Amusing cartoons illustrate the story of the first transcontinental car trip: a 1903 adventure completed by Dr. Horatio Jackson, mechanic Sewell J.Crocker, and a bulldog named Bud. Upbeat but choppy present-tense text outlines the journey's pitfalls including mud-soaked roads and flying grasshoppers. An afterworld, including archival photographs, provides historical context and information about he three characters' later lives.