The ride along Route 50 is unremarkable, the dry, concrete ribbon carrying Roderick and Julian past Folsom, the El Dorado Hills, and towards their destination. The sky is clear and the nighttime landscape is surprisingly bright under the glare of the moon and stars. In less than an hour, the stolen Chrysler passes into Placerville city limits and they are treated to the sight of trees flanking the highway, the occaisonal dot of light from a neighborhood shining through. Yet as they come off of an overpass, Roderick and Julian spot a troubling sight across the highway. In the shadow of a ravine is the shape of a car wrapped around a tree. It's lights are dead, and the few other travelers on the highway blaze by it obliviously. The flow of the highway forces them on, but soon they see an off ramp that loops back in the wreck's direction.