The drive was long and boring, but sometimes boring is better than eventful. We checked into the hotel before 5 pm so we decided to see a little of our adopted hometown. We discovered that Scheels is the big sporting goods store in town, with a ton of hunting and sports equipment. And we had time to visit the falls that Sioux Falls is named for. It’s in a big green park, right in town. This park is similar to Forrest Park in St. Louis, with walking paths, benches, and a big tower for a birds-eye view. The falls are really pretty - a multi-level falls that flows down big red rocks, then becomes the quiet Big Sioux River that goes out of town.
The surrounding landscape is full of red rocks, broken into geometric shapes. It almost looks like someone has carved blocks from the rocks, and perhaps they have.
The town of Sioux Falls has a nice tradition; every year they showcase a couple dozen sculptures by local artists and the public votes on which one the city will buy. They are on display now along Phillips street which runs right by our hotel, so we got to see them all. The little “Burrito” by the hotel was really cute, and a small bear sculpture was adorable. I also liked this bird of prey - it has a steam-punk flavor, which I always like.
For dinner we went to the Phillips Avenue Diner. A full review will be available in our other blog, but suffice to say I really liked the waffles with bacon and glazed nuts! Details available at The RV Chef Blog.
The next morning we went to the License Department to get our driver licenses renewed. There is a whole list of items needed for this, so we came prepared...we thought.
(1) Something that proves your identity. Passport or Birth Certificate will work; we took both.
(2) Social Security card or a tax form. I have my old, frayed paper SS card and Randy has the SS card attachment which includes his SS number.
(3) Two documents to prove you have South Dakota as an address. Credit card statements are accepted so we had printed recent statements. For RVers the second document can be a receipt from the place you stayed - hotel or RV park. Since we stayed one night in Sioux Falls, we asked the hotel for a receipt. That turned out to be tricky; since we booked the hotel through Hotwire we didn’t actually pay the hotel and the lady at the desk didn’t know how to give us a receipt. Another lady showed her how to print a blank receipt; it had Randy’s name (since the credit card that paid for the room is in his name) and the dates, but no amount. So at 7 am we left the hotel to get our licenses.
- At the License Bureau the lady behind the desk looked at our papers and said, no, we didn’t have what we needed. The hotel receipt was no good because it didn’t have our address on it. But the big problem was although Randy’s SS document was original, they could not accept the portion of the SS card that he retained. She told us to go to the SS office and ask for a 1099, which would fix everything right up. OK….no way the SS office opens before 9 am, so we went back to the hotel first.
- Back at the hotel the first shift was working, and that lady understood exactly what we needed, she said they did the same thing for someone else a week ago. She added my name and our address to the top of the blank receipt and printed 2 copies for us. Time for breakfast before the SS office opens, so we went to Fryn’ Pan Family Restaurant. Pretty good. By then it was 9 am so we drove to the SS office.
- At the SS office we immediately ran into red tape. Line up, sign in on a computer, take the generated number and sit down. They were having trouble with the computer but it did give us a number, so we got in pretty soon and met with a young woman who does not appear to enjoy her job, or anything else. Randy explained he needed a 1099 to renew his driver license. She said she could not give us a 1099 because we were not getting SS, but she could give him a new SS card. She asked for his driver license and then said she could not accept it because it was expired, even though he had a legal extension. No license, no SS card; no SS card, no license. She was cut-and-dried, no options to offer, just “no”. I had all our other papers so I asked if she could use his Birth Certificate. “No, that just proves he was born.” (brilliant!) I asked if she could use his Passport and surprise, surprise, she said yes. So she ordered a new card and told us it would be ready in 2 weeks. No other options, just wait 2 weeks. She gave us a form saying we ordered a replacement card but assured us that the License Bureau would not accept it in lieu a SS card, and we were sure that was true.
- We had to come up with another federal document to prove Randy’s SS number is really his. Pay-stubs only shows the last 4 digits and we didn’t bring any tax records. We call Lucinda back at Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort who came to our rescue and generated a W-2 for us, ready to be faxed where needed.
- Back to the License Bureau again with our new hotel receipt and Lucinda’s phone number. The lady behind the counter kept saying they could not accept a fax, but the woman working beside her understood we wanted to fax a W2, not a SS card, which is OK. Eventually our lady got a fax number for us and Lucinda sent it over. Now we have all our documents! I got through my process smoothly, and even got a decent picture. Randy’s process was taking longer; eventually the person working with him asked me who completed my process. She was concerned that the hotel receipt did not have an amount paid. She disappeared in the back for awhile; I was thinking that I already have my license and if they thought I was giving it back, they were WRONG. But eventually she came back out and finished Randy’s process.
Took 3 hours. Ridiculous.
One year ago: Free Speech
Two years ago: Hot days in Kissimmee
Three years ago: Skagway Bears
One year ago: Free Speech
Two years ago: Hot days in Kissimmee
Three years ago: Skagway Bears
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