5t Pilgrim's Progress;

Despite the fact that they were now fast friends, the Aussie and the Listener were not finished in their pursuits. Since they could at least be sure of compass bearings, they agreed that heading south was the best course to take in an attempt to intersect the yellow brick road, and talk turned to the best route to Brownsville. Truckers are a knowledgeable source of travel lore, and as such rarely agree on anything. While the listener made a project out of questioning seven different truckers, taking copious notes on each, the Aussie employed the more philosophical method of research, hitting the bottle. A savvy local who had been unavoidably contemplating the entire exchange from the beginning brought matters to a head. He first addressed the Aussie directly: "You said go as far south as you can, turn north and find the nearest island, right?" "Yes," he replied, with tremendous logic. "Well sounds to me like Galveston is where you want to go. It's gonna to be quicker just to take Hwy 44." The 5t listener could see another advantage to this approach. By going east, they were far more likely to intersect the yellow brick road than if they took a chance on merely traveling parallel to the south. By now the deliberative bunch were hungry, and decided to order Pizza. The ensuing collection turned up just enough scratch for one pie, and they spent 75 seconds agreeing on the toppings. When talk turned back to finding Hwy 44, an Interstate Commerce Commission official explained that they should BE AWARE that pizza would make them all overweight, and that Hwy 44 did not go all the way. The best looking trucker of the bunch said that it was most practical to take I-45, and was able to convince them that he had been "all the way," and off they went to Galveston, by way of I-20. The 5t listener made a note that it seemed impossible to get ANYTHING done by committee.