A Brief Summary

Highway Home offers a look into the life of a man coming to terms with learning how to belong somewhere, doing good work that means something, and finally trying to love someone as best he can. It is the story of Noel Sanderson, a man of 29 years of age who in 1978 has tossed away his life in San Jose where he had developed a business as a commercial photographer.

The life he'd made felt like a great big dead end. He decides to pull up stakes and takes to the road with his dog Jasper to strike out on a new chapter and make something better, something fresh and new. He wanders south to Palm Springs for the winter, and then in the spring up the California coast where he has the opportunity to see new places and meet new people. He pulls off the road in Portland and figures to try his luck there. With summer coming on he scratches up work out at a truck stop, gets his work as a photographer rolling again, and sparks romance with more than a few women.

Things don’t all go Noel’s way and by the end of summer he’s outbound into the solitude of the Great Basin Desert. In the Ruby Mountains of Nevada he kindles a friendship with an old cowgirl. His wise new friend walks Noel through his tough times. After a year drifting, trying things out, and running from things he’s determined to dig back in. Noel knows what he wants to do now. He’s ready to make things work out this time, stick with things, give things a chance. After a year of drifting the real challenge was coming to know where to set his roots down, where he might try to build a life, and if he had the knack for being genuine and seeing his way through things now. We come to find out if Noel Sanderson summons the courage to try using his whole heart.