We signed up with escapees to get began with our nomad life, and all the things has gone fairly nicely. They’ve guides arrange, for all of the completely different states that can help you declare domicile if you are dwelling on the street, that information you thru all of the steps that you must take to get all the things carried out.
The toughest half was getting from New Jersey to the west aspect of South Dakota and again within the period of time we had accessible. Have been there different hiccups alongside the way in which? Certain there have been, however so far as the method to register, it was fairly painless.
Drivers License
One factor to remember is that the South Dakota Drivers Licensing workplace (the 1st step) is closed on Mondays. Yeah… Who knew. We left Thursday evening to make it to Speedy Metropolis for Sunday evening, in order that we might hit the bottom working very first thing Monday morning.
Okay, change of plans, Monday is now monument touring day. We went again house (to the RV) and made some breakfast, bundled up good and heat as a result of its 20 levels out this morning, (We nailed it on the plan of by no means being chilly once more…) and headed in direction of Mount Rushmore.


Once we have been carried out at Rushmore we headed over to Loopy Horse. And if these two stops are in your record of issues to do when establishing your South Dakota domicile, I’d advocate capturing for doing them on a Friday. Friday after 4pm you’ll be able to take a trip as much as the highest of Loopy Horse and be head to head with him, in the course of the week that’s not an choice as it’s an energetic work website.


Once we have been carried out trying out the museum and outlets at Loopy Horse, we determined to take a trip over to Custer State Park which is correct up the street, as a result of as you already know, Loretta has an infatuation with Buffalo and a big herd calls Custer house in the course of the winter.


Drive the wildlife loop when you resolve to make this cease, and sooner or later you WILL come throughout this large herd of fluffy cows. Simply bear in mind, NO PETTING THEM!
Once we have been carried out with our sight seeing day, we retired to the RV, made some dinner and determined to strive once more Tuesday morning. The license workplace opens at 7:00 am so we deliberate on being there after they opened.
Drivers License, Spherical Two
All advised from parking the truck, to each strolling out with our South Dakota drivers licenses, we have been there for Possibly 40 minutes. Be sure to have the paperwork listed within the Domicile Information, and you’ll be out and in.
One factor to remember, that isn’t spelled out within the information, is that your Identify must be on the receipt on your keep in South Dakota. If there’s two of you, each names should be on it. That was the one factor that held us up a bit, BUT, in contrast to New Jersey, the folks right here have been very pleasant and useful with serving to us work out the way to get previous this sticking level since solely My Identify was on the receipt.
Car Registration
Subsequent cease is over to the Tax Workplace to register the automobiles. We deliberate on being right here for hours, simply because we knew there could be T’s to cross and I’s to dot in triplicate since there are loans on 2 of the Truck and RV. Our sons automobile we personal outright, and that course of was solely about 10 minutes.
The Truck and RV did take a bit bit longer, and required a bit extra paperwork to be crammed out, which we sort of anticipated anyway. We ended up working with a lady named Erica and we actually can’t say sufficient about her and the way pleasant and useful she was all through your entire course of.
She guided us via the paperwork we wanted on prime of what we had introduced with us. She gave us her e mail deal with so we might ship her a doc that we didn’t have with us. She put collectively a file with our paperwork, with a notice on what we nonetheless wanted, and what we have been ready on from the finance corporations to maintain on her desk.
Erica has been a unbelievable breath of contemporary air from a authorities workplace. We simply received an e mail yesterday, per week after we left South Dakota that the title for our truck had lastly are available in from the finance firm, so they might course of the registration, and ship us our plates after we paid for the transaction over the telephone.
South Dakota Domicile IS That Straightforward
When you comply with the information the method on the tax workplace does go pretty easily, and the employees there may be fairly useful. Once we arrived there have been perhaps 10 folks in line and it moved fairly shortly. I’d say we have been out and in in about an hour and a half.
Talking to native girl in line, at present was her third day making an attempt to get in to the workplace. She stated the final 2 instances she pulled into the car parking zone, noticed the road to get to the counter, and pulled again out. It does sound like we received fortunate with the day we got here in, and that this variable would be the luck of the draw within the course of.
On the plus aspect, when you get nearly all of your paperwork carried out, South Dakota does allow you to end the method by way of e mail and make cost over the telephone, which makes your entire factor so much much less of a headache.
When you occur to be headed east on the way in which house, or west on the way in which out, I’d positively advocate the Iowa 80 truck cease for a very good leg stretcher cease. It’s the worlds largest truck cease, and if there may be something you wanted for the journey that you simply forgot, they’ve it there.


All advised your entire journey was 8 days. We left on a Thursday evening, and received again mid day the next Friday. The drive was the hardest half as we spent extra time on the street in the course of the day than we usually like to only to remain contained in the time constraints we had from our private life. And on the plus aspect, I didn’t should combat a bear like I did in Yellowstone.
Now we now have our South Dakota drivers licenses, our automobile registrations are in course of, and our plates are being mailed to us as quickly as they arrive in. One step nearer…
The one factor left to do now could be hit the open street.
Planning a visit to the Dakotas? Try our record of Should Have Highway Journey Apps.



