Rupert is also in love with an older woman, the free-spirited Carla, who operates a run-down roadside ice cream kiosk.

Both father and son know that Pam has been sleeping with young miner Jack Sike, who has a newborn baby with his wife.

However, Rupert and Pam learn that Gary sold the land for cash a week earlier, with no information as to where he put the money.

Rupert runs away, and is surprised to find that Carla is still alive, but only Joe knows; they, too, have reconciled, and are leaving for Sacramento to be closer to her daughter.

After Carla and Joe drive away, Rupert walks along the road and encounters a lone female biker girl he befriended earlier; he accepts her offer of a ride to Pittsburgh.

[4] His review concluded, "I had grown intrigued by the characters - especially Madigan's unreconstructed hippie, a woman with a lot of specific and believable details about her.