WuGwai becomes a Virginian!

In case you're wondering who WuGwai** is, she's my car and she officially became a Virginian today after her mom, that's me, waited in line at the DMV for two hours to register and title her. It's so long California licence plates and hello Virginia plates. I had heard rumors the registration and titling fees were a precentage of the sale price of the vehicle but luckily it only turned out to be $13. To complete the process I have to take her to an inspection station and get her emissions tested (rumored to be $16), something Virginians have to do once a year (unlike California's smog check every five years). Once that is completed, I will have to go back to the DMV and pay for the full year registration stickers ($41). Man, children are expensive!

On a sidenote:
Virginian law says you have 30 days from the start of your residence in which to register your car with the state, but not once did anyone at the DMV ask, when did you move here? So my question is, could I have continued to drive around with my California plates until they expired in March and then registered and titled my car in Virginia? It just seems silly that I have paid California registration and Virginia registration for the months of September through March. On top of which, three weeks before I moved I payed for new licence plates and replacement registration stickers because some idiot decided it would be wise to steal my licence plates. I guess I just feel that the Department of Motor Vehicles is getting more of my money than they should. But at least I have a souvenir set of California plates to keep as a memory of the old days. Any thoughts on what I should do with them?

**WuGwai is Cantonese for turtle and she was named that because of her green color and (hopefully!) long life by one of my close gal pals in LA.