Al receives a ransom note indicating that a well-known spaceship from his planet has been stolen. To get it back, he and Harold must go to Alabama and retrieve it themselves. They're not really sure how to do this... or even how to get to Alabama. They pack up Harold's car and Harold's cat and start driving south. They encounter catnappers, more aliens, and their own kids along the way. And it isn't until they reach Tuscaloosa that they realize the FBI has been following them since DC.

Harold and Al have become famous on Al's home planet, which means they're fair game for public pranking on Earth. So when a well-known spaceship goes missing, Al receives a ransom note. All they have to do to get it back is to drive down the eastern seaboard and visit a school in Alabama.

Unfortunately, Al is inexplicably terrified of the south, and Harold can't even make it to the interstate without getting lost. They wander around the northeast with motorcyclists and catnappers until they find themselves abducted by aliens. Other aliens. The other aliens are boring, which makes Al cranky, but does ultimately get them back on the road to the nation's capitol.

DC has more familiar faces than they'd expected, and they spend a day with the kids before venturing across the Mason-Dixon line. By the time they reach their destination, Harold and Al are exhausted and their cat is impatient. Much later than they had planned, they arrive during the school's "Week of Silence" and are not allowed to talk.

And it turns out the FBI has been following them.