Traveling further, Steinbeck discovered that technology was advancing so quickly as to give Americans more and more instant gratification, whether it was soup from vending machines or mobile homes. Steinbeck was intrigued by mobile homes. He thought they showed a new way of living for America, reflecting the attitude that if you don't like a given place, you should be able to pick up and leave. He reflects on rootedness, finds much to admire both ways, going and staying, and finds a secret language and camaraderie among truckers. At the end of the section, Steinbeck arrives in Chicago to meet up with his wife. After dropping off Charley at a groomer's, he gets to his hotel early and finds his room not ready yet. Being tired and scruffy, he makes a deal with the hotel to borrow a room which hasn't been cleaned up after its last occupant, and once in the room investigates what the previous tenant, whom he refers to as "Harry," has left behind, constructing a half-grounded, half-fictional idea of him as a traveling businessman who hires a woman to spend the evening with, though Steinbeck believes neither enjoyed their time that much.