Part 3: Chapter 1 - 3 Summary and Analysis

The Chicago reunion with his wife being out of context for the story, Steinbeck skips these city experiences and picks up with the journey from Illinois to Wisconsin. Charley looks good from his stay in the hotel kennel, where he received a professional poodle grooming. Illinois slips away to the rolling Wisconsin countryside with its many dairy farms. Steinbeck thinks that the farms must be subsidized in some way because they look too good to be self-sustaining.

The Wisconsin Dells impress him with the strange and fantasy-like rock formations. He sees something strange when stopped for a rest, an area below him that seems to be alive. Upon closer examination, he discovers a big collection of turkeys, a "reservoir for Thanksgiving" (p. 128).

Steinbeck wants to see the Twin Cities in Minnesota, but the heavy traffic confuses him...