[AbbyK9]

You can get a rental car at the airport and should be able to arrange for it before you even get there. When I've had friends visiting from Germany, they'd arranged for their rental car through the Internet and picked it up right at the airport.

If you come to the US as a tourist and have a valid German driver's license, you do not need an international driver's license to rent a vehicle. I do not know whether you can do it if you come here on a green card, or for how long, if at all, you are able to drive using your German license after coming here. That would be a question for the NY DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles).

Chances are good that you will need to obtain a New York learner's permit to drive on until you get your New York license. That is not difficult but you will need your Social Security Number and either your Green Card OR an Employment Authorization Card in hand in order to apply for it. Beyond that, there is a written test and an eye test and you get the card the same day. NY requires that you take a classroom course before you get your full driver's license. This is AFAIK not optional if you are coming from Germany, you will most likely have to go through all that, and take a driving test to boot to get your full license.

Since your husband has a valid VA license, there should be no issues with him driving. If VA is his Home of Record, he can keep his VA license and also register your vehicle in VA and keep VA plates on his car. (That is what we do - also in VA, btw.) He will need to submit a copy of his orders to Fort Drum and his NY address to get his VA license updated within 30 days of moving to New York.

As far as boarding kennels go, I cannot recommend one. I can tell you to stay away from the Doggie Doo on Route 11 just outside of Watertown - Google them for a nice long list of complaints people have had about them. I'm also not a big fan of boarding at Steve's Bark, Bath & Beyond in Alex Bay as I am not particularly thrilled with their facility and/or their dog knowledge. (Besides, they breed -poo dogs.)

Let me ask Jess to see where she boarded Max and Shisma when she went to VA a few months ago.

Yukon can come stay with me if he gets along with Ronja and is good off leash (as we don't have a fence).

 

[AbbyK9]

Yukon is really good off leash and he's good with females. He'll probably be shy at first but he's a very sweet, loving dog. :wub:Thank you so much for offering that. It really helps and we'll definitely pay for the food and pay you some dollars for watching him. Hopefully it won't be for long.

If you need me to take Yukon for a few days or a week or two, let me know. Is he good in a crate? He would need to be crated while I am at work since I have cats and Ronja (who is in the kennel while I am gone).

 

[AbbyK9]

Ugh... going through the whole drivers license test, again? :help::wild:

The written test is only 20 questions, I think, and several of them ask you about road signs. The driving test will require you to do a U-turn and parallel park, which are about the two hardest things on the test.

 

[AbbyK9]

I am actually not sure how it will all work for hubby. His drivers license is from Virginia but his home of record is in Ohio and we move to NY. So where do we go to get the car registered? Where will I have my home of record then? In NY?

Now those are some good questions.

I would start by calling the Virginia DMV to see whether he can keep a Virginia driver's license or whether he would need to change his driver's license to either New York or his home of record, Ohio. (The reason I would call VA and not NY would be that VA doesn't have a stake in this either way, whereas NY may give you the, "Oh, you need to change everything to NY spiel." as they tried with us.)

In general, how it works for non-military people, is this - when you move to a new state, for work, school, or any other reason, you have 30 days to change your driver's license and also to apply for new plates for your vehicle. In most states, changing your driver's license coming from another state is as easy as turning your current one in and getting a new one.

In the military, you can keep a driver's license from your home of record. Now, my husband got his first license in California where he also finished high school and joined the military, but his home of record is Virginia. He has a VA license and our Jeep is registered in Virginia.

As of January 2010, spouses can also keep their driver's license and vehicle registration in another state, whereas previously they had to change once they moved to another state (just like any other civilian who moves to another state). I believe that you can declare your home of record - so if your hubby's is VA, as a military spouse, you could make VA your home of record. (Don't hold me to that, though - we moved here before that went into effect and I had to get a NY license. I will eventually change it to hubby's home of record (VA), just haven't yet.)

I don't know how it works if you come in from overseas. That may be a question for the DMV and/or JAG?

I've always been great at parallel parking

You won't need to be up here. I've never parallel parked in my life, except on the NY driving test.

 

[AbbyK9]

you dont have to spend nearly as much money with each move because you dont have to get entirely new plates on your vehicles.

Well, if the vehicle(s) were registered in both your names and/or the military member's name, you didn't have to get new plates in the first place. You could keep the ones from your service member's home of record if you chose to do so.

THAT saves us money yearly as is because most states on the east coast still require a yearly vehicle inspection whereas Colorado no longer requires it.

Unless I am mistaken, this is actually wrong.

AFAIK, if you live in another state for any extended period of time (more than 30 days), your vehicle must meet that state's safety requirements, even if your vehicle's plates and registration are from your home of record. Although your home of record may not require annual inspection, if the state you live in requires annual inspection, you will need to get your vehicle inspected annually and you will need to display the inspection sticker in the window just like any vehicle registered in that state.

If you're in a state with annual inspections, the military base where you are stationed will most likely require that you have a current, valid, inspection sticker displayed on your vehicle as you enter the base.

 

[AbbyK9]

I don't know about NC but a lot of states that require annual safety inspections DO require that your vehicle is inspected and displays the inspection sticker, even if it's registered and the plates are in another state. They can even give you a ticket for not having a current inspection sticker if their state requires them.

 

[AbbyK9]

and it doesn't even have 20 000 miles yet.

Living up here, it soon will. With the distances being what they are.