Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for December 19, 2023

So, decide to spend the night there, and then find they are snowed in next morning seems next.

Bring in the steamer trunk first. Ricardo, Fiorello, and Tomasso are impatient to get out.

At least it is not run down. It seems like Frank is the one who is the most disappointed. Since it has electricity it should also have an indoor bathroom. Not sure of the bed situation though.

I find it interesting the way the background changed from panel to panel. Someone is having fun with the art.

I think its a safe bet that THIS will be the LAST time the family allows Frank to “plan” the family vacation. ;-)

looking a gift lodge in the fireplace…

Suck it up Buttercups! Start a fire!

Come on Frank spend a night see if you like it and maybe some family bonding want hurt.

It somehow looks like it just magically expanded . . . I mean yesterday, they were practically crammed shoulder to shoulder like sardines, but today, they have elbow room and can move around.

What? No WiFi access? How primitive! ;-)

Frank is such a child right now. Your boss did say it’s a cabin. Cabins very widely from quaint hunter’s lodge to a 2 story mansion in the forest. My brother owns the latter. He should’ve talked to my brother about renting his “cabin” since I have a sneaking suspicion that my brother’s version is that Frank was imaging his boss’s cabin to be. My parent’s cabin was a simple and cute A frame with a loft. I slept in the loft. My parents worked for a school so we three spent our summer vacations at the cabin so I have fond memories of it.

Its a lodge – just think of it as a slightly larger campervan

Bring in a pile of firewood and get one started. Guaranteed mood elevator.

Seems like Nancy is the trooper, ready to make the best of it; Frank is the cranky one mostly mad at himself, probably, for not asking more questions when his boss offered up the place. But the place looks nice; as long as they have food, water and wood for the fireplace it will be fine.

Lu is getting the punch lines here. Good for her.

The very limited interior space of this cabin seems to be oddly utilized. It has an upholstered chair, two end tables with reading lamps, knick-knacks and artwork. Maybe the interior will expand over the next few days to include beds, a cookstove, kitchen utensils, plumbing, and other such non-essentials.

It would be kinda romantic if it were just the two of them. Maybe the boss didn’t think they would bring their adult kids with them.

Well, the colour’s good at least.

I’d have left out the reference to “secret tunnels” given the news.

why not just leave amd find a nice hotel?

Doesn’t Brad miss Toni? Or is he just too happy to get away from that brat Shannon?

Have a very Tardis Christmas

Frank’s th apparent ‘Debbie Downer’ now. Everone else seems to be going along with things

There is no place there even for an ant, I would rather say go back to your house and what a CEO, it is obvious that that cabin is not enough for a family, what a cretin!

At least there is electricity, but is there heat or wood for a fire? I think they should be freezing, but they don’t look cold. It takes awhile for a place to heat up in the winter.

Shape up, Frank! If I could go back in time and send a message to myself it would be: never marry a man who is bad tempered in times of crisis. Anyone can be pleasant in good times. In bad times you really need someone who can make the best of things.

Move the furniture outside to make room for the bags?

Frank needs to stop pouting about the cabin! The CFO was generous?

Heck, you can get a lot in a small space. The Mrs. and I have a little 14 foot long travel trailer that is 7 feet 4 inches wide and it has sleeping space for 4 (5 if one throws a sleeping bag on the floor), a dining table up front that folds down in to a queen size bed, storage above an below the seats, a bathroom with a flush toilet, a 40 inch tub with shower, a skylight, vent fan, a kitchen with about 3 1/2 feet of counter space to th right of the 3 burner stove and deep sink, a 4.5 cu. ft. refrigerator with a freezer compartment that runs on propane, 12 volts or 120 volts, a water pump that draws from a 35 gallon fresh water tank, a range hood with blower fan, cabinets above th whole kitchen counter, 2 cabinet doors underneath th stove and sink same size as in my house, a microwave above the stove, LED lighting, a 12 gallon waterheater, a 20,000 BTU forced air furnace, electrical panel, 13,500 BTU roof air conditioner, a clothes hanging closet with a shelf for the TV above it, connections for cable, satellite TV, an a amplified rooftop antenna for the TV and stereo audio system. Aside from th 35 gallon fresh water tank it has a city water input connector, a 35 gallon gray water tank that holds the drain water from the sinks an tub, and a 25 gallon ’black water tank where the toilet drains in to. At the back of the trailer it has a little locked door that has an outside shower hose/nozzle and hot/cold water valves inside. Also connections for my solar panels.

Part of that parent pay-off will be that they have adult kids and not two kids under 7 years old cooped up in a place that small surrounded by deep snow.

I wonder if there is a hidden basement that’s completely unbelievable…

Okay… considering that the background keeps changing, is it possible that this is all a strange dream Frank is having, after having a bad landing from his plane jump???

Someone call the nurse on over. ;)

There’s gotta be more space than that, I mean, Brad had to put that end table and the lamp with the yellow lamp shade SOMEplace!

City folks

Tune in next week when they find out they’re in the wrong cabin. That’s probably the entranceway building or something.

Doesn’t Frank have his cell phone so he can call his buddy and make sure they’re in the right place?

The background was actually drawn in both panels! (As contrasted with strips where one panel is drawn, it is copied twice, and a different speech balloon is put in each panel. It could have been done for everything but Brad here.)

My parents cabin was smaller and we were 5 in it. I wouldn’t gripe or Santa won’t bring you any presents.

At least light the candles! That should bring up the temperature by a comfortable amount … unless the place is too drafty. A warmed chimney will certainly pull a lot of heat from the room – a cold chimney, not so much. Open or close the damper. Your choice.

Still bothers me that they expected, and Brad agreed, to go on this family excursion without his wife. Just seems so wrong. Would Frank go without Nancy? I don’t think so.

From the looks of things, I think they’re all gonna have to share a place to sleep.

Sour Pus Frank

WWA❤️D? Well, certainly not suggest looking in the basement, jumping in the running car and absolutely NOT hiding behind the chain saws. However, Our Dearest be❤️ed Christmas Elf, Ann❤️Eiffel could come up with a LOT of real cool beans things to do in front of the fire in a secluded cabin in the woods on a snowy evening. And how, right smart pert near, boy howdy!! Eat you ❤️s out for real, lowly unworthies. No super duper wonder we ALL ❤️ Ann❤️Eiffel. TTFN, lowly unworthies. Be careful of those flash blizzards and white outs. Have an Ann❤️Eiffel Day! Count… OUT!

Frank is really grumping it up.

Must be a deer camp.

\\//_

Frank, you of all people should not be complaining since this was your plan. If you didn’t ask the right questions or make clear how many people were going to bring then you can expect the unexpected.

The way a CEO treats the workers…

Quit whining! You’re there, in a sweet little cabin, making memories! Make some already!

“What’s that eerie scratching and wailing outside.”

“Tree toads?”

Frank is so funny in the first panel. O holy night…

They’ll end up having tons of fun and a wholesome family experience.

The manger itself is the little feeding trough Baby Jesus was laid in. The rest was a stable (or in some interpretations a cave).

ROFLMAO. This is the Best Arc ever…

So far, we are not seeing any room for a bed, let alone beds.

I like Nancy’s positivity in contrast to Frank’s mood.A family in a “manger” for a Christmas arc… how fun! Luann also seems amused by the situation and it’s nice to see her and Brad joking around. I think this will be a different Christmas from them, perhaps more memorable than the others. The space is not so much, but it looks nice.

sounds like pop is a little upset about the lodge. :J

Don’t like the Frank ruins Christmas plotline

What is going on? Weeks long arcs that trickle along, come on . 3 panels, last panel, joke. Move on. We don’t have the attention span for epics. We want to laugh and sip our tea or coffee maybe clip out a comic for our cubicle.?

There’s always that motel a couple miles back, Baits – or Bates? The pool’s closed but the showers probably work.

Is it me or is the family acting a little entitled? Free cabin during week of Christmas? The cabins I had the privilege of visiting were small. Key word being cabin. If they wanted a resort, then stay at a resort.

Talk about “looking a gift horse in the mouth”!

Buddy: All that’s missing now is Vincent Price! (door creaks open by itself)

Sally: Vincent?

Lighten up, Frank.

No tv or wi-fi and phone service is out of range. Pack it up or you’re going to have to sit around talking to each other.

So is every day’s joke gonna be “this place is so small”?

Luann seems hopeful. I don’t remember Frank being so negative. Maybe angry with himself for not getting more info. Get the firefighter to start a fire. They may be there a while if it has continued to snow.Any snowshoes there? Any outbuildings? There should be a saw or ax for cutting firewood. Maybe go out and cut a Christmas tree…. A very small one!

Typical Frank move

I’m lost, too. Maybe, like skydiving, Luann is dreaming again of her next story for Mrs. Horner’s class. Maybe it’s Nancy’s dream this time and that’s why Toni is omitted. Of course, it could be that Frank missed a turn in all the snow, went off a cliff and this is his life flashing before his eyes. End of arc. End of cartoon strip. Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.

Better get back home, Brad. Tony’s lonely.

Family time has the potential to grow (if not flourish) in such situations. Carpe diem.

I wonder if this is like that episode of AbFab when they stayed in a cramped, dingy French “chalet” only to find out at the end of their stay, they were actually in the caretaker’s cottage.

So, Frank is sulking, Nancy is trying to make the best of it, and the kids are being snarky. Looks like it’s going to be a Christmas to remember. Somebody get the eggnog and rum.

I am so disappointed in the deGroot family. Entitled enough to get hung up on the word “lodge”. Used to be that “lodge” was a log structure in the woods … fireplace, maybe a woodstove, Rather like camping with a roof instead of canvas. Silly people

Some love to gripe.

They really do look a gift horse in the mouth.

Come on Frank, quit acting like a snob and enjoy yourself.

Well, at least the place looks nice. ;)

It’s so small, the mice are humpbacked.It’s so small, you have to go outside to change your mind.

What a baby you are Frank, you should appreciate it.

It’s one of the most over-done storylines in comics-Dom.

Has anyone commented that this is probably just a small part of the lodge, and the main house is down the road?

A manger is a crib (same word as French crêche, a loan word from Germanic) for animal food. It isn’t a synonym for “stables”.

Toni is going to be so happy she pulled duty!

I’m surprised. Usually Mr de Groot seems more open to adventure.

And outdoor plumbing I expect.

….and the outhouse….has…..a….styrofoam seat?

I’d stay there in a heartbeat. As long as I could get some heat.

A couple a old fashioned hand warmers under a good jacket’ll do wonders. Those Jon – e handwarmers that ran on lighter fluid. Still have a few of em an they look like a GIANT Zippo lighter. Like this:

.Com/Jon-E-Jon-e-Fuel-Handwarmers-Standard/dp/B0000AQLDI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

They burn for a really long time and there’s really no flame to worry bout I’ve used em for decades out in the deer blinds an camping

Did the lodge change while I was sleeping?

I detect an air of cynicism about the mighty Zeus Lodge!

Perhaps they should look for the circuit breaker box? Heater? And firewood? Or see how deep the snow is……

What a cute little cabin! Yay for Nancy, seeing the possibilities.