Part 2: Our Wild Vehicle Registration Caper

This is the second and final installment of “Our Wild Vehicle Registration Caper”. 

On January 14, we were up early in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and off to Denver. It was a brutal 4 degrees when we came out of Glenwood Canyon past Dotsero, Colorado! Weren’t we glad that we had coats, hats, and gloves! We drove 165 miles directly to our DMV location in Denver. What a relief to finally be there with our paperwork in hand! BUT WAIT! As the DMV representatives looked through the paperwork, they noticed that Jorgensen Ford had neglected to notarize a signature! Steve called Jorgensen Ford as Diane seethed! It was roughly 2 p.m. Because we wanted to be back in Tucson by January 20, we had two options. #1 – they re-do the paperwork with it notarized and overnight it OR #2 – we get back in the truck and drive 1,000 miles roundtrip overnight and get it ourselves! Jorgensen called 30 minutes later and provided us with a FedEx tracking number. It was to be delivered by 10:30 a.m the next day!

Ours was not the only traveling adventure. Unbelievably, the FedEx envelope traveled to Salt Lake City, Memphis, and then to Denver. Despite the multi-city trip, the FedEx truck pulled up at 10:30 a.m. Off we went back to the DMV. The very helpful DMV representative shuffled through the papers carefully discerning what was what, especially given that the truck was purchased in Utah, so not all papers look alike. He looked up at us and said, “You don’t want to hear this. I will show you the current road block.” Because we were now in 2020 and the truck is a 2016 it needs to have an emissions test. And, it must be done at a location that specializes in diesel emissions. He gave us a list of emissions companies and locations. Diane found one that was first-come, first-serve and “only” charged $55. Of course, we headed there. The truck passed the emissions test!

It was now 2 p.m. and we were back at the DMV waiting for the same representative. When we hand him the emissions test, he had a relieved look on his face. He said, “We are almost done here. All I need is to verify the VIN number on the truck.” At 2:45 p.m. we had our new license plate and vehicle registration in hand, sales tax and registration paid, and walking to our truck to install the new plate. 

The new plate starts with AZI-F. We climbed into the truck and said to each other, “It’s AS IF no one knows anything!” Hmmm….perhaps the name of our truck is AS IF. What do you think?

In Conclusion

Our Wild Vehicle Registration Caper had costs! In total, the extra driving was approximately 2400 miles. This translates to 160 gallons of diesel fuel and about $500. Along with four hotel stays, RV storage, cancellation fees, some newly purchased food that had to be discarded, and eating more meals out, this caper cost us at least  $1000. Given that we often book six months in advance to get campsites, our disappointment was palpable. The frustration of having to personally intervene and take the paperwork from one point to another added to a very stressful week.

There were several lessons learned. Avoid purchasing a vehicle out-of-state if at all possible. Since our situation made it logistically challenging to purchase elsewhere, the other lesson is to make sure  we and the car dealer have a detailed understanding of what paperwork is required.

The positive side of this escapade was spending two nights with Stephanie and Shane, one night with Mom Lois, one night with Steve’s sister and her family in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and two nights with Diane’s sister and brother-in-law in Los Alamos, New Mexico. We are grateful for the extraordinary hospitality of our family!

Alrighty…time to get back into the saddle, count our blessings, and keep movin’ at “The Speed of Sanity!”