment, because I didn't want them coming due for inspection while we are in Harris County, an emissions inspection county. I just hope to get them back home sometime before they're due again.

I believe that, for a change, in this instance it's NOT "all about the money". Anybody that's moved to Texas from a state where they have a serious safety inspection program will tell you that you don't get much of an inspection here. If your brakes worked well enough that you stopped short of driving through the front of the inspection station's building when you pulled up, none of your bulbs are burned out, your tires aren't bald, your wipers wipe and your horn blows, you're probably going to pass. The reason that there's not much more than that getting checked is because the state-mandated inspection fee is so LOW. There just isn't a whole lot of money involved in it, for the inspection station or the state. I'm inclined to agree with Big5er -- someone in Austin came up with the idea of combining the two stickers into one, and it sounded like a brilliant idea to most everyone there -- something so obviously advantageous that it never occurred to anyone involved that any right-thinking person could oppose it. The revisions were then drafted, introduced, and passed with little or no opposition . . . with no thought whatsoever given to the thousands of people and businesses that would be severely impacted by the impracticality of the new procedure on vehicles that, for whatever reason, have to be registered here but operated outside of the jurisdiction for extended periods of time.

I think that's the problem right there, Jim. This was, for whatever reason, stealth legislation. I was back in Texas for the overwhelming majority, if not all, of the 2013 Legislative Session, and neither saw nor heard a bit of coverage of this until well after the fact, when it was mentioned in a post a few months ago on this board, in the HDT Forum. Had I heard anything at all about this at the time it would have had my undivided attention, because this new procedure has the potential to have a profound impact on my wife and me. I travel for work, and usually have no definite idea of when we'll be back (the assignments end "whenever the work is done"). In fact, I was continuously absent from my previous domicile (Pennsylvania) for the last 8 1/2 years that I "lived" there, and up until just over a year ago, was absent from Texas for what ended up being thirty-five months, instead of the anticipated eight or nine months that we thought that we were going to be gone. Registration wasn't a problem, though, in either case, because both states at the time allowed registration renewal by internet and mail, and both waived their mandatory inspection requirement for as long as the vehicles were continuously out of state, so long as everything was current when we left their jurisdiction -- and in all cases, it was. This new law, should Texas implement and enforce it as written, would wreak havoc on our ability to take out-of-state assignments, since it would be impossible to get back for the inspections on a timely basis for all four of our "vehicles". If I was fortunate enough to be at home in November ONLY, I could comply and register three of them, but the fourth is totally out of sync with the others, and being home any month other than November would eliminate compliance for at least one or two of the remaining three, and possibly all four -- so if there had been any coverage or public discussion of this legislation, I would have immediately contacted my state legislators from the Valley and the Legislative Affairs people at Escapees.

I'll be right there with you, Jack, and it will be just as traumatic for us. I'm watching very closely, too, because the stakes are higher for us than for most. The toughest thing will be that we're so committed to living in and establishing our domicile in Texas that everything we own is here -- and we've added significantly to our "holdings" since becoming Texas residents five years ago. Then, to compound the problem, we have even less flexibility than most when it comes to being away from home -- or more specifically, out of state -- because the time that we spend out of state is neither recreational nor discretionary. We leave Texas when there's work in another state, and we can't return until that work is over, arbitrary state requirements be damned. With the flexibility of the current system, being out of state -- even the thirty-five consecutive month stint -- wasn't a problem. We kept everything properly registered, and had the 3+ year old inspections updated within a couple of days of our return. Under the upcoming new system, well, we have serious problems.

Posting on this thread is disabled. Comments pertaining to a particular Rally should be posted on a thread pertaining to that Rally. Anyone that is planning/organizing an HDT-related Rally that would like to have a link to their information is welcome to contact Jack or myself to have it added here. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.

Kathy and I are at Trinity Spring Oaks Mobile Home and RV Park in Spring, TX, for the duration of my current work assignment. If anybody is in the area, please let us know!

You're right, we shouldn't be. But we are, for the time being. If your travels bring you anywhere near our neighborhood, please feel free to drop by and say hello.

Kathy and I arrived at our home in Retama Village this past Thursday. We'll be here until I get called for the next job.

Sorry to hear of your grueling day, Jack, but we're glad that you and Danielle made it into Hutch safely.

Dont wear yourself out, Jack! I'd love to be able to post that we were on the way, too, but once again, it's not to be. Have a great time at the Rally, everybody!

Kaspersky has a removal tool on its website. I downloaded and used it when I switched my old laptop from Kaspersky to MSE.

We moved today to the bustling metropolis of Wind Ridge, PA, where we'll most likely be for the duration of my current work assignment.

Hang in there, Gene. When the weather is nice here -- as it typically is -- it's a great place to be.

We're right behind you, Jack. See you tomorrow! Oh yeah . . . it's going to feel toasty to us down there, no matter what happens with the weather.

Yeah, we've had some cold. We've had lows down in the upper teens once or twice this past week, and two or three days with highs that probably didn't make forty degrees. It got into the high 50s today, but the weather's going back into the crapper starting tomorrow. Thanks for asking. :D

Steve and Stacy, welcome to the forum. When the time comes, you'll be happy to know (if you don't already, as a result of reading the forum) that Texas is one of, if not THE most HDT-friendly states in the country, allowing registration as either a private truck or as a motorhome. Best of luck in your planning and future travels, and thank you for your service.

Consider it done, Garth. I'll be moving up to my work assignment, which is based near Pembina, ND, tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll get down here to the "big city" of TRF any more or not.

We made it to Thief River Falls, Minnesota on Tuesday, and will be here until next Tuesday, when it's time to move on to Joliette, North Dakota, until January or so. I missed the Kenworth even more than I thought I would, and its old, worn out, 652k mile Bostrom air ride driver's seat in particular. My ass and back are still pissed off at me for making them ride 1850+ miles over three and a half days in that GMC pickup seat.

Welcome, Jim! As you already know, you've discovered a place where you'll find a wealth of knowledge about the style of RVing that you're pursuing. Mark and Jack are extremely knowledgeable, and you'll find the to be quite helpful, no doubt, as will many of the others here. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

Come on, Rocky, you know that you miss it here! They happened to mention on the ten o'clock news that the average daily high here this month has been 103°. How could you not want to get back to that ASAP?

Welcome to the Escapees HDT Forum, Mac. There is indeed a wealth of information here, and a lot of knowledgeable people "hang out" here, too. Any time that you have a question, don't hesitate to ask.

Congratulations on getting the Frog Pond up and running, Gail. You and Bonnie have a great summer!

THIS JUST IN! The Kenworth remains unnamed, however . . . IN OTHER NEWS: Kathy drove the aforementioned anonymous vehicle around the parking lot of a former grocery store for a while this evening, and did a great job with it. She didn't quite work up the courage to continue on out to the streets to drive in traffic, but I don't think that it will be long now.