Liscense and Registration

Now the former Colorado native and current California Winnebago isn't exactly street legal for a number of mechanical reasons, most notably the crack in the gray water tank but I won't go into details on why driving with a leaky gray water tank is bad in this post. The tags are about to expire and the Bago needs to be under our name and not Hawk's.

Now we could drive to the Porterville DMV, but if you've been to one recently you would know that DMV lines are a bit like walking into a Walmart; you are going to see some strange people. Those of you familiar with Porterville also know that geographics will also play a significant role in the kind of people you will see. April and I received some good advice; if you're a Triple A member you can take care of registration and new license plates at the local Triple A office.




It's better one stop shopping than a Walmart and a lot safer too. We stop and fill out the proper forms, pay the fees and now it's time for the most important question; personalized plates? Now April and I have been debating naming the Bago. She wants to name it like some sort of adoptive child, more so because while she was on pain meds after the birth of our son I was able to corner the market on naming our son. This is April's opportunity to select a name she might have chosen for our son if not for strong pain meds. I want to name it after the previous owner's middle name (one of three middle names listed on the previous registration), HAWK. There is also a Hawk figure glued to the 'nose' of the Bago, completing the justification. After some deliberation we opt to not be that goofy and go plain on the plates.


The Triple A manager is having some trouble; apparently matching the VIN number is hard to do when there are multiple numbers associated with the vehicle. First it's a Dodge chassis, specifically a Dodge RM300 with a Dodge 318 engine. Now the good people of Winnebago County, Iowa saw fit to give the chassis the famous 'Brow' body which has it's own numbers as well. Between the chassis, engine and body serial numbers, she writes all three down and spits it into the database. The manager completes the background check and we are given plates on the spot, holy moly! They keep plates there at the office ready to go like warm cheeseburgers under the heat lamps. We hit the road and are ready for the next adventure.

What could possibly go wrong?