How many trips does it take to get to the center of the DMV?!

WAY back in December of 2004, I purchased a new vehicle. It was a minivan. I was not particularly interested in the minivan, but it was the perfect vehicle for me at the time, so it is what I bought. We got a good price for it and, since they were offering 0% financing, we went ahead and financed it.

I live near the border of my state. I purchased said minivan in the next state. People plate their vehicles in either state and it is OK. The dealer sent off and did the paperwork; my minivan was plated in the other state. No problem. After a year, I tried to re-plate the van in my state. They wanted me to pay all the sales tax for our state to do this. I said nevermind and kept the vehicle plated in the other state.

Fast forward to this year. I sent off the stuff to renew my plate. It came back with a note saying I was missing one paper. I did not have time to resend it and really didn't want to drive to the county clerk, so I decided to plate it here.

Trip #1: Monday. Office closed.
Trip #2: Tuesday morning. Didn't bring title, can't get plate.
Trip #3: Tuesday afternoon. Brought title, but didn't bring proof vehicle had no lien. No plate.
Trip #4: Going today...I better get a plate! I have only until Saturday, and the offices are closed Friday!!!

The annoying part, of course, is that when I was there Tuesday morning, the woman asked if the vehicle was paid off. I said yes. She said to bring the title, but she never mentioned I needed proof from the financing company that the lien was released. ARGH!!