- Steinbeck opens with a description of a particularly lonely, damp night when he'd been driving for hours without seeing anyone.
- While he was lying in bed feeling kind of blue and drifting toward sleep, he heard footsteps. He opened the door and was pretty prickly in asking the "intruder" what he wanted. It seems the guy (who lived there) was on his way home—and didn't appreciate having Steinbeck's flashlight in his face. Steinbeck felt silly and tried to offer the guy a drink or some coffee, but the man declined.
- Then Steinbeck moves into a discussion of a group of French Canadians he met in Maine. The Canadians had come across the border for harvest season.
- Steinbeck struck up relationship with a group of these "Canucks" by releasing Charley to roam and then retrieving him from their camp. Apparently, he used this kind of ruse when he wanted to get to know someone—he'd send the dog as an "ambassador" to make first contact and then "chase" after him, making apologies (and friends) in the bargain.
- On this occasion, he ended up having a very large group of Canucks over to Rocinante for drinks.
- As he continued traveling through Maine, apparently he had a funny (and probably dangerous) encounter with a moose. You see, he had a cattle caller that imitated cow emotions. He used it when he saw some moose, and apparently one started to chase him with "romance in [its] eyes."
- Then, Steinbeck started south again and headed into New Hampshire, where he tried to spend the night in a hotel (or more precisely, a guest house). However, when he went in to register at the front desk, no one was there to help him. He spent the night in Rocinante, waiting to see if anyone would ever show up, but they never did. Weird, huh?
- Then he traveled through Vermont, where he attended a church service. He really enjoyed the preacher's "fire and brimstone" emphasis.
- Then he went through New York, heading toward Niagara Falls. He got a bit lost on the way.