Time has rolled around again where we needed to get the motorhome state inspected and tags. You already know about the big jump in our registration went from $197 to $352. As I explained in that post we contacted the State Representative and here is their reply.
Ms. Roffe,
These are our findings:
Our Vehicle, Title and Registration Division looked into your file and found that you did pay $197.10 last year. Your motor home with a gross vehicle weight of 26,800 pounds. Previously, for a motor home in the weight category between 26,000 lbs and 40,000 lbs, the registration fee was in the range of $182 to $421.
During the 81st Legislative Session, the Legislature passed HB 2553 in order to simplify the registration fees on motor vehicles. The Legislature simplified more than 1,700 different weight groups down to 9 weight groups, resulting in some registration fees increasing and some decreasing.
Under HB 2553 which goes into effect September 1st for registrations expiring at the end of August 2011, there is a single registration fee of $340, in addition to other applicable and local county fees for vehicles in this weight category.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further assistance.
So, there we have it in a nutshell.
In regards to the State Inspection I normally pre-check everything before going to the garage where they will inspect motorhomes. You know all the lights, horn, wiper blades, turn signals, insurance card to mention a few.
During my walk around I noticed two if the red clearance lights on the back of the coach were not working. Up top I go to check them out and I find one to have a burned out lamp while the other had a bad socket. Off to the local parts store to see if by any luck they would have a replacement socket. Would you believe they had a GM socket that was a perfect fit.
In the process of trying to push the new socket in it's mounting frame I accidentally pushed to hard and the 12v wiring disappears in the hole. Now what do we do to recover the two wires . I know I will get a heavy wire put a hook on one in and go fishing. Fishing I did for about fifteen minutes and naturally came up with nothing.
Sandy said let me try….. I replied you probably won't find it either and no telling where it is. Up the ladder she goes and I be danged in less than five minutes she pulled the wires through the hole. I asked her how did you do that??? She replied…. very simple I just ran the wire horizontally to the area where the middle clearance light was and there they where????? Okay I admit that women can do some things better than men and in this case I was over whelmed. The main reason I didn't catch the wires is the thought of fishing toward the middle light never entered my mind. Yes, positive thinking and patience she has where my thoughts were not positive and patience....... what is that????
After re-wiring the new socket and buttoning up with the lens cover our next step was go get the coach inspected. The next morning we finally got off about 8:30am. We would have gotten off sooner but the HWH jacks at first didn't want to store properly as the jack warning light would not go off. I guess the home setting for sixty days, they just forgot what they needed to do. After running them through a second cycle they stored okay.
At the garage a young mechanic greeted us and started the inspection process. Oh no.......the right front turn signal did not work and he said we must have a short somewhere down the line. Now he can not pass the coach because of the light not working. I explained to him I did my walk around the day before and all seemed to be in good working order. What would cause this to all of a sudden jump up and bite me. So, we headed back to base with me scratching my head wondering where to start. I told Sandy the first thing I was going to do was check the bulb. Yep, it was burned out and after replacing it we go back to the garage and it passed with flying colors. So now we are good to go for another year.
On our way back to base we stopped at the propane place to fill up our propane tank. In talking with the manager who is an avid horseman was telling us that hay for his horses in this area was going for $100 a roll. He said it was cheaper to drive to Mississippi to buy hay and haul it back to Texas. This drought is certainly hurting all of us.
We leave for Fort Worth Friday to have Camping World install the Trav'ler antenna Saturday morning. Also I have an appointment with the Apple Store that Friday afternoon to see what we can do about fixing the cracked screen on my IPhone 4. After they finish the installation of the antenna, receiver and remote control we head back to Canton for First Monday the next weekend.
Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.
Sounds like between you and Sandy you can open a repair shop. I hate those electrical issues they can take forever to figure out. Don't dare let a guy working by the hour near them. Hay in this country is going for $30 a roll but the trucking might kill ya.
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