Did we have Pfun?

In Pflugerville?

In a word, yes. We also had pfun getting there. (Btw, "pfun" is pronounced "puh-fun," or "puffun" with the accent on the second syllable. That's for you purists out there.)

Carol was navigating while I drove. She had all the high-tech tools at her disposal: laptop computer plugged into the car's electrical system for power, a GPS antenna, and a copy of Microsoft MapPoint installed. The problem wasn't in not knowing where we were, but rather in thinking we knew where we were going.

You see, our first stop was to be at the Golfsmith store on the north side of Austin. It is just off I-35, about two miles north of a big spaghetti-bowl intersection of I-35 and US 183. Then we were to proceed to Pflugerville, which is east of Round Rock. That's about 8 miles farther north up I-35, and then turn east at another big spaghetti-bowl intersection at I-35 and Texas Toll 45.

Now Carol and I have become basic rural or small town Texans, to whom all of those big spaghetti-bowl intersections look pretty much alike. Carol, in planning our route and visualizing our destination, was directing me to the Pflugerville area first, thinking that was the same BS-BI (I'm getting tired ot typing out that whole phrase, so I'll abbreviate) as the one near Golfsmith.

From Victoria we headed north up US 77 toward Hallettsville. About half way to Hallettsville (y'know, that sounds like a good title for a book or movie... "Half Way to Hallettsville." ... Um, nah), I asked if we weren't going a bit out of our way? Carol gave me one of those looks and said, "No."

I thought about it a bit more and ventured again, "But the toll road is going to bring us out onto I-35 at Round Rock, isn't it? And that's well north of Golfsmith. I think..."

With a bit of a huff she went to the computer. Understanding dawned. She realized she had confused the two BS-BIs; actually thinking they were one and the same.

For the next 20 miles we discussed our options. They were many. Continue north to LaGrange, turn west on Texas 71 through Bastrop to Austin. Go even farther north to Giddings, turn west on US 290 to Austin. Or, at Hallettsville (just ahead now), turn northwest on Alt. 90, proceed through Yoakum to Gonzales, pick up US 183 and follow it to that BS-BI near Golfsmith.

She left the decision to me. I opted for the last choice above, simply because I hadn't been through Yoakum for years and had forgotten what that route looked like.

It worked out OK. The Texas wildflowers are beginning to bloom along the roadways, and it was a pretty day for a drive.

We arrived, shopped, had lunch, played golf, and made it back all in one piece. Well, not all of my golf balls made it back; a few of them seemed to feel the need to go swimming. But the new club is good, and RobotJam (comments on my last post) gave me some new excuses to use, which I appreciate. . . And will have many occasions to use, I fear.

So yes, pfun was had by all.