Day Trip To Williams

Don’t worry. Williams isn’t such a rough town that I need an Humvee machine gun escort. Though it would be handy the next time I fight Massachusetts traffic…

After reading some pretty sketchy reviews of camping in the Williams area (as well as Flagstaff), I decided to detach my trailer, leave it at camp, and take an afternoon trip to Williams to run some errands. We’d pretty much blown through Williams during last year’s Route 66 trip, so it was nice to spend a little bit of time here. Williams was spared when I-40 came along because the interstate also comes right through town, so the small Route 66 businesses were able to survive.

It was an easy drive down Highway 64 all the way there. My visit started with a late lunch at Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe. When on Route 66, do as the tourists do, I say. I had a Horseshoe Bend Pale Ale by Grand Canyon Brewing and Distillery, which is about as local as you can get. It was tasty, too. My BBQ brisket sandwich arrived so fast that I wasn’t even done catching up on email after ordering it. It was very tasty.

After that I visited the local Safeway for a few groceries and supplies I couldn’t find in Tusayan, not the least of which was Lister’s preferred wet cat food. Then I was off to the laundromat since I was due. This was actually my main reason for going to Williams since I didn’t find a satisfactory laundromat any closer to camp. It’s rare that I need to drive an hour to do laundry, but this was one of those times.

It was an easy drive back to camp. It was already after 5:00 pm, and I’d have to rush to see the sunset at the Grand Canyon, so instead I let Lister wander around outside until it got dark, then settled in to watch some YouTube. This is a surprisingly great area for cell service, both on Verizon and T-Mobile (T-Mobile is actually better, for once in the west, but both work just fine). This is a great area for any digital nomad to spend a couple of weeks for free. If you’d rather not have others nearby like I do here, there are many other roads leading off into the forest, where you can be as social or isolated as you like.

Not every day on the road is an exciting one. This was one that was not. But sometimes such days are necessary. I’d rather have days like this than the bad kind of exciting, like a breakdown, or a breakup.