Mxsmanic wrote:

Unfortunately, if you plan to go from one urban area to another, you
see a lot of them. And out in the western U.S. at least, it seems
like most of the land is covered by restricted areas or MOAs.

give an example of where that would be a problem.

MOAs are no biggy; you talk to the nice controller just to be on the
safe side --- you don't even have to, but it's good form unless you
like surprises -- and you are set. When there are a bunch of controlled
airspace close together, your best bet is either to fly above them if
you don't want to talk to anybody, or better yet talk to the nice
controller and once again, you are set. When flying IFR it's even
simpler (since the whole idea of these complicated controlled airspace
is precisely to make the life of IFR folks simpler); I fly mostly around
San Francisco Bay Area where airspace is a tad complex, and it's not
really a problem; same thing when flying near LA; talk to the nice
controllers, follow the rules, piece of cake; Restricted airspace
might or might not be a problem; again, talk to the nice controller
and ask nicely; I have flown right smack overhead Edwards AFB a few
times to take a short cut to/from Las Vegas (I never tried to ask
about flying through the restricted airspaces north of Las Vegas
though, not all R- areas being created equal :-) )

again this is something that looks a lot more complicated from afar
than it actually becomes when you get a chance of doing it for real,

--Sylvain