It is the first day of the canoe trip. Ed wakes up early and makes love to wife, Martha. Afterward, Ed observes his face in the bathroom mirror and sees the signs of age, although he thinks that he still has a fairly good physique, comparing the hair on his back to that of an ape. In the darkness of early morning, Ed goes into the living room. Martha enters and asks where their son, Dean, is. Dean, who has been hiding under a pile of Ed’s camping equipment, leaps out with a sheathed Bowie knife (a large hunting knife). Ed observes that he and his son don’t really believe in the damage a knife might do.

Lewis arrives and the two men depart in Lewis’s car. On the drive, Ed and Lewis have a long discussion about their differing philosophies. Lewis sees life as preparing for societal breakdown when “machines” and “political systems” fail. Lewis says that his family will have to survive on canned goods and a few other items that they have packed in their fallout shelter. In contrast, Ed describes his way of life as “sliding”: living with the least friction and the most comfort. On the way out of town, they meet Bobby and Drew in their car, atop which is strapped an old canoe that looks inadequate for a wild river.