The day started with Jason getting his morning mug of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate. We talked about the things we needed for the trip, and since I decided to take a suitcase that I would check, we would just pack everything we needed instead of buying things that you can't take on the plane there like sunscreen. Jason, after having our luggage lost in Frankfort, Germany last year, refused to have his cloths and stuff in my luggage, but we still needed thermoses and towels and such for our canyon tour which I did pack in my suitcase. We ended up going to Walmart for sunscreen, sunglasses (for Jason 2) and a wide brimmed hat (for Jason 2). We found him some sunglasses and we got sunscreen. We also found a sparkling red white and blue hat that also had tiny lights on it (it was a cowboy hat of sorts) that Jason refused to even try on. We then had a Walmart associate spend a ton of time walking us from one department to another looking for a hat with a brim which ended with her super happy she found a fishing hat with a brim, we did not get it. We went to Cabelas to find a "real" hat for Jason to wear. At Cabelas, we found a cool looking hat and hurried back to the house because Jen, my girlfriend, was going to give Jason and me a ride to the airport. Jason later told me that he was impressed with Jen's driving because she used turn signals...unlike most folks in Texas.  We got to the airport and went through TSA quick enough, but while we were going through, an old lady in a wheelchair was yelling at a TSA agent because they wheeled her husband away but left her. The agent tried explaining that they would come back for her, they were short staffed. I don't know the resolution, we got through pretty quick, as I mentioned. Walking around the airport, Jason was feeling "peckish" so we found a pizza place that was outrageously expensive for what they served named "Salvation Pizza". The service was bad and just slow. We were at the counter, alone, with four employees behind the counter ignoring us for a solid 5 minutes until someone finally asked what we wanted.  Jason placed his order and we got the food and sat at a table for Jason to eat (I didn't get anything, it didn't look good and I wasn't going to spend a ton on crappy pizza). While eating, a woman was walking a dog in the hall and her dog suddenly pooped on the floor...Jason while eating, said in a loud voice "Oh shit, that dog just took a shit!" The woman quickly took her sunglasses pouch out of her purse and picked the dog poop up and threw it away. Jason found the whole thing hilarious. Shortly after, a man who was also a Salvation Pizza customer started saying that the pizza was terrible and was a rip-off and should not be in business. Meanwhile, I wanted a pop, but every place we went either didn't have any that I liked or the pop was warm...like hot coffee warm...I'm not sure what was going on, but I ended up not having any pop before the flight.

About halfway through the flight, the flight attendants made a hasty path to the middle of the plane (Jason and I were in the second row) and suddenly they made any announcement asking if there are any health care providers on the plane willing to assist with a fellow passenger. I don't know what happened because it was all going on behind us, but ultimately, the woman was escorted off the plane by fire fighters and put on a gurney outside the gate.

Next we got our rental car and while looking for a Walmart and a restaurant, we got behind a Google street view car, Jason took a picture and thought it was very cool. We went to Del Taco and split a quesadilla burrito with chicken and potatoes and two quesadilla tacos, one chicken and one steak...we both thought the steak one the best. On the way to Walmart, we again saw the Google Street view car. In the Walmart parking lot was an RV and Jason was convinced that they were cooking meth because he thinks we are in a Breaking Bad area (we are in Arizona, not New Mexico). After getting pop, snacks, postcards and some shirts for Jason and his girlfriend (the shirts needed to match, so they could wear them at the same time together), we started on our 3.5 hour dive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, stopping at only one Goodwill along the way. I drove and played a delightful mix of 80s, 90s and 2000s music for about an hour having Jason take photos of the scenery while he also had his conversation via text with his girlfriend, then Jason drove for 2 hours and we listened to Kanye West the whole time...Jason also shared some facts about/during each song, facts he learned from a documentary he watched about Kanye West. I drove the rest of the way and listened to my music.

Finally, we got to the hotel and to our room. After walking in, Jason mentioned that he was hungry, so we drove to a Wendy's that we passed on the way to the hotel. When we walked into the Wendy's, a woman called out: "For all the people walking in, we are out of fries and potatoes, we only have chili, sandwiches, spicy nuggets and salads." The man in front of us turned and walked away. Jason turned to me and asked what I was going to get. I said a spicy chicken sandwich and chili. Jason said he wanted a double, but thought the woman said they only had "chili sandwiches"...I said "chili and sandwiches". A bit later the man that was in front of us went to the counter and asked if all they had were "chili sandwiches" and Jason turned to me and said "See! I'm not the only one who thought she said that!" We got our food, ate it and drove back to the hotel. The sweet parking spot we had was taken and we had to drive further away to park. On the walk back, Jason commented about how the sky was filled with stars, which he doesn't normally get to see in Louisville. The sky was very pretty. We got to the hotel and our room and typed out our narrative of the day. Jason accidentally deleted his narrative (he spent an hour typing it) and just gave up and got a shower...thus concluding out first day.