And and and

After a break of two or three weeks, during which I didn't have time to work on my proofreading course, I'm back on the case and reading everything, annoyingly enough, with my trainee proofreader's hat on. It slows me down but I can't help it.
This is a (slightly disguised) passage from something I read yesterday, with a correct use of punctuation which nevertheless always trips me up:

'We headed south and, for a few hours, the sun was on our backs..'

I can see that it's strictly correct, but if this particular construction appeared in something of mine, it would be after an argument between me and an editor, which the editor has won. I prefer this, because I feel it better reflects the rhythm of speech:

'We headed south, and for a few hours the sun was on our backs..'