A vagabond American couple and their daughter are traveling in Mexico until Daddy figures out what to do with his life. They are Elvis-era puritans in a new age of drugs, hippies, communes, and sexual revolution - seekers who have no idea what they're seeking. Michael had quit a good job when he was no longer draft bait. He's dissatisfied with a wife he should not have married, frustrated because he's missing the sexual revolution. Karen suffers her husband's dissatisfaction, resentful that he'd dropped out, worried about divorce. She manages to conduct a secret, wild affair with a mysterious cowboy, a fellow traveler on Mexico's Gringo Trail. Hannah, their daughter celebrates her fifth birthday at a campground near the ruined city of Palenque. Observant and thoughtful, the child tries to understand her unstable life. In a Yucatan jungle pool, Michael makes the final, remarkable discovery of his quest, closing the circle.