A tenderfoot from Philadelphia, two misfit gamblers on the run, and a deadly preacher have a date with destiny in a boom town gone bust.

Mike Baxter is the straight-talking champion of common sense in a politically correct world. Mike will need that common sense to help guide his family through the many changes in store this year at home and at work. Vanessa, who last season traded a successful corporate career for a job as a public school teacher, now finds her rewarding new position in peril, as a teachers strike looms in Denver. The home front presents its own challenges.