When Sal’s father’s parents, the Hiddles, suggest a week-long drive to Idaho, apparently to find her missing mother, Sal is not excited at the prospect of being in the car with them for so long. She accepts the necessity of the trip, for reasons that become clear much later.

In chapter 2, when she initially mentions the trip, she states that she had not been “eager to go on” the trip, but believed it was something she had to do. She considers that she will “be locked in a car with them” for almost a week, covering nearly 2,000 miles. In contrast, her grandparents seem excited, which Sal does appreciate. Gram is enthusiastic about spending time with her “favorite chickabiddy.”

Sal provides a list of reasons that the three of them were going on the trip; but her father was not going. The fact that he will remain in Ohio is part of the reason for Sal’s lack of enthusiasm. She believes he prefers the company of their neighbor Margaret.

Sal also believes that her father is sending her as a sort of chaperone for his “tottery old parents,” who tend to get into trouble when they go on drives. She expects the trip to be unpredictable, but she is also very fond of Gram and Gramps. She considers them “peculiar” but also says,

they are full up to the tops of their heads with goodness and sweetness ….