to Mobile

I rode into Pascagoula first thing this morning and went straight to the First Baptist Church.  A member of the office staff patiently confirmed that yes, it is the church featured in Ray Stevens's song, "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival" but no, the event did not actually occur.

I spent nearly an hour in the public library getting phone numbers for campgrounds, but when I stepped outside and called them, only one allowed tents, and it was in Mobile, Alabama, 30 miles away.  I decided to give it a shot.

I had been warned that a big stretch of US-90 was under construction, so I detoured to a parallel road... or would have, had the street signs not been all wonky near the state line.  Instead I wound up on a less parallel road about 5 miles farther north than I would have liked.

The day was gray, and it began to drizzle as I approached Mobile.  I stopped for directions at a gas station, and the woman there really went the extra mile.  She called ahead to the campground for directions, suggested a route for me, and gave me a free cup of coffee.  The route she suggested was hair-raising; I hate to imagine the other one that she said was less safe!

The owner of the campground gave me a key to the "office," a mobile home complete with kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room.  It didn't occur to me that the little water heater wouldn't be up to the task of filling my bath and the washing machine at the same time, so I had a cold bath, but it was better than none at all!

43.5 mi