June 1st 1981

On the beach at Biloxi.

Woke up from a much better night’s sleep, since I’d had the more comfortable rear seat.  Drove straight thro’ Mobile and out again on Route 90, the scenic route hugging the coast.  However, once again, there were the most appalling thunderstorms – it was like driving thro’ a solid sheet of water.  The road out of Mobile was excellent – raised up on stilts above a swamp, and dead straight for mile after mile.  There was a nasty accident there tho’ – because of the weather, I suppose.

After Mobile, we came to Biloxi – I bought a pair of shorts from the Woolco there.  The weather wasn’t hot enough for us to lie on the beach – a really long one – but it stopped raining long enough for us to get out, paddle, and take a couple of pictures.  They had these sort of beach shelters made with palm fronds, so we used those as a background, making it a bit like a Bacardi advert.

We planned to go up towards Natchez, on a trip recommended in our guide, but at Baton Rouge the rains returned, so we pulled off into a side street to eat our lunch – the usual pappy sandwiches.  We pushed on up North after that, but with the rain still coming down and the time getting on, we turned around and and set off back South and West towards Houston.  Managed to make good time, Val driving, and we finished the day at a good old rest area, about 50 miles east of Houston.  Unfortunately, it was infested with mosquitoes, plus no toilet.  Also, heat was atrocious, the worst we’d known it.  Val especially (on the front seat again) found it especially difficult to get to sleep.  Still, somehow we both made it.

Not sure whether to be charmed or embarrassed by the naïve recording of tiny details, such as buying some shorts.  But since it is there in black and white…  And as for me grabbing the (more comfortable!) back seat and forcing Val into the front, well, the least said, the better.