Marge takes the kids out for a Sunday drive while Homer stays home to clean out the garage. Marge has a fantasy about a muscular Homer making the garage tidy, but in reality a beer-guzzling Homer is battling spiders inside a messy garage. At one point Homer throws a TV Guide at a spider, but the magazine misses and hits a button mounted on the garage wall. The garage door closes, repeatedly banging into Homer’s neck and knocking him unconscious. Moments later Marge and the kids return home. Lisa and Bart perform CPR, and Homer regains consciousness, coughing up spiders. That night a worried Marge tells Homer she wants him to get some life insurance. The next day Homer and Marge meet with an insurance agent, who, after asking Homer a series of questions, concludes that he’s uninsurable. Marge grows increasingly worried about the future. She tells Homer and the kids they’ve got to start saving money. The new budget becomes so tight that Lisa and Bart wear clothes from Goodwill, and Homer sneaks beer into Moe’s bar in a thermos. When Marge purchases 400 cans of soup she finds on sale, Homer declares that her spendthrift measures have gone too far. Marge, however, refuses to back down, and an argument ensues. The next morning Marge realizes her money jar is empty. She looks in the backyard, and realizes Homer used the money to purchase a motor home.

Homer tells the kids that he and Marge have decided to take a little break from each other. Homer plans on living in the RV so he won’t be far away from them. Before long Homer and Marge are engaged in a battle of tug-of-war to see who can win over the kids. Homer trumps Marge by telling Bart and Lisa they’ll celebrate Christmas the following day. Later Homer takes the kids for a ride in the RV. When he stops for gas, he encounters another RV driver from New England. When the New England RV driver says he doesn’t have anywhere to park his rig, Homer invites the man and his friends to park in his backyard. Later Marge pokes her head out a window and sees the recreational vehicles crammed onto the property. She realizes the campers have run power cables to the fuse box. She unplugs the cables, plunging the recreational vehicles into darkness. Angered, the campers drive off. A loud argument erupts between Homer and Marge. Bart and Lisa worry they’ll end up getting a divorce. Lisa pulls Bart into Homer’s RV and begins to outline a plan to save the marriage. When she looks up Lisa realizes Bart is sitting in the driver’s seat, driving the RV out of the backyard. Bart, it turns out, has a plan of his own: return the RV to the dealer.

With some help from Lisa, Bart manages to steer the massive RV. In the distance is a large balloon in the shape of a gorilla. It’s the dealer’s mascot, Kamper Kong. Bart and Lisa use the balloon — and a Flintstones Fun Map — to help them navigate the streets of Springfield. Homer and Marge continue arguing inside the house. Homer grabs an armload of snacks and storms into the backyard, only to discover that the RV is missing. He finds a note from Bart and Lisa announcing their intention to return the RV and save their parents’ marriage. Bart and Lisa steer the RV onto a six-lane highway. Chief Wiggum spots them and gives chase. Marge and Homer drive to the dealership, and along the way spot Bart and Lisa driving slowly down the highway. The Simpson car pulls up next to the RV, and Homer begs the kids to pull over. Bart makes Homer and Marge prove they’ll stop fighting by insisting they give each other a passionate kiss. After Homer and Marge comply, Bart insists they raise his allowance. Outraged, Homer reaches out of the car and strangles Bart through the RV’s window. Bart and Lisa lose control of the RV, which flies into the air and lands on the deck of a huge ship. The Turkish captain has no interest in turning the ship around… until Marge offers him hundreds of cans of soup. Realizing the soup will allow him to feed his crew for pennies a serving, the captain orders the ship to return to port. Later Marge serves up a casserole, and the Simpsons and the Turkish crew dig in.