Jim Payne follows the waterways of America, living a Tom Sawyer life, getting scared, soaked, and bailed out of trouble by Samaritans he discovers along the way. His escapades span the country, from the Hudson River to the Columbia, from the Mississippi to the Erie Canal. He's entrapped by security guards at Mount Vernon, loses his rudder off the Florida Keys, and sleeps in Franklin Roosevelt's bed. Across 1,600 miles, this middle-aged runaway often loses his sense of direction, but never his sense of humor.