Upon being released from prison, easy-going Dick Kanipsia and his jovial companion Harry Moss go to Harry’s rundown house in the country to celebrate their release. Drinking a six-pack of beer and watching televised golf, Harry is remarking that they have “all the comforts” when a gunshot comes through the window and hits him. While Dick dodges bullets, Harry calmly announces that he is about to relay information that will lead Dick to wealth beyond his wildest dreams and tells him to contact Barry Fenaka in Fallbrook and mention the name Vincent J. Palmer. Harry then directs Dick to hide in the potato cellar and lights a stick of dynamite, blowing up the house and himself. Dick runs from the charred site, unaware of the ominous black van lurking nearby. After hitching a ride, Dick finds himself on a stretch of highway where he meets Kitty Kopetzky, whose car has broken down. When Dick fixes her car, the free-spirited Kitty invites him to move with her to the beach and they drive off with Kitty talking incessantly, unaware that they are being followed. Saying she has not slept for days, Kitty suggests stopping at a motel, and once checked in, Dick calls Barry who hangs up on him. Kitty and Dick sleep together that night and the next morning have breakfast in a local café. When he sees Kitty taking amphetamines with her orange juice, the increasingly wary Dick announces he will continue on alone. This enrages Kitty, who makes such a scene that Dick agrees to stay with her until they reach Fallbrook. He then goes into the men’s room and when he returns to see Kitty robbing the place at gunpoint, he runs out, flags down a bus and gets onboard. When Dick gets off at the Fallbrook station, the mysterious van is waiting for him across the street, but still oblivious, Dick proceeds to Barry’s cozy, suburban house. Dick is peeking through a window when Barry appears with a gun, but in the ensuing struggle, Dick seizes the weapon. Barry is sad to hear that Harry is dead, but although held at gunpoint, he proceeds to have a friendly talk with Dick and introduces his wife, Mary, who is thrilled to see Dick, the football hero she had a crush on in high school. Dick eventually lowers the gun and that night accompanies Mary to watch Barry, who is a comedian, host a Polish-American lodge party. During a break, Barry explains that he was Harry’s partner in embezzling over $300,000 and that the money was moved from Harry’s house to a new location until they could claim it, with Harry knowing only the name of the person to whom it was delivered and Barry knowing only the address. The men agree that the only way to reclaim the fortune is to work as a team, so Dick discloses the name of Palmer and Barry provides the location, Stockton. After the show, they prepare to travel to Stockton in Barry’s “baby,” a vintage Airstream trailer, with Mary coming along for the trip. Dick soon finds himself on the road with the cheery Fenakas, enjoying Barry’s swing music tapes until he finally notices the van in the rear view mirror and tells Barry they are being followed. When the vehicle trails them into a gas station, Dick lets the air out of its tires, but incredibly, once they are back on the road, they realize the van has resumed following them. Arriving in Stockton, they learn that Palmer owns an investment business and hurry to his office, convinced that their money will be doubled. Instead, they find a languishing enterprise run by Marvin Hollenbeck, who bought the business from Palmer and swears he does not know his whereabouts. Under pressure, Hollenbeck gives them Palmer’s forwarding address in Pismo Beach and makes a phone call the moment they leave. Arriving at Pismo Beach, Dick is greeted by Kitty who jumps in the car with him, prompting him to get out and walk. Dick is greatly annoyed when the Fenakas assume that Kitty is his friend and invite her along to Susanville, which Barry has learned is Palmer’s current location. That evening, Barry is barbequing dinner when he sees two identical black vans parked nearby and goes to investigate, returning late that night to say that they are in danger. As Kitty postulates that the vans are flying saucers, the group moves on, stopping the next day for Dick and Kitty to do laundry while Barry keeps watch near the car. When Dick and Kitty return, they discover that Barry has disappeared, and see the vans pulling out of the parking lot. Dick and the women follow them, driving all night with Kitty at the wheel, promising to make it to Susanville by morning. However, while the others are asleep, Kitty pulls into a trailer village and the next morning they find their unwanted traveling companions have checked in, too. As Mary pleads with Dick to rescue Barry, they hear someone on top of the trailer and Dick reluctantly goes outside, only to be beaten by several men who flee when Kitty comes out wielding her gun. Back inside, Dick promises Mary that if they have not solved their problem by morning they will call the police and says he wishes he had stayed in jail. That night, Dick goes to the camp’s bingo game where he spots several men they have casually encountered during their trip who are clearly watching him. Kitty comes looking for Dick and instigates a fight so that they can flee during the confusion. Kitty and Dick then run back to Mary who announces that one of the vans is leaving and, jumping into the car, they race after it through the night. When the second van appears behind them at dawn and tries to run them off the road, Dick loses control and one van crashes into a pond while the other hits the trailer. Climbing out of the car, Dick edges around the Airstream with Kitty’s gun drawn, surprising Hollenbeck who is sneaking around the other side. After they both shoot and miss, Hollenbeck drives off in the Fenakas' car and Dick chases him, being shot at from the van. Taking cover behind a roadside vegetable stand, Dick finds a wounded Hollenbeck lying inside. Hollenbeck reveals that he is actually Palmer, and that he and his brothers spent the embezzled money on a children’s summer camp that went out of business. Assuming that Harry and Barry would kill them for losing their money, they shot Harry, but Palmer maintains they have not abducted Barry. Dick is walking back to the trailer when a truck pulls up and Barry gets out, saying he was never kidnapped, but had gone to get a tuna sandwich when the others left him behind. When Dick explains to Barry that all that is left of their fortune are two vans and an empty camp, Barry is excited and rhapsodizes to Mary about mineral rights and building subdivisions, while Dick walks past the trailer and up the road alone.