A little more status...

Well, after 4 months, we have finally gotten our drivers license. This may seem trivial, but I know that we were both dreading the day that we had to head down and get ourselves tested again.

Both Tara and myself have been driving for some years now, and we are both fairly confident drivers, but when you stick an examiner beside you, you have to be a little extra cautious, as you know they will be checking everything that you do.

The process is fairly simple. We had a knowledge test we needed to sit, which was pretty easy for the both of us. We studied the text book that you get free from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). You then fill out your application, pay your testing fee(US$5), and sit at a computer and answer around 35 knowledge questions. As soon as you reach around 85% the test stops, and you have passed. If you don't know a question, or want to come back to it, you can skip them. If you get one or two wrong, it will tell you what was the correct answer.

The next portion is booking into a practical test, which requires you drive with an instructor. Generally this is done for anyone coming from an overseas country, with the exception of Mexico, Canada, and a few others.

We booked the test at a place called St Helens (no, not the mountain) - which had the earliest test time for us, it is about 40 minutes away from us. It is a lovely place, on the river, more like a country town. When we arrived, we simply booked in, paid the test fee (US$9), and the tester came with each of us for around a 15-20 minute drive. He does not talk about the test while driving, other than giving instructions on where to turn, etc. At the end he tells you how you went.

For me, no issues at all, full marks. For Tara just a couple of little things, which to be honest - when you have driven a car for as long as we have, it would be considered strange. None the less, we both passed without any real incidents, and are both now licensed US drivers! It cost US$54.50 for an 8 year license.

This may not seem significant, except that your drivers license is your primary form of identification here in the US. You can use it to travel without the need for a passport (when flying domestically), as well as to get you access to local facilities, like the library and the sports and recreation clubs.

It was the last piece of real "form filling, etc." that we needed to do, and we now have it. Both of us are both happy and relieved. We have shown you the price of each step, just to see how much cheaper than getting a license in Australia it is. (Mind you going to the dentist is a whole other story!)