- Steinbeck then describes his visit to Sauk Centre, birthplace of Sinclair Lewis, and he offers some reflections on the author (whom he knew a bit, apparently).
- Then he reveals that he had lifelong fantasies of Fargo, North Dakota, and describes how seeing it in person and for reals measured up to his fantasies. Okay...
- He stopped along the Maple River and cooked himself a meal.
- He proceeds to offer more reflections generated by the trip to that point, as well as some others dating from a previous adventure.
- Then, he describes some "dialogue" he had with the dog. (Gee, he must have been getting pretty lonely.) Along the way in their, er, conversation, we get more of Steinbeck's reflections on the country and its people and politics. He thinks about a conversation he had with a man back in Minnesota about politics.
- While they were sitting there and Steinbeck was soaking his feet in the freezing river, another man drove up.
- Although Steinbeck and the man avoided each other at first, they eventually decided to make nice and strike up a conversation.
- The man was an actor, so he and Steinbeck (who had playwriting experience) got into a discussion about the biz. The actor eventually left, even though Steinbeck had more questions for him.