On his way up north to visit friends, BEN picks up a mutual acquaintance, SAM, from her apartment in the city. Instead of taking the Interstate, they both agree for the longer but more scenic coastal highway, exploring and developing a companionship. Upon reaching San Francisco later that evening, the two decide to divorce destination from conclusion and get back in their car to find out just how far the Pacific Coast Highway will take them. Along the route they wind through weathered towns, giant forests, state lines and the realization that the farther they go, the closer they become and those forces that kept them looking back are being left far behind.

Tired of being invisible in a bland marriage, Emma moves in with her son Elliot in his loft in downtown LA. Elliot is a chef at a lackluster Chinese restaurant facing foreclosure. Also, he's gay - and Emma's distaste and denial over this has made strangers of mother and son. But the two need each other now more than ever, and as Emma indulges herself with the encouragement of a saucy new friend, and Elliot confronts his fears of intimacy, the pair find ways to communicate, with food where words fail.

A person of high intelligence struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex and leaving her apartment.