Whew!

We are now, officially, finally, Texas residents.

Steve's birth certificate arrived at 8 a.m. We happened to stroll into the lobby at the same time the FedEx guy (same as the day before) was walking in. I'm sure he thought we were stalking him.

We had breakfast and got on the road to our destination, two hours away.

Steve and Elias went to the bank (weird places here don't run on credit cards) while I went to start registering the Pilot. I was done in five minutes but had to wait another five until the boys came back with the money.

Then we were off to the drivers license office a mile or so away. I tried to remain hopeful but my spirit was broken.

The same two ladies were working and they remembered us. The one had been rather curt the last time but was quite friendly today. She seemed as relieved as we were that we finally had everything we needed. (We did not elaborate about what it took to finally get to that point, but she probably would have enjoyed the story.)

Two vision tests, two thumb-print recordings (well, four, since we each have two thumbs), and a couple signatures, and we had our temporary Texas licenses in hand.

We then went to the office where our insurance broker works. We needed to turn in some paperwork, but we also wanted to use their fax to get a copy of Steve's license to the RV dealer in Ohio so they could finalize everything.

After that, we went to lunch to celebrate our new residency. (More on that later--I'm planning a post to talk about the food we've had on this trip.)

I'm currently in the middle of the third book in the Twilight series. (Bear with me here--it pertains.) Right now Bella is contemplating becoming a vampire but is just slightly apprehensive about leaving her human-ness behind.

That's sort of how I felt about becoming a Texan. I even had a whole pithy post typed out in my head, but then all these complications arose and quashed my creativity.

Not that I'm comparing Texans to vampires. Or Californians to humans for that matter.

Steve and I both thought we'd feel some sadness, or at least some wistfulness, about no longer being Californians. In reality, we're so relieved to have most of this ordeal behind us that we just don't care either way.

Anyway, the trailer is scheduled to be delivered on Monday morning, so we still have a few more days here. There are still opportunities for things to go wrong, but I'm trying to stay optimistic. As optimistic as a vampire can be.