How to register a Patriot Camper Trailer in California

If you want to buy a camper trailer out of state and are wondering what to do about registering it in California, here are the steps:

• Pick up from out of state – obviously ...
• Fill out Reg 343 for California's "Application for Title or Registration", a Patriot Camper trailer is considered a "trailer coach", get the rest from the paperwork. Fill this form out at home, that'll make the person at the DMV much happier, but don't sign at home, sign it at the DMV, don't know whether this is necessary, we've did it this way).
  
• Go to your preferred DMV (tip: check Google for one that has decent reviews in your area, you don't have to go to the closest one).
• Have the trailer inspected (they check VIN, size, other data against the paperwork you get when buying the trailer).
• Sign the paperwork when and where they tell you.
• Ask to get a title in your name.
• Pay sales/use tax.
• Done!

It was actually a super simple process, we were concerned  about the various different forms floating around, but it was quick and painless. 

Picking up our new trailer

CC20 - Day 35 – Back Home

Today was the last day of my cross-country ride. Sunnyvale to the East Coast and back. It was a great trip! Yesterday I met up with Andrea and we rode the last section together. Along the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Maria to Sunnyvale, CA.

California Backroads, near Paso Robles

We started with a nice section going from Paso Robles to Cambria. Then on Highway 1 along the coast. Weather was like it so often is along the coast:

Fog along PCH

It was foggy and wet most of the way close to the ocean. Whenever we were more inland, it was sunny and warm. 

A short stop along the way

Fog rolls in

A few hours later we reached our home, from where I had left exactly five weeks ago.

Back home

My route took me 15.430km or 9588 miles across the country. One rear tire change, one service (12k miles), thousands of splattered bugs, lots of curvy roads, endless miles across straight roads, long days, interesting days, and countless memories! 

CC20 - The Full Route

Proof ...

Home, Sweet Home

And here's the last route picture. Day 35, fives weeks after leaving.

Route Day 35

CC20 - Day 34

Artistically not a great photo – but it was soooooo good to see my lovely wife again! I didn't ride today, but Andrea did. She came South on the Pacific Coast Highway and met me here in Santa Maria, CA.

Together again

Tomorrow we'll ride home, probably the same route she took today, just the other direction.

Andrea's Route

CC20 - Day 33

Second to last riding day – tomorrow I won't be riding, just waiting for my wife to arrive here. I rode through some burned and non-burned landscape today, it was very interesting to see how fast nature is already taking over again. The burned areas (not from this year though) were sprinkled with fresh green everywhere. It gives hope!

Burned California Landscape

More ...

Overall, it was a good day. I rode about a mix of maybe 60:40 straight roads and twisties. While I'd love to have a more twisty mix, it's hard to achieve during a trip like this.

Route Day 33

CC20 - Day 32

Since Andrea and I agreed to meet up in Santa Maria, CA, and I wanted to have one day without riding in the next few days, I had some options: I could ride from Palm Desert to San Diego, stay a full day to have the non-riding on Friday and then head North to Santa Maria, or, option two, ride towards Los Angeles on some nice roads, stay overnight somewhere, ride to Santa Maria and arrive a day early and take my non-riding day on Saturday.

This morning I decided to take option two. Part of it was that I wanted to ride Angeles Crest highway again tomorrow, this time East to West, but I hadn't planned with fire related road closures (welcome back to California). So, I'll plan some mixed riding for tomorrow to get to Santa Maria.

Today I had a beautiful riding day, wonderful roads, it's really worth taking a closer look at the map and zoom around in it on Google Maps.

I took only one photo while being stopped at one of four one-lane road construction stops:

Typical California Mountain Landscape

It was a very hot day, even in the mountains it rarely dropped below 30C/86F, so I wasn't all too inclined to stop in the sun (not much shade here) and take photos. I'm in GoreTex gear and stopping in this heat feels like I'm wearing a non-ventilated plastic bag ... while riding it's okay with the air moving, but even traffic lights are not nice.

Route Day 32

CC20 - Day 31

California – I'm back. At least back in the state. Right now I'm in the South, Palm Desert to be precise. The route from Kingman, AZ to Palm Desert, CA brought me to my "traditional" destination I always visit when I'm in the area: Oatman, AZ. I just can't get around this town, first the road to get there is a lot of fun and also the last chance for some nice cornering before heading 150 miles West into California.

I have this photo probably a dozen times ...

Not many donkeys roaming around today

No comment ...

I hadn't seen these before

There were a few donkeys roaming around, not as many as there are normally. These were along the road to the South of Oatman, but I didn't get a photo of these. In Oatman, I scratched a few ears and then headed on, it was just too warm to stick around.

The way into California was rather sad, temperatures up to 42C/108F were challenging and the road was rather boring:

Through the desert into California

Made me beat my own record in freehand riding (Disclaimer: professional rider, closed course, don't try at home),which is rather sad since it means that the road was mostly straight for around 90km without any curve worth mentioning, only a single stop sign at an intersection in the middle ...

Route Day 31

CC20 - Day 30

Riding today was super nice. Beautiful scenery between Flagstaff and Sedona, although quite some traffic (that's why I didn't take photos there, it was just too busy), then some beautiful riding in more remote areas. 

Lonely Backroads in Arizona

Some nice curvy riding

I rode from Flagstaff to Kingman, both in Arizona. There is a direct freeway connection, but I took a nice detour and had a lot of fun doing so.

Route Day 30

CC20 - Day 29

My route today was supposed to be "not too bad". I use Butler Maps (or the Rever web app) for planning and they have roads marked in yellow, red, and orange to mark super nice sections, great sections and ... yeah, that "and" is a good question. Today was a lot of orange – and it was booooooring. The first 30 miles or so out of Los Alamos were really great (yellow and red), the rest of the day, which I clicked together from mainly orange sections was not any more exciting than a freeway, only less traffic.

Anyways ... I really enjoyed the first part and after that it wasn't too bad since I didn't have to fight into the wind again. Wind was manageable today, other drivers were a different topic though. From time to time I seem to run into a person which seems to be "slightly" unhinged, which I just can't explain any other way than "used the last two brain cells they had left to start the car they are sitting in and now it's all instinctual idiocy". Today it was some crazy woman in front of me at a light regulating single lane traffic in a construction area. Suddenly she put her car into reverse and started backing up towards me (yes, she had seen me). I honked and she started screaming like a banshee ... I got off the bike and asked what she tried to do and all she did was keep up the screaming. The driver behind me saw it too and when we looked at each other we made the same hand gesture – indicating what we thought about the mental state of said woman. It wasn't flattering.

I've had about four or five encounters with weird people like this on the trip now, and it just confirms my general opinion of humanity.

I'm obviously in the West again

And this was some of the less interesting landscape to ride through (because it looked like this for too long):

Arizona, near Cameron

A long, but not very exciting day today.

What I've noticed for the last two days is how much the dry air can affect me. I drink a lot more again, my nose dries out significantly more. On the other hand, the clothes I wash in the hotel room sink are dry in the morning ... 

Route Day 29

CC20 - Day 28

Today was a rather miserable day. I was basically heading into a strong headwind for 300 miles through rather desolate landscape. Midway, I decided to cut out the backroads, since they weren't that much nicer and only took longer and were just as miserable to ride. Had my worst fuel mileage today with 7L/100km (33.6mpg) and that was while going way below speed limit and crouching behind the windshield. I was happy when I was at my destination. 

Backroads in New Mexico

Route Day 28

CC20 - Day 27

Nothing special today, Tulsa, Oklahoma to Amarillo, Texas. It was a boring freeway ride.

Texas

It wasn't a long day, about 370 miles.

Route Day 27