My parents and I flew to Las Vegas as the jumping off city to drive to the Grand Canyon where I’ll start my hike.

The prior day I bet all of the remaining money on my FanDuel account and lost the $50 I had in the -app, so I figured my luck would turn for Vegas. 

It didn’t -- I quickly lost the first $60 I put on the blackjack table. I remembered I no longer have a job and thought it’d be prudent to save the remaining $100 cash I brought with me to spend on perhaps a shower and laundry. You know, for my own good and for the people I’ll encounter on the trail. 

We picked up one of my best friends, Jenn, from the airport later that day, secured final supplies, and then headed to meet up with one of my mom’s lifelong friend, Lori and her husband Chuck. Lori and Chuck received my first resupply box to start the trail so I wouldn’t have to fly with a big bag of food. 

We called it an early night because we planned an early start to drive to the Grand Canyon the following morning.