EZ Pass and Update on the Move

Yesterday I traded my mini elliptical machine to my daughter's friend, Brittany, for a massage.  I've been getting massages from Brittany for years--she is a licensed massage therapist and does a fabulous job. It feels so good to get the kinks worked out!

If you live in one of the northeastern down through the mid-Atlantic states you have to deal with toll roads.  The first US toll road was built in Virginia in 1785, and it didn't take too long for the idea to spread to the rest of the colonies.  Toll roads are typically a relatively fast and easy way to travel long distances, and the fees collected help pay for the upkeep of the road.

For years we used a transponder from Massachusetts on our cars, though we did not live in that state. NJ charges a monthly service fee, even if not used, so we avoided that one.  A lot of people don't realize that you can shop around and purchase your EZ Pass or Fastlane device from any state you want.  They work the same way, but some states have better deals than others. And you can use a NH one on a MA car in NJ.

When we bought our motorhome we saw that NH's deal seemed better than MA's deal (the deals are always changing, so I recommend you look up each state's DOT page to compare.) So our motorhome got a NH transponder.  This will create problems if we are towing the car wearing a MA transponder behind a motorhome wearing a NH one.  We'd be charged by each state for both vehicles--yikes!  So today we are mailing the transponder back to MA.  Only the motorhome will have one, and if we sightsee in the car we'll have to just pay the toll. If the car had its own we'd be paying double because each vehicle's transponder would be charged for both vehicles. And unfortunately we can't put the motorhome transponder into the car, since it's a different vehicle class.

It gets confusing, but it's just one of the things we have to deal with.  We pay a LOT higher toll than a car does, so we have to be smart about this.

Tonight is the last night to sleep in our bed, as the kids are coming tomorrow to pick up all the furniture.  All that will be left is what's in cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom.  And the clothes in our closets.  We'll be sleeping in the motorhome in the driveway and sitting on camp chairs in the house. One week from today is our closing!