Williams, Arizona

True to the advice from the welcome center in Chloride, we arrived in Williams, Arizona, after dark. January is clearly the off season as many of the businesses were closed. We got a cheap room in a little motel and headed out for dinner. Because we were on historic Route 66, we had it in our heads that the best place to eat that night was the Route 66 diner. We drove up and down Rte. 66 in Williams looking for it and then realized why we hadn't seen it. The place was closed, dark as the cloudy night.

We went back to a little place that was open, the Red Raven. The Red Raven looks pretty unassuming and the tin ceiling and exposed brick reminded me of Paisano's in our home town. They had an extensive wine list and fine dining. Our meals were divine, really delicious. The server/chef/owner had a dry sense of humor. He gave Vivian a hard time for a simple request, stopping just short of being annoying, but when he brought out dessert I think he redeemed himself. I personally didn't have room for a single solitary bite of the heavenly chocolatey creation, but Vivian and Stella assured me it was pretty much orga- well, you know. Delicious.

During dinner we got the alert from Stella's husband. GO NORTH. Go north now. I had seen a little snippet while surfing online on my phone earlier about ice storms in Oklahoma City and he warned us that it wasn't just Oklahoma, it was our whole planned route. GO NORTH!

Of course we went right back to the motel, turned on the weather, and it was all they could talk about. A 2,000 mile storm, settled right over our entire way home. We were all thinking, "you've got to be freaking kidding me!" We're all Michigan girls so if it was snow, it wouldn't have stopped us. But no, they were calling it the triple threat: freezing rain, sleet, then snow. Oh joy. Closed roads, power outtages, emergency shelters. No thank you.

Vivian spent that evening pouring over the maps. How far north do we need to go? Could we head up to Colorado then over through Kansas? Or did we need to go further north? If we went to Salt Lake City to pick up I80, would it be open? How was the weather up north? That evening and the next morning were a flurry of texts and phone calls to help us map out the safest and fastest route home from the Grand Canyon. Sleep was a little elusive that night, wondering what the next day would bring.