This page is kind of self-indulgent, as I basically just really wanted to draw some of the ridiculous Route 66 tourist traps you can find on the Interstate between Rolla, Missouri and Springfield, Missouri. I drove this road a lot when I was in college so the road holds a special place in my heart. The actual Route 66 crisscrosses the Interstate in meandering off-roads, leading a lot of adventures and unexpected finds, like the Elbow Inn located in scenic Devil’s Elbow.
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I wouldn’t count on a mesh trucker’s cap to hide my goat ears if I were Greg, but it’s worth it for Foxy Grandpa goodness!
Because Greg is a Foxy Grandpa.
Totem pole? Ooh!
Wait a sec, I thought totem poles are only normaly found where certain Native American tribes once lived in the Pacific Northwest. I certainly have never heard of any tribes in Missouri making or having a cultural history involving them.
you really expect a tourist attraction to be historically accurate?
It looks like Greg’s ear is human. (I could be just seeing something else though.)
Nope, just tucked into his hat. XP
Could pass for human at a glance… and at best horribly deformed if a closer look is given.
I like how Michelle looks so content and smug, kind of like a half-sleepy cat who found a warm patch of sun.
I think it’s more like ‘Oh, you silly greg’
considering the later pages, is it really so different?
Random thought: Would it be possible, in the Bingiverse, for Greg, if he so wished, to have his ears “fixed” surgically?
Say he’s tired of hiding them all the time, or perhaps lands a job where he’s not allowed to wear a hat of any kind. The medallions don’t actually transform the wearer, they just cast an illusion around them. So theoretically, Greg could have cosmetic surgery to have his long floppy ears turned into something more normal and human like, but said alteration shouldn’t affect his ability to shift, or any of his powers. (In-universe example is Jim’s dad, who had to have his wings amputated due to injury.)
Doc.
Yeah, I can’t believe no one thought of that until now XD.
So, Kory, when are you going to break the news to-
Wait a minute….
Maybe why hasn’t Jimothy given this Idea to greg yet?
Somehow, I doubt a college student would be able to afford that kind of surgery.
Well, sure. I’m not saying that needs to be incorporated into the storyline, I just brought it up as a topic for discussion. I mean, “fixing” Greg’s ears- if possible- would be easier than Myra’s eye, after all…
And besides, as far as cost goes, presumably there’s an Avalon agency that helps persons in need. Their entire society depends utterly on secrecy, so you’d think there’s groups or individuals that can lend various forms of aid to those that need it to maintain their ‘cover’.
Doc.
Yeah, thats a good point.
In fact, you’d think it would be mandatory then, considering how headily Greg’s ears fall out of his hat….
Yay! I grew up in Tulsa, and drove Route 66 quite a few times between Tulsa and OKC (also Tulsa and Joplin) –the REAL one, that starts on 15th Street and wanders around in the back woods, back and forth under the turnpike, and has stoplights at every town. You won’t find “The World’s Biggest McDonalds” there, but be sure to stop to rescue turtles in the spring.
Greg is the cutest thing that exists. Your ears.don’t fit in that hat, Greg. What are you doing, Greg.
It’s like Flagstaff, AZ! We used to take 66 in college out to… er… do illegal things in the woods. Out on the Navajo reservation the speed limit drops down to 50, then 40, then 30 on down until you’re going 15mph past a series of signs that say “Chief Yellowhorse says slow down and stop a while.” Next to a stand selling “authentic” Native American trinkets. Then comes back up to speed about a thousand ft later. This reminds me so much of that! (that might not actually be Rt 66, but I wasn’t in a state to remember what road I was on half the time)
Oh man I love that road too :D My grandpa used to take us down it all the time, then we’d go back to his farm and he’d show us the place in his field that part of the original road used to go through.
Ahahaha. I may be halfway across the country, but the Route 66 tourist traps are the same.
Continue heading South from Springfield and you’ll hit College of the Ozarks where I graduated from.
Also, if you get off of 66 onto 76 you’ll hit most of the major attractions. And further down in the Hollister area is a spot called The Landing with lots and lots of old shops, my favorite being a semi-big candy shop. I keep forgetting its name since I tended to indulge in the various sweets, but I remember exactly where its at. :P
Oops, I think I got it mixed up with Highway 65. Sorry.
Huh when I first saw them them pull over my first thought was, “Gee route 66 must have Avalon communities as big, or bigger, than Liverpool’s.”
Those aren’t normal hats, those are magic hats that turn you into three legged sharks!
Greg is pretty much king of the sweethearts. Even though the artwork for his expression is simplistic and cartoony it certainly captures a real warmth and kindness. Definitely well done!
on my lunch break, saw this was posted, thought “wait ’til I get home?”, No! Can’t Wait!
also, Greg sure knows how to cheer a gal up!
Foxy Grandpa, egh? I bet Eustace will have something to say about that! *Laughs*
I REALLY had to think back to who Eustace is.. xD lol good one xD
Am I the only one whos super pro Greg X Michelle
No, you are not alone.
not even a little bit.
Pretty sure everyone is pro Geg x Michelle at this point! :D
…what would their kids(no pun intended) be? Just.. thinking.. It’s the wee hours of the morning here and that’s where my brain immediately jumped.
O actually don’t care ether way, although I’d prefer to not have any serious relationships until we at least get michelle to figure everything out at Jim’s home.
At the moment, I really just see them as friends.
hahahaha, I have fond memories of that area too, between Springfield, Rolla, St. Louis, and Salem, where my paternal grandparents have lived at for pretty much most of my 22 years. Especially of the Merimac Caverns, another great little tourist trap that is given regular tours of. Panel three brings to mind miles of open roads, with carved out stone walls to either side, rolling along with plant life growing under, above and right on the craggy stone.
Please, Oh Please, can they stop for a drink at the Grotto in Rolla?
I got a ’34 Wagon, and we call it a “woody”…
That sure is a fun drive. I drove cross country back in 2008 and followed as much of Route 66 on my way back west as I could find. Spent a night in Cuba (next to the tiniest Wal Mart I’ve ever seen–you can see it on Google Maps) and the next night in Springfield.
Cuba was one of our school rivals! :) We called that Wal-Mart the “Small-Mart”
You really did that? Foxy Grandpa??? SPONGEBOB???????? omg lol
I can’t swear to it, but this looks a heck of a lot like a stretch of highway on the way from Springfield to Branson in Missouri that I’ve been down a couple times back when I was driving a semi. I swear that you can tell what state you are in by the roadside vegetation and geography. I KNEW by watching when I went from Nevada into Utah, or Kansas into Missouri into Arkansas into Tennessee. I wish I’d had the time to stop at places like this just for something besides 10,000 miles of asphalt.
BWHAHAHAAAHA!!! They finally got their trucker hats and chotchkies like Michelle wanted to first page. Happy friends are happy. And Dragontech, you’ve got it right on the nose, my dad, an interstate truck driver says the same thing, that he can tell what state he’s in by local geography and some such. Hell, im pretty sure i’ve been down the same roads the first three panels showed, they look so familiar to the roads my family took for visiting the grandparents in Salem.
hang on, hang on.
Wouldn’t normal people kind of wonder where the crap Michelle got real feathers that big? Or would they just kind of assume they were fake?
Just kind of… wondering…
I’ve seen real feathers that big. I think they were eagle feathers. Some of the larger birds like eagles, great blue herons, large turkeys etc can have really sizable feathers.
Don’t peacocks have tail feathers the size of a small child?
(I know, I post a lot. I have the website on my tabs and check every day for a new page)
yah, they do. The tail feathers of the males(the birds are called Peafowl, with it being peacock/hen depending on the gender) get about as long as 3 feet or more, basically doubling or tripling the length of the bird, depending on the species.
Lots of mundane birds are large enough to provide feathers that size or larger. Aside from raptors, I’m reminded of macaws, cockatoos, and other large parrots. For example, the flight feathers of a blue & gold macaw are plenty long enough; bright blue on the upper/dorsal side, and bright yellow on the lower/ventral side.
People might wonder if the orange feather was dyed, or just came from a species they don’t know.
I have a question for the author of such Artsy Fartsies as these contained in this comic:
“Have you ever heard of Beat Circus?”
They do have tail feathers of rather impressive size, but also truly singular appearance. Their tail feathers would never be mistaken for anything else. However it does occur to me that birds of paradise have huge tail feathers too, but they look more “regular”. Just really colorful. That’s why 19th century hat makers almost drove the species extinct, big colorful feathers for ladies hats.
I’m currently enrolled at Missouri State (formally known as Southwest Missouri State University) in Springfield, MO. Seeing familiar buildings and scenery in a webcomic is so weird!
The shop kinda reminds me of the World’s Largest Truckstop up on I-80 in Iowa. You can get anything embroidered on a hat there. Have a foxy grandpa hat of my own.
Just rereading this comic and I just realized I passed though that town on I-40 when I was moving back to Indiana from Southern NM in 2020. I stopped for the night just Northeast of there in Sullivan. I really wish I had chosen to stop in Devil’s Elbow now. Man…I almost did too.
Aw yeah! Devil’s Elbow! The I-40 trip is one I’ve been on many many many many times.