Welcome to South Dakota!

As mentioned in a previous post we decided to use South Dakota as our state of residence while full timing due to its beneficial taxes and vehicle regulations.  When the truck was purchased the dealer in Tennessee handled the out of state registration so that was one issue removed, but we still had to get our drivers license and register our other car until we sell it.  To get a drivers license you do have to show up in person.  For full time RV'ers you have to stay overnight at a campground or motel in South Dakota and bring the receipt with you and then sign an affidavit that it is your intention to live in South Dakota when you are done full timing.  To get a license plate on a vehicle in South Dakota you have to go to the county where your address is, so we decided to go to Madison, SD, which is the county seat, to get the license plate and to get our licenses.  The functions are separate in the state and for Madison the drivers license facility is open only on Tuesdays.  We drove up Monday (620 miles) and stayed in a local motel to get our mandatory receipt.  At 9:00am on Tuesday we showed up at the drivers license office and within 15 minutes had our South Dakota licenses.  We then walked next door to the county offices and within 10 minutes had our vehicle titled and plates in hand.  Other than the long drive to get there, what an easy experience.  Beats any other state we have lived in.!

After completing our business we thought we would stop by "our residence" in town to meet the lady who runs the mail forwarding service.  She was very nice and extremely helpful.  We completed all the paperwork in advance so our local Jayco dealer will be able to register our fifth wheel in South Dakota.  Here is a picture of "our residence".

We then left our little town and began our trip back home.  We decided to stop in Sioux Falls, SD as we had seen a picture of Falls Park on the local news and it looked interesting.  It was a really nice place to visit.  Here is a picture of part of the park.

 We stopped in Tomah, WI., for the night and then headed home today, Wednesday.  A quick trip but we got everything we needed to done.  Probably will not have to go back to Madison until our licenses have to be renewed.