And so it began.

Months of anticipation and many emails from both the main Texas Pinball Festival staff and the tournament directors later, the day had finally arrived. I had stayed up later than I wanted to packing everything in a carry-on-sized suitcase and two backpacks. (This was about the equivalent of one checked suitcase and one carry-on suitcase, though since I was driving I only needed to worry about what could fit in the trunk and not airline regulations.)

The first stop was to get a quick snack and drink from QuikTrip on I-45 at Richey Road. This store has become my go-to in the area (over the Flying J across the street), primarily due to their roller grill items.

After that it was non-stop to the Golden Chick in Corsicana, West 7th Avenue (aka Texas 31 Business) and South 18th Street. The only hiccup was a stretch north of Huntsville, which if I remember right was construction (I only have the GPS trace to refer back to, I did not take many notes of the trip). My hope was to check into the hotel and make it over to get my wristband and name badge, and hopefully have enough time to enter and play in the Thursday night scrutinizer tournament. I would need to be in line at close to 16:15 to 16:30 for that to happen.

After missing the first turn given to me by my navigation app (which would have been a slightly more direct route via I-45 Business instead of US 287 Business), I arrived at Golden Chick at 13:47. After another brief stop at the CVS just east of Golden Chick (West 7th Avenue and South 16th Street) to get some cash from the ATM, it was back on the road.

The freeway traffic was not moving, so I took a detour. My navigation software naively directed me west on West Roane Road and then north on I-45 Business/North 7th Street. I would arrive at the ramp to get back on I-45 North only to find out it was closed due to construction. So I would have to backtrack to FM 3041/West Roane Road and this time head east.

I got around the traffic jam via two roads called Northeast 1040 (great road for a CPA/tax preparer to put an office!) and Northeast 0220. The trip down Northeast 1040 was interesting. What appeared to possibly be the northbound half was gravel while the southbound half was paved. We all wound up using the paved portion while being ready to move over for oncoming traffic if needed (there was none). Northeast 0220 wasn’t like this, it was more consistently paved after the first half mile or so.

This road ended in a T intersection with FM 1603, which would, thankfully, lead back to a free-flowing I-45. And that was the last hiccup before Buc-ee’s in Ennis, where I made one more brief stop for supplies and another drink.

I would get back on the road at 15:37 and everything would go smoothly until… yep, Dallas rush hour traffic. I would arrive at I-45 near Bryan Street at 16:18, and would exit the freeway at that time to take the surface streets. At this point I’ve given up on making it to the scrutinizer tournament so I’m taking my time and trying to relax a bit for the rest of the drive.

I would proceed up Lemmon Avenue (including a one-way portion named Lemmon Avenue East) to Inwood Road, which joins the Dallas North Tollway just south of I-635. I would go ahead and hop on the (relatively) free-flowing tollway all the way to the exit for Gaylord Parkway. Then, back to surface streets once again to the hotel. Check in, bring my bags up, and then walk over to get my wristband and name tag. I walked in, waited in line for a brief time, got my wristband and name tag, got to play a quick game or two at the Wormhole booth, and then went back to the hotel to relax, shower, and ponder my options for dinner.

I considered everything from old standbys like Subway, Denny’s, and Chipotle, to slightly pricier options around the area. My eventual choice was Boomer Jack’s over in Plano (a short drive south) where I ordered the Texan Flatbread (smoked brisket, mozzarella, BBQ sauce, red onion, and cilantro). It was a hearty meal and I feel like I had earned it after the rather tedious drive north, especially on the legs between Corsicana and Frisco. (I had briefly considered the Carnivore Flatbread instead but wanted to try something a bit outside my usual tastes.)

And with that, time to get some well-deserved rest and prepare myself for the weekend.