On the Road: Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Sal went to some bars with Montana Slim and then ate at a chili joint where he left a love note for his waitress. Back outside, Slim asked Sal if he could find a mailbox, because he had written a postcard to his father. They went into another bar where they picked up two girls who were “dumb and sullen.”

After going to a nightclub, Sal’s girl wanted to go back to her home in Colorado. He offered to take her home but she refused. She said she wanted to go to New York, but Sal told her, “ain’t nothin in New York.” Sal reflected on all the money he had wasted recently on drinks and fell asleep in the Cheyenne bus station.

When Sal woke the next day, Montana Slim was already gone. Hungover, he went outside and saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time in his life. He set off walking along a highway toward Denver and hitched a ride to Longmont, Colorado. There, Sal slept on a grass lawn outside a gas station, happy to finally be in Colorado.

Inside the gas station, Sal had a milkshake, prepared by “a very beautiful Colorado gal.” This made Sal excited for what might await him in Denver. He caught another ride that took him into Denver. Having finally arrived, Sal had “the most wicked grin of joy in the world.”