You've Got Mail

Logging on to the computer, you see the little red flag pop up and yay!  You've got mail!

The email correspondence between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the movie, “You’ve Got Mail,” might make you think there is no need to send letters or bills by the U. S. Postal System anymore.  But that's not the case.  There are still some organizations--IRS and W-2s come to mind--that use the paper route to your mailbox.

Ignoring the IRS is never a good idea!  So Tim found a mailbox service located in Sioux Falls, SD that specializes in holding and forwarding mail to full-time RVers and others who live a nomadic lifestyle.  For a fee, DakotaPost will send your mail to a campground mailing address or any other location you specify as frequently as you want.

They will also advise you how to establish your residency in South Dakota, a state that charges no income tax.  So we have become South Dakotans, complete with drivers licenses and the car tag.  All it takes is one night’s stay in a hotel in Sioux Falls.  But beware!  Don't use Orbitz or another travel site to book your stay.  Those web sites reserve a room in the name of the person making the reservation without including the other travelers in your party.

This past Friday I almost became a “man without a country.”  Tim made our room reservation on Orbitz and of course, the bill listed only his name.  When we arrived at the Department of Motor Vehicles, we were told that while Tim could establish his residency, I could not.  Yikes!  Should we make additional room reservations over the weekend so I could try again at the DMV on Monday?

We had made a 300-mile detour from Chicago to Sioux Falls on our way to the farm in Kansas for the sole purpose of establishing our residency in South Dakota.  We needed to arrive at the farm before the moving van gets there early this week.  We had no time to spare!

Luckily, the hotel manager where we stayed was able to manipulate the hotel’s reservation system to print out a separate bill for me.  Now we are no longer Virginians.  We are residents of the proud state of South Dakota, home of Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills, which one day we plan to explore!