Roy Smith wrote in message ...
"PA28Rdrvr" wrote:
Weather was VFR but lots of convective activity, sky broken.
[...]
It's amazing that I have become, over time, uncomfortable going VFR cross
country.

With lots of convective activity, I'd rather be VFR. I don't want to
fly into a CB, so VFR will allow me to visually navigate around the
buildups. IFR, I'm at the mercy of the controller as to where I go.
Once he puts me into a cloud, I can no longer see what's ahead. My
first hint that the benign-looking CU I flew into has turned into
something nastier may be my head bouncing off the cabin top.

He can't put you anywhere, he can ask you to go somewhere. You can say
no. Besides he'll usually see the CU on his radar too. If he says fly
heading xyz you say, unable. In real life controllers tend to ask you
if a heading is ok when CUs are around. IFR does not mean you have to
fly into a TS.