Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 23, 2019

Sounds like the girls do need Luann’s parents’ help.

Checking up on the oldsters. Very sweet of her.

Just go already clearly they still might need help

No resolution on Bernice’s squirrel infestation. ✨

Frank go save your daughter and her friends.

Meanwhile back at the campsite, the girls argue over whether it is more important for Luann to display independence from her parents or whether it is more important to ask for help in defeating the squirrel army.

I’m pretty sure this is the longest time we’ve spent on just Frank and Nancy in quite a while. They never seem to get much focus on the weekday strip.

The arc could end here. Or tomorrow we could have three frames: (1) Luann returning home and getting hugs; (2) Dez in her dorm – meditating; (3) Bernice washing her hair furiously.

Ummm, Frank? You know where the campsite is? Because if I recall, they randomly picked their campsite. At least Dez did.

Must have dealt with the squirrel.

Those three young women are having so much fun!

“She’s thinking of us first before herself! Now I KNOW something is wrong!”

For all we know, the squirrel texted them after some phone mishap.

That must be the longest minutes in Fred’s life. I hope kids can put themselves in parents’ shoes.

You can take your coat off, Fred.

Heavens! Luann is out of Y’s and only one O left by the last panel. A desperate situation indeed.

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Am in a campground in Northern California myself at this moment. Will be here until Sunday. In a 16’ Coachmen Clipper model 16B.

You know, maybe its just ME, but seems like ever since Luann broke up from Pretty Bo….., Uh, I MEAN “Quill,” she doesn’t seem to easily PANIC anymore.

I mean when she got that flat tire when she was with Jack, she didn’t FREAK. She just got out and changed it. Lu goes out of her way to help the less fortunate like Fay, Jack, and Gunther.

And despite what We saw last week, when Lu’s parents called, the first thing she thought was that THEY needed “help.”

Luann is totally selfless and now puts the well being others ahead of her. Maybe Luann HAS grown up. Maybe that “dream guy” We saw Sunday, is a prelude of things to come. Maybe it’s time Luann got into a SERIOUS relationship. I think she’s READY. And NO, I don’t think it should be Jack.

It’s really too bad it WON’T be Gu….., Oh, NEVER Mind……,

Bernice had a squirrel tearing up her scalp, she shouldn’t be OK.

“Lo bat”? Is there a bat flying low overhead?

GO LUANN! This is the right way to respond to anxious parents! Let them understand that you are ok without them but they are lost without you! Find a way to tell them “Mind your own business” without insulting them!

Always make sure your conundrums covers your package.

Can this camping story be over, please?

This switch to Frank & Nancy is too much of a surprise to accept lightly. There must be more here than meets the eye. We’ll just have to wait for GnK to let us know what they have in mind – if anything.

F&N been pretty much on the back burner, except for Sundays one offs. Things have been pretty much going their way; they purchased a rental house and the Fuze and that seems to be doing well. Luann is apparently doing well in Pitts CC. Brad, Toni and TJ haven’t burned their house down, yet. They have a proxy grandchild in Shannon.

What’s going on here?

I think playtime in the woods is over. Time for Mom and Dad to come to the rescue.

Sounds like Luann is ready for some rescuing. just not sure exactly whom will be rescuing whom.

Luann has been having boy problems. Gunther has been having girl problems. Tiffany has been having isolation problems. Brad and Toni have roommate and in-law problems. Things have been going rather smoothly for Frank and Nancy for quite some time. Just sayin’.

Girls okay, Luann worries about her parents, typical. She cares about her parents. They of course always worry about her (and Brad, even though he is a full-grown adult, with a full-grown spouse, and hopefully a new Luannverse character, and possibly an adopted Shannon). They are okay, but since this is only Tuesday, more hilarity shall ensue.

Hmmm, lo battery. I’m guessing our campers forgot to pack the cables and if required (vehicle age) powerpoint connector to keep one or more of their devices charged, interesting. Next we’ll learn they left the overhead light on with the door ajar so the batteries drained out and they closed the circuit before attempting to restart.Aren’t camping trips like these fun and memorable!

I am 63 and my mother called me yesterday to make sure we had electricity. Mom is 94 and lives alone.

7

Today’s effort was pretty funny, IMO. But, for me the more interesting aspect relates to the texts themselves:

One of my minor aggravations I have with texting with my kids is that they, like Luann, always have texts that are virtually punctuationless, almost always contain abbreviations (especially aggrieving to me is “4” in place of “for”, and there are many, many other variants as well), and more emoticons than words.

They likewise tend to roll their eyes at my complete sentences in texts (they refer to it as Dad’s novel), and they engage in mock congratulatory hyperbole each of the modestly few times I use an emoticon or an emoji in a text to them.

We all really are teasing each other about our respective writing “styles”. But, I have to admit that I find it a whole helluva lot easier and faster to type out a normal sentence rather than try to find ways to compress and “picturize” what I want to say.

Lo bat? You didn’t take a car charger either?

Lo Bat. I think Luann means her Phone battery is low. Not the car battery. A low car battery will still start the car.

Why are some people so insistent that Luann needs “rescuing?” Mom and Dad to the rescue! Jack to the rescue! Smokey the Bear to the rescue!

They’re stuck in a car overnight not trapped aboard the Titanic. Even if the storm ends before sunup, they shouldn’t try to leave until daylight just for better visibility while driving. And Luann’s “Lo bat” comment MAY be referring to her phone, NOT the car.

One more damn thing to worry about….

I was in a similar weather situation when I was 20 on a trip to a park about an hour away…so my mom forced my Dad to drive out and find me in the terrible weather since I didn’t call. In my case, I wasn’t even in a tent. I had rented a very small one room cabin for the weekend. It was pre-cell phone age and I didn’t have access to a phone unless I went to the ranger’s office. What my Dad didn’t consider is what I might be doing on a trip sharing a cabin with someone I had been dating for over a year…even with heavy rain going on. After “catching us in the act” when he found us, my Dad promised to not interfere after that and let me take care of myself. LOL

That doesn’t sound like a cry for help.

Loosen up and let go. They’re big girls now.

All that packing and not one of them remembered to put in a Phone Charger?

Heck, I know some people who have Multiple Chargers so they can just leave them in the places they need them most often.

Millennials at age 19, still joined at the umbilical cord. I’m glad to see Luann turning the question around on Frank & Nancy. Good one Luann!

IMHO, the girls do NOT need “rescuing.” Why should they? It’s raining, not a Biblical flood. So, there’s a squirrel in the car. Big deal. Boot it out. Wait until morning to drive home. Or stay another day. Whatever. I like that Lu’s first worry is for her parents. I think she shows some signs of maturity.

During spring break of my freshman year in college (upstate NY), a bunch of us piled into a vehicle and drove out west to the Rocky Mountains. I don’t recall all the specifics of places we stayed, peoples houses, campsites, sleeping in the car vs. driving all night. My parents didn’t know anything about this trip. What I do remember of that adventure (many decades ago) is the beauty of the Rockies and seeing them for the 1st time.

The crisis is coming for the campers when the “bats” are completely dead. At least two are unlikely to be able to survive without their electronics.

Frank and Nancy, to the rescue! Bring fresh batteries and a charger!

tomorrow: Nancy and Frank, alone at last!

This anti-camping arc keeps making me think of the lyrics of a happy song called “Chop Suey” from the musical, Flower Drum Song. It hops over all the variety of things in America from lolly pops, to Perry Como to hula hoops. This arc bounces around in it’s own smorgasbord of events from a no-show with a broken down truck, to ravaging squirrels to pretty scenery to cold, canned stew, to a surprise storm, to mom and dad ready to launch a midnight search and rescue mission. Scratch the wonders of the wilderness from my bucket list. Thank you, I’ll take an extra scoop of ice cream – chocolate.

I could see all three jumping out the car and then getting locked out in the rain.