It had been pouring rain all day.
It was already 7:30pm. We were just leaving a home after a two hour long visit. They live about 2 miles off the highway, down a dirt road; far far off the beaten track. They had warned us to drive slowly since the rain had probably reduced the road to mud during the course of our visit.
We had planned to spend the night 20 miles away in Show Low, so that we would be able to start our day bright and early. We had already called Priceline to reserve a hotel there.
It was lightening and pouring rain. Even though I was going slower than 5 miles an hour, the car was slipping and turning in all directions. I was sweating buckets in spite of the air-conditioning. To make matters worse, there was a truck behind me glaring his high beams, and I had no cell phone service. We were both praying under our breath. I don't know if I should post this (relax mom) but the rain got even more fierce and the car slipped, turning a full 180!
After a half hour, we made it to the highway. We calmed a bit, thanked G‑d and decided that we would spend the night here, even though we would end up driving during precious daytime hours.
We pulled up to the closest motel and I dashed inside to check in. Before I could open my mouth the lady sitting at the desk says "A JEW, WE NEVER SEE JEWS AROUND HERE!" Taken aback, I asked her if there was a problem. She said "no, there's no problem 'cause I'm Jewish too." She told me that hers was the only Jewish family in town (or so she thought). We made up to meet her parents and siblings in the morning.
They were so excited to see us! Her father put on tefillin for the first time in many years. They asked us for the contact information of the other Jews in town so that they could get to know each other.
Clearly someone up there had a plan for us.
Raphi & Ari
Snowflake, Arizona
