It is a year before Sal sees Dean again because Dean has gone to San Francisco with Camille. Sal goes to school a little and finishes his book. During the Christmas holidays, Dean shows up at Sal's brother's place in Testament, Virginia, in a car he bought with Ed Dunkel and Marylou.
Sal's brother is moving to New York and Dean offers to help them move some furniture up to the city. In return, they offer him food and a place to rest. Dean had been working on the railroad for 400 dollars a month in California and has had a daughter with Camille. He bought the car on a payment plan and he left for New York under the pretense of fetching Sal.
Ed Dunkel married a girl named Galatea, because that was the only way she would go cross country with him, and she was the only one they knew who had the gas money they needed. They picked up passengers who helped pay expenses, but they blew all their money quickly because Galatea insisted they stay in hotels. Soon into the journey, they left Galatea at a hotel. Near Denver, Dean got a crazy need to see Marylou, so they picked her up. When they arrive in Virginia, they haven't eaten for 30 hours, so they eat voraciously.
Afterwards, they go for a ride and talk about the past. They decide that they must find Carlo Marx in New York. Sal remarks that he has been spending a quiet Christmas away from the city, "but now the bug as one me again, and the bug's name was Dean Moriarty and I was off on another spurt around the road." Part 2, Chapter 1, page 115
