Confused with the varous toll passes

myredracer wrote:
Just how does one suss it all out, esp. if you are 100% unfamiliar with an area/region?

We've been fulltiming for 11 years, and spend a LOT of time in areas we're 100% unfamiliar with. And we never have gotten a GPS, but do use Streets and Trips on a computer. Because of this, I always have an active role in planning the route, so maybe it's more natural for me to be aware of toll roads and whatnot, instead of just doing what a GPS tells me.

And I did admit it's a PITA, especially trying to get an idea of how much a toll road will cost, and especially for a motorhome pulling a toad. But it's a million times easier now than before the internet, that's for sure. I don't like paying tolls (but I do it when it's to my advantage), and I don't like bills languishing in my mailbox, so I make the effort to find out what I'm going to encounter.

myredracer wrote:
Does that mean there is typically a way around these things and does it mean you will end up going many miles out of the way or end up on a twisty, slow road? I've only driven up and down the west coast where there aren't toll roads, and I have no clue what it's like in other areas.

Take the case of Denver, specifically complained about above. There are interstates that bisect the city in both directions, but of course they're busy. It's the toll road that goes many miles out of the way.

But you can see that if you just glance at a map. If that road were free I'd wonder whether it's worth it to go that far out of my way at 8 mpg; since it's a toll road, it gets even greater scrutiny from me. Suffice to say I've been through Denver a ton of times, and so far never taken that toll road, either on purpose or accidentally.