After a good night’s sleep, the trio visited the Village Point Lighthouse and Vivarium.
Elvis checked in briefly (so quickly that I didn’t get any pics! Heh), then went to work on upgrading the speed of his houseboat. Lucas played with Betsy so she could get some exercise after being stuck on the boat all night.
Then Lucas went into the lighthouse to look at the fish. He ended up having a friendly chat with one of his schoolmates, Tasha Wade (who is based on Tedhi’s Sim-self).
Tasha: Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have any COOKIES, would ya?
Eventually Elvis called Lucas and Betsy back to the houseboat, and they started off on the last leg of their journey. The houseboat really zoomed along now that Elvis had given the engine a boost. They sailed around Manketta Island and the lighthouse there (near where they had been fishing in their rowboat just a few days before).
They made it back to Timberline Beach just as the sun was setting. Elvis was glad to see their pier in the distance (and another pier that had popped up while they were gone, heh).
Uncle Elvis: WOOT WOOT!
Elvis backed the boat carefully into its dock…they were almost home!
Betsy was overjoyed to be back on land for a good, long while…
Of course things weren’t quite how they had left them…two of Elvis’s plants had died.
Uncle Elvis: OH, MY BEAUTIFUL TOMATOES…
Lucas asked Elvis to read him a bedtime story, which made me go “awwww…”, even though they had to use Elvis’s bed for it!
Lucas fell asleep before the story was done, and, not wanting to disturb him (or Betsy), Elvis kissed him on the forehead and went to sleep in Lucas’s bunkbed.
The next morning, Lucas found the mascot kits that had been left there while they were on vacation. (There had been FOUR of those suckers…I had deleted one already. The darned mascot showed up every single day while they were gone — I ended up downloading a mod to get rid of the mascot intro altogether. LLAMA, BEGONE!)
Lucas: WHO LEFT THESE DARNED BUCKETS AND WHY?!?
A few notes about houseboating:
As much as I enjoyed this little trip around the island, there were a lot of weirdnesses that made it less fun than it could have been. *chuckle* For one, the aforementioned llama mascot, who visited every day while they were gone. Now, granted, that might have just been a weird mod conflict or some corruption in my save, but the thing is, every time the llama mascot rang the doorbell, my Sims would teleport home to answer it!!! *facepalm* Sometimes they’d be sleeping when it happened, then teleport home in the morning! I’d click on one of their portraits and suddenly be at their house…so annoying! I’m not sure if that’s an IP glitch or what. I would just teleport everyone back to the boat whenever it happened, but good grief, I hope they fix that.
The teleporting thing happened a lot with Betsy, too — I think because she was experiencing route failure so often on the boat. One second she’d be walking backwards trying to get somewhere on the boat, and the next second she’d be back at the house, snoozing away in her dog bed. *doh* I’m sure she would have rather stayed put, but I couldn’t have her living at the house by herself! ;-P
There are some other things that are weird, such as the refrigerator contents being shared between the two lots (the leftover hot dogs from the house were available on the boat), and no mail showing up on the houseboat while they were out and about (I didn’t know there were bills until I got the “pay your bills now or else!!!” pop-up message). I suspect those things are to be expected when your Sims have a second home, but it was still weird.
Despite the issues, though, I am loving houseboats and other forms of water transportation — they really fill a void in Whimsett Cove, and I’m happy to have them. Next up I’ll probably show pics of another pier and houseboat I’ve built for a couple of new guys. Or I might show another new family…I have about three of them I haven’t shown pictures of yet! Or gosh, my pizzeria and book shop…I haven’t shown that here on the blog yet, just at TSD! And I want to post a new map..gah, so much to do. *lol*
Thanks for reading, and Happy Simming! :)
First things first: Where (oh where oh where) can I get the llama mod? I’m starting to wish I was in the Sims world just so I could bash Llama Head with a baseball bat (dear EA, llamas are NOT funny or cute [unless they’re spitting at people, now that’s funny]) This update was brilliant, the pictures looked wonderful, and I want to live in the lighthouse (suffering the Coffee Crazies, waiting for Ma to get back from the supermarket, ran out of coffee yesterday morning)!! And I didn’t know you could make the houseboats go zoomier! Oh, boy, there’s my Ma, no more coffee deprivation, Wheee!
Hi Scally! Glad you got your coffee! LOL. The mod I downloaded was the “No Mascot Intro Situation” mod by bluegenjutsu at Naughty Sims Asylum. You have to register to be able to access the thread and download the mod, but it’s worth it, as they have a TON of useful mods there!
Ta, muchly, off to check it out now :-) Sorry for the other post, my brain was short-circuiting ;-) Also, I now have Supernatural and Light Night thanks to a friend who doesn’t want them anymore, so those are getting transferred onto Porky, and hopefully they’ll work!
The pics are awesome !!! My favourite is the first pic of the second page : when we see the two lighthouses ! And Betsy… so cute ! I love the expressions of the pet in Sims 3, always cute and sometimes funny ! One last thing to do : make disapear this Evil Llama boy who screw you this beautiful trip !
Thanks so much, Corblas! :) I love the expressions of pets in Sims 3 as well — they did a great job on them! LOL at the Evil Llama Boy! That’s a good phrase for him! (Although I think this llama mascot was a female, actually! Hehe)
As usual your photos are beautiful! Uncle Elvis seems like the perfect uncle and they look like they had so much fun! You’re right though he might want to look into suncream :D
Thank you, Alex! :-D I’ll pass along your advice to Uncle E. :)
What a wonderful story! Uncle Elvis has got to be the loveliest sim there is <3 <3 He is so cute with Lucas and my went all mushy-mushy when he tucked him in at the end of the story, and Betsy was lying there in bed too *tearyeyes*
And wow, Jen, your pictures are just absolutely stunning *sigh* Matkooskee is so gorgeous and you always capture this wonderful feeling/atmosphere in your pictures!
Loved this and uuuuuuuuuuuuuuurgh I must get Island Paradise now!!!!
Aww, thank you so much, Sara-love! You always leave such sweet comments! *hugs* I do love Matkooskee and am surprised I’m not tired of it yet! *lol* Johnnywr did a wonderful job on this world!
AWWW!!! More houseboating! *happy dance*
A new pier! The railing from Barnacle Bay is indeed perfect for piers! Aww… it’s so pretty! And that sweet Betsy’s face! OMG, Elvis and Lucas outside the Pearlie’s Market! And what a view! *sigh*
Oh, how do you do it that your pictures are so stunning, so breathtaking???
*blush* Gee, thank you, Kate! :) I think the lighting mod I’m using really adds that special something extra to these pics!
Aw what an awesome trip with plenty of gorgeous pictures to remember it by <3<3
Hehe Uncle Elvis makes me want a boat that makes a foghorn noise too. Where I live we have a lot of 'péniches' and the tradition is that for big events, like Midnight countdown on New Year, they all go berserk with the boat/fog/thingie-horn. *sigh* Home sweet home!
Squeeee Betsy makes the most adorable puppy face <3<3. Lol and everytime I see her I keep calling her Betsy Boop (- Boop Boop Dee Doo – ) *rolleyes-snort*
Gosh I think I would be a meanie like Lucas just to see her make that super sweet face when she realizes he didn't throw the stick <3
"Back on the boat for a good night’s sleep…Betsy looks at the aurora and wonders what the fram is happening."
Lol !! First time she saw an aurora on a picture, my niece Loulou (6) said it was an Alien Cloud Invasion and her cousin Biby (10) exclaimed: Is E.T baaaaack ?!!!!
No need to tell you how much they were disappointed by the 'real' explanation…. They still find auroras very pretty though :D
Lol the "You're being watched feeling ! "
Aw that last pic on page two is so …well picture perfect <3<3. The pier looks so very lovely, and wow what a Moon!!
Oh I used the same rope fence in the island I'm building (love them) and for the stairs I build them on a not too sharp slope, delete the railing and use the rope fence along the stairs. It works pretty well. *nod-nod*
Wow Betsy can jump ! She is so adorable <3.
Oh *wave* SimMiniMe/Tasha ! What cute clothes she has…I just want the same in RL (of course I can totally fit in them ;P )…..and if she could let the cookies, that adorable Lucas will without a doubt give her, in one of the pockets…. ^^ *Yum*
LOL Uncle Elvis going WOooOT WOooOt! and then crying over his tomatoes (okay that might be mean to laugh about that last one…..but LOL)
Oh yeaaah ByeBye Llama! I used to love the mascots in the Sims2 but there they are just MMmp%#@*nmpmkm ( and remaining polite ;P! )
Oooh new houseboat, guys, family, map……So much goooooodies …….Me and my cookies will stay tuned!!
Tedhi!!! You wrote a novella! *faint* So much fun to read! :-D Ooh, I bet it is fun on New Year’s Eve with all of that crazy foghorn noise! *lol* And how cool, I learned about péniches from Manu on our forum — they look so lovely!
LOL at your nieces’ reactions to seeing an aurora! Great tip about the BB fence, to use that instead of a stair railing along a slope! Brilliant! *clap*
Thanks for your comments, my dear! *hugs*
Your world looks amazing <3
And i laught many times while reading :D
Aww, thank you, Ani! :-D I’m glad you enjoyed my update!