So I finally did it – I finally, after living in Florida for 9 years, broke down and ordered one of the transponders for our electronic toll system.
We honestly rarely ever use toll roads – maybe at random if we’re wandering around and want to go the short way to the beach that we like or one of the preferred movie theaters in the area, but on a day to day basis, neither my wife or I ever have to worry about paying tolls … which is probably why we’ve never bothered to actually pick up a SunPass earlier! We’ve talked about it a lot, but just never followed through, or when we would’ve, we didn’t have the cash handy, or whatever…
I suppose that finally changed this week when I found myself doing this not once, but twice!
This morning I had to take my in-laws back to the airport over on the other side of Orlando, and I ended up taking one of the toll roads that loops around the city to avoid rush hour traffic on I-4, and let’s just say that I almost made it back without running out of cash! Good grief, that road is expensive – I probably spent $10 on 45 miles of road from the airport back to the public freeway … I ended up a dollar short at the last toll plaza before I was done, and it was almost comical watching the lady actually write me out a bill for $1 that I would have to mail back in when I got home.
Tongue in cheek, I made the comment that if I could just pay at the booth with my credit card, it’d be a lot easier, to which she replied, “If you could pay at the booth with your credit card, we’d all be out of a job…”
Not sure what “all” she was referring to – she was the only lane that was left open and the rest had all been converted to SunPass or coin-only lanes anyways!
Moral of the story is – as long as I avoid tolls for another few days until that transponder gets here, I shouldn’t have to worry about this little pet peeve anymore… 😉