Virginia - Day 19

Kings Dominion KOA
Tuesday, 19 March 2019

This was a day where I tried hard to catch up but had too much to do to get caught up.

I did laundry and took a shower and bought more propane.  The guy had to bleed out a bunch of gas before he was able to pump any propane in - the 2nd time that's happened to me.  The tank was almost empty of propane and almost full of air.  How does that happen? 

The guy told me he'd never heard of it until he came across it for the umpteenth time and somebody finally educated him about it.  But he didn't know anything I could do to prevent it.  He just suggested that every now and then I bleed the valve.  I didn't bother to tell him I'm so afraid of the explosive properties of gas that I don't want to touch the thing.

This is what Virginia license plates look like these days.  A lot like Texas plates from a little distance.

They have several specialty plates, the most popular of which is bright yellow and has the "don't tread on me" + coiled snake motif on it.  That design, I learned when I looked it up, was created by American general and politician Gadsden during the American Revolution.  I'm not sure that's what people have in mind when they choose that plate now, but you never know.

I've been beginning to worry a little about my RV registration, which comes up for renewal in May.  Texas won't let you renew your license plates unless you can show proof of a recent inspection.  I can't get that inspection done in another state, because they do inspections only if the vehicle is registered in that state.  I can't get registered in another state unless I become a resident there, which isn't happening with my current mode of living.  So Texas it is, except I'm not going to be back there until January 2021, which is a little past my May 2019 deadline.

So when I saw that another camper here has Texas plates, I grabbed the guy when he was outside taking a smoking break to ask how he managed it.  He said I should call the DMV where my registered address is, and tell them I'm out of state and can't get back in time to update the inspection.  He said they told him okay but get it done as soon as he got back.  He said if I ever got stopped for it, to tell them that's what the DMV had told me.  (I will, of course, have to confirm this with the DMV.)  The better part of 2 years seems like a long time to be pushing my luck on something like this, but he said he traveled a lot with the insurance business, so I hope he's right.

When he asked where I was from, I told him Richardson and then started to explain it because even Texans don't know this suburb of Dallas.  But he knew where it was and I understood how when I asked where he was from and he said Granbury.  He explained it was south of Fort Worth but I said I know because I have a cousin living there.  Well, just outside, I said, and he said where and I said pecan something and he said Pecan Plantation, that's where he lives too.  Small world doesn't even begin to cover this.  Nice guy.