Hank Johnson is a bitter man. After losing his wife, Anne, to a long illness, he loses his faith. He becomes a creature of routine, spending his days visiting his wife's gravesite and hanging out with the "baker's dozen," a group of guys who gather at the local diner for breakfast and car talk. When Hank receives news from his estranged daughter that he is about to become "Grandpa Hank," his best friend, Joe, talks him into selling his house in Bakersfield and heading back east. "Babies have a way of making things right again," advises Joe.

After Hank sets out on a cross-country...