Mississippi Moon

We left Apalachicola at 7:30 - a record start for Suzanne! Across 98 through one small, neat Gulf Coast town after another. Lots of folks fishing the flats, probably for Red Fish or Trout. In Panama City we saw the black clouds so pulled over to put on the rain gear. No sooner on, than it came down in buckets - but I was dry, having tested the equipment in a Palm City gully washer (see photo)! Of course, five minutes later down the road, the rain had stopped, and rather than make a quick stop, I rode for an hour in wet rain gear. Oh well, I was dry on the inside, and it dried out on the outside, but Suzanne said I looked like a balloon riding down the road. Luckily, once I took it all off and put it away, there was no rain for the rest of the day!

We headed North to I-10 before Pensacola, then stayed on 10 to Mobile. We took a quick tour of Mobile looking for a government office that said "Alabama" (for the ABCs of touring). None to be found. Finally got Alabama and Mississippi on the side of the road (see photos) on the way down 98 to Hattiesburg. We pulled into the Quality Inn at around 4:45 our time, but 3:45 their time (means I have to get up an hour earlier tomorrow morning to do my work - it gets worse as we go further West!)

All systems were go, the car, the bike, but there was a bit of a glitch in my Garmin. It decided before Panama City that we should leave 98 and head North into some uncharted territory - don't know why, but I made an executive decision to get back to 98, and after a few "recalculations", the Garmin finally agreed. Doesn't breed great confidence, but I am sure I goofed in the programming somewhere.

Well, we are safe and sound in Hattiesburg and looking forward to Canton, Texas tomorrow. We didn't frequent a local eatery, rather decided that the Outback Steak House was the safest alternative. Will drop another note tomorrow from the "Great State of Texas"!

Cheers

John and Suzanne