We Passed The (First) Test!

On the road to the long process of becoming Texas residents, we have hit a few bumps.  The main bump is caused by the fact that we can't simply turn in our Oklahoma driver's licenses for the same Texas license.  In the state of Texas, one must obtain a special "Class B Exempt" license to drive a motorhome that weighs more than 26,001 pounds.  We have gotten some inaccurate information from some official sources about this process.  But we've found that we must pass a written CDL exam, and then take a driving test in the heavy weight vehicle.  We had hoped to do all this while staying in sunny South Texas, but just found out that the earliest we could take the driving test down in the Rio Grande Valley was May 7.  

So we headed north toward some less busy DMV offices.  We stopped in at the Hondo DMV office on Friday afternoon, and submitted all our paperwork and signed all the papers.  We were a little nervous, since we haven't taken a written exam in years.  We had to learn very worthwhile information from the CDL manual, such as the headlight configuration of tractors manufactured after 1972.  Just ask us about the maximum length allowed for pole trailers, and the allowable red devices that can be used on the end of poles that are too long.  We had to memorize the color of reflectors, and the minimum and maximum heights they can be located.  We know about the regulations for mud flaps (and that they must be hung 8 inches from the highway surface), and other important information necessary for the safe driving of our motorhome.

Mark accused Denisa of sneaking in more studying time.  Ever since we took those general education classes together 35 years ago, we have been very competitive about trying to outscore each other on exams.  So we are glad to report that we tied on our written CDL exams.  We both scored 95%, and were just glad it was over the 70% that was required!  We would have taken a picture outside of the DMV office with our paper acknowledging our passing grades.  But it was raining at the time, and we didn't want to get that precious piece of paper wet.

Passing that test meant we could get an appointment for the driving exam, and we are now scheduled for March 9.  This is the last step in becoming real Texans, and the last thing that keeps us from our next destination.  

For now we are very comfortable in site 97 at the Lone Star Corral RV Park between Hondo and D'Hanis. This is a co-op park of the Escapees full-time RVer organization.  Instead of writing out the word "Escapee" it is usually written "SKP".  This group knows all about living full-time on the road, and their main office in Livingston, Texas also handles our mail forwarding service.  Each lot in this co-op park is owned by a member, but can be rented out to travelers like us if the owner is traveling somewhere else.  They have activities at the club house, and social hours filled with announcements and plenty of conversation so you can get to know your neighbors.  Each lot also has a "shed" for the owners to spread out into when they stay here.  We are enjoying the half-price rate available to first-time visitors, and have been very happy here.

We'll be checking out this area just 45 miles west of San Antonio until the DMV is satisfied with Denisa's ability to drive our motorhome.  (We're not worried about Mark passing!)