Cherry, why do you put up with this?

‘All-seeing’ and ‘all-knowing’ Mark is a tired schtick…  From the Airport gate scene to now this: withholding knowledge that there will be dinner guests… that has to test Cherry’s patience…  Notice how we don’t get to see her reaction to Mark’s “surprise…”

Let’s make up our minds, here!!

Mark has the BLUE highlights!! Please!

I am absolutely fascinated by all the different expressions that Rusty has been allowed to show through this story!  A regular Jim Carrey!

OK… I know!  too much Rusty!!  From eager to suave to perplexed to mind blown…

…it’s only natural to be mortified by your parents’ actions… it’s part of the plan- the plan that will get you to leave the nest at some point.  Except that you are locked in a world where no one actually ages… what hell… OK if you are perpetually in your mid thirties, but what if you are forever twelve years old?  Ick.  Awkward.  Voice cracking.  Confused.

And I will say it one more time… What’s with the mane of silver hair on Mara?  She’s of course drawn to be fetching, but the gray mop continues to be confusing, at least to me…

Or perhaps she is spinning in place, wanting to display her bikini-ready form in what her mother has covered with a sensible tankini…

Or maybe she’s blind? We certainly didn’t get that impression on the plane… And where are her parents?  Hopefully just off camera.  I wouldn’t want my daughter roaming the beaches all by herself…

So as Rusty and Cherry have a conversation about Mara, (like she’s not within earshot of them talking,) Rusty ponders the imponderable and Cherry strongly encourages him to “go say hello…”  So go on, boy… time to make a friend!

An’ a-one-a an’ a-two-a… into the water goes the whale.  Glad we didn’t drag that one out longer than it needed to be…

Now it’s time for some mea culpas…

What’s Mark doing in the first panel  The twist??  Working on his 7 minute abs?  Mr. Racing Stripes is feeling a bit sheepish about having doubted Mark, although he still hasn’t the foggiest idea who he’s dealing with…  I find it annoying anytime someone calls me “Buddy.”  I mean, how hard is it to introduce yourself and learn names??

If I am not mistaken, there was a relatively large gaggle of folks on the beach when Rusty (where’s Rusty?!) first pointed to them in the distance… Then there were six, not counting the Trails… and now there are only three, with Mark and Cherry making five??

Again with the beast reference… or in another context, “That’s what she said…”

And by the way, I didn’t know that whales could talk!!

Never daunted, or missing an opportunity to waggle his finger at someone, Mark lets Mr. Grumpy (off camera) know that he needn’t worry… that he’s an expert in matters pertaining to wildlife…

But what’s up with the lady in panel three?  Is this the angry panel?  She was just crying 30 seconds ago… Is she mad that Cherry’s swimsuit is from the same dye lot as hers?

But I repeat… can one hear the tide coming in?  And if tides are hours apart, wouldn’t that whale be suffocated under its own weight by now?  And I am sure that it didn’t occur to any of the other humans, before the Trails showed up, that they might work together to get the whale back in the ocean…  where it will probably lose its way again and get itself beached outside of the prying eyes and meddling hands of random (really) white folks on vacation…

But I guess I’d be angry too if I had to get my hair colored the way this guy’s is…  what’s with the blue racing stripes down each side?!  And why does every woman in the Trailverse have to have ginger highlights??

But how does one pronounce Minke?  Is it like the way that Inspector Clouseau pronounced Monkey in the Pink Panther Series?  Or is the ‘e’ silent?  Like the varmint we make fur coats out of?

Well, this vacation is off to a rousing start!!  Strap in, campers!

A Beached Whale, huh?  And how disappointing!  I thought that the resort was clothing optional!  Although it seems that Cherry has scared off a good chunk of the crowd with her killer profile…

Check out the punctuation in Cherry’s statement.  Shouldn’t there be an exclamation point after the word ‘whale?’  The way it is written, it seems like happening upon a whale high and dry on the beach is no big thing… the only surprising part is the fact that it’s still alive!!  Where’s a Marine Biologist when you need one??  I guess Mark will have to spring to action (again) and announce his presence…

Everyone’s settled in and in their trunks…  and displaying their rock-hard bodies, except for the still maturing Rusty…

But the look on Cherry’s face… I have seen that before… yup, right here…  At least she’s not wearing the same bikini…  And Mark, what view are you commenting on, exactly??

Never mind Cherry’s reaction to the sudden realization that they will be paying dearly for the privilege of camping…

…it’s Rusty’s hand in the third panel…  AHHHHHH!!! Put it down, son, PUT!  IT!!   DOWN!!!

Well, that trip went by in a blink!  Looks like everyone was crammed into the back seat!  I am sure it wasn’t hot, sticky, or at all uncomfortable…

Not to mention no screens…  no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine… I seriously wonder what a world like that would be like sometimes… Our current lives replete with oversharing and overreacting…

Rocky Bluffs…  Didn’t he play Middle Linebacker for the Chicago Bears back in the George Halas days??

Nice rendering of the Ring-tailed Lemur… at least that’s what it looks like to me.  Except this animal is native only to Madagascar…  which would make it invasive in this picture…  so perhaps not.  Could be Coati… Who knows…

Well, with the entire Trail clan somehow stuffed into this Studebaker-turned-taxi, here’s what automobile.mag has to say about it:

The 1950 bullet-nose lineup came in three sizes, Goldilocks-style. Baby Bear was the Champion, riding on a 113-inch wheelbase; the Commander was Mama Bear, with a 120-inch wheelbase; there were 124 inches between the wheels of Papa Bear, the Land Cruiser that could be ordered only as a four-door sedan. There was no wraparound, Starlight-like rear window on sedans and convertibles, but as a consolation, four-door sedans got rear-hinged suicide doors in the back.

As this is a two door, let’s hope it’s at least the Mid-sized Commander model… and you are sort of right (as usual) Mark…  the car being over 50 years old… more like close to 70 years old…

Interesting… we are no longer straddling time in the Trailverse… Mark declares that this would be taxi is over 50 years old… which clearly places us in the present day… not that we didn’t have hints of that earlier, what with cell phones and digital cameras… but there was always something about the styles and the sensibilities that made me wonder…

So off we go in a two-door taxi?  Really??  Never mind that it’s a 90 minute drive to tulum!

Nice planning, Mark!  Have fun, Trails!  Enjoy the experience!

No further chatter about maybe hooking up later?  Poor Rusty…  Here I thought he’d be the youngest member of the Mile-High Club…

The expressions on Mark & Cherry’s faces are curious- almost dreadful… expecting the worst?  Rusty continues to comment of relative size and congestion of airports…  While Mark continues to call out the obvious…  But Mark, isn’t there luggage to pick up?  Or are you going to spend the week in your faded-red, now-pink chamois cloth shirt?

As we continue to eavesdrop on our two young-uns,  Rusty feels compelled to testify…

Is his left hand on a bible?  What strange hand gestures the Lost Forest Denizens are forced to offer up!  And are we to suppose that this “coincidence” will continue to ripen into, “Oh!  and we are staying at AZYOULIK as well… AS YOU LIKE… I didn’t pick up on that until one of the faithful pointed that out to me…  Remember!  Clothing Optional!!!

Gotta hand it to Rusty… moving in for the close, without so much as a hesitation.  Maybe he’s been practicing on the woodland creatures at home!

One of the problems (opportunities?) with the comics form is the lack of sound…  But then it’s fun to think about what the characters sound like…  to wit, let’s imagine the voice of our teenage (tween?) characters below…

We all know that girls mature faster than boys, and in fact the male’s brain doesn’t fully form until well into his twenties… Where the female form and brain are fully operational in Junior High school.  OK, that total hearsay and I sort of made that up, but it’s mentioned so often it has to be true!  So back to the soundtrack- I hear Mara’s voice all smooth and silky, while Rusty sounds like his name- an oxidized old gate hinge exposed to the weather for decades… not even sure whether it works or not…

And of course you are going to Mexico, you little twit- that’s where the plane is going!!

Judging by the look on Rusty’s face, he’s either 1. Playing is totally cool, or 2. feeling the effects of the Benadryl and Dramamine that Cherry slipped him prior to boarding the plane…

Yea, yea, yea… enough of the Santa Poco malarkey, Mark…  It’s not even a real place…

But what’s this?  Rusty is making a “Friend?”  Good heavens, he doesn’t even have one, and now he’s in a most agreeable situation with a fellow female passenger… who, aside from her gray hair, seems to be about his age?  Same size, anyway…

With Ed Dodd as a witness, I don’t think we’ve ever seen Mark speak out of the side of his mouth… which he appears to be doing in the third panel… and the look on Rusty’s face in panel two is what?  Rapture?  Like he just (say it isn’t so…) relieved himself?

As we engage in idle and improbable banter, while still wondering where Rusty is stowed for the flight, it’s clear that Mark has kept the details of this trip to himself…

Let’s find out about where they are going, assuming that all these places are legit…

AZYOULIK–  (from Google…) Hotel details- Set in a tropical jungle, this upmarket, adults-only, clothing-optional hotel (should be interesting?!) is steps from the beach and 6 km from Tulum.  Offering thatched roofs, and terraces with sea or jungle views, the rustic-chic, electricity-free villas come with bathrooms, in-room tubs and beds with mosquito nets, as well as safes. Upgraded villas add individual features such as private beach access and outdoor tubs and/or hanging beds.  Amenities include a bar/lounge. There’s also a spa with massage and therapeutic treatments, yoga and traditional Mayan steam baths and ceremonies. Parking is free, and phone or battery charging stations are available.

TULUM– Tulum is a town on the Caribbean coastline of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. It’s known for its beaches and well-preserved ruins of an ancient Mayan port city. The main building is a large stone structure called El Castillo (castle), perched on a rocky cliff above the white sand beach and turquoise sea. Near the ruins is the Parque Nacional Tulum, a coastal area with mangroves and cenotes (natural limestone sinkholes).

 

SANTA POCO (Little Saint?) and THREE AMERICAN COWBOY ACTORS–   Yes, none other than Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin that seminal John Landis piece, THE THREE AMIGOS!  It would also appear that Santa Poco is not a real place,  but one conjured for the movie itself…

Once again, we are left to wonder what’s become of Mark and Cherry Trail’s adopted son…  Did he make it onto the plane with them?  Is he in the pressurized cargo hold?

Nevertheless, here we find the perpetual lovebirds, absorbed in their own, well, thing… Room for two, please, and no disturbances…

Still, I’m thinking they are heading to Cancún International Airport, (CUN) one of a ridiculous number of airports in Mexico…  who knew?  I guess I shouldn’t make assumptions, like the one Rusty did when he marveled at the size of the airport from which they departed…