Postcard from New Mexico- 2

3 April to 22 June 2010
(Santa Fe, NM)

Had to have a fire before we left town I guess

We had a lot of chores to take care of while we were in Santa Fe. Taxes, of course, plus doctor/dentist appointments; exams for the dogs; health certificates for the dogs; and there was the issue of what was to be our residency.

Lots of wonderful sunsets in Santa Fe

We settled on South Dakota as it's an RV friendly state and most importantly it has a considerate attitude toward RVers when it comes to jury duty. Though I've served only once, I'd been called too many times in Santa Fe county and had concluded the only way to make it stop was to die or move. I chose the latter.

As I perceive it, the jury pool isn't populated with every person that probably meets the requirements to serve (registered voters, licensed drivers and property owners). Rather it consists of only those same people that have been previously called & vetted. They keep calling the same people over and over and only replenish the pool when someone becomes ineligible. The pool is large so it's not like you get called every week. But if you've made plans for a vacation, you must be excused from jury duty by a judge... the jury pool manager can't do it. If we're to travel, probably full time, I see no other alternative than to change our residency.

We signed up with Alternative Resources and then used their services for registering the RV and the truck. I left the Highlander registered in NM since we leave it in the carport except when we come back to check on the house. The process was very smooth and fast. The only inconvenient part is getting our driver's licenses since that has to be done in person. Voting is done by absentee ballot and as an RVer you are restricted to non-local candidates. This latter limitation seems appropriate as there's no way, for instance, we can make a reasonable judgment about school board elections.

We also got our passports renewed which turned out to be not so time consuming as I'd feared. We did pay the expedited service fee and had the replacements in hand in about a month. But it was really important to not leave it to the last minute. Since New Mexico driver's licenses aren't accepted as proof of citizenship anywhere, it was important that we have them to get our South Dakota driver's license and to cross the border to Canada.

Eventually we made our way thru the list(s!) and were finally ready to leave for Canada. We'd decided to follow the western shore of L Superior, enter Canada at Thunder Bay, Ontario, then go around the North shore of Superior and down to Sault Ste. Marie (soo saint marie). There are provincial parks along the route so it sounded very inviting.

After the North shore our plan was to continue East thru Canada till we got to the Maritime provinces, then turn South thru Maine to see the grand kids. After that we would work our way South to Florida for the winter season.

We thought it sounded like a great plan.