Desert Mountains - Mini-save file (Part 2)
I thought I was close to done with this project, but I keep getting ideas I want to include. This is a small town, so it won't have everything, like a large fitness center or business building, but I wanted a bistro and used one of the upper spaces in the mall for it and made a roof-top dining area as well.
Also, what small down doesn't have a church?
I built a couple additional farms . . .
then decided it would be interesting to have the men from two farms be rival horsemen and dislike each other while their wives are friends with a lot of common interests and their teenage kids are crushing on each other. So I made the first sim with a couple traits in mind: family-oriented and equestrian, and randomized the rest.
As luck would have it, poor Ruben drew unlucky, loser, and good sense of humor. This gave me ideas for the rival Augustin. Here are the families I have for the town so far.
The Homestead - two bedroom farmhouse with barn for one horse, greenhouse, and orchard.
Home of Ruben, Hilary, Jolene and Kathy Roland. (The house above with the green barn and greenhouse.)
Ruben has always aspired to be a prize-winning equestrian, but will the fact that he’s a loser and unlucky get in his way? At least he has a great family and a good sense of humor to get him through life’s rough patches. If he can’t beat them all, he’d at least like to beat that snobby Augustin Lopez!
Hilary, like her husband Ruben, is a loser, but she does everything in her power to keep the family above water
by living a frugal, eco-friendly lifestyle and keeping a large garden and orchard to make sure the family eats well.
If only she could get a good night’s sleep!
Jolene is brave and smart, but easily distracted by the boy down the street. Hopefully Hector won’t ruin her plans
for college.
Kathy is the lucky one of the family and a dog’s best friend. Her family has just adopted a Corgi puppy named Chico, who is a smart little pup. Her father has also adopted Sonny, a lazy yet brave horse. Can he train Sonny up to be an award winning competitor?
The Chaparral - a two bedroom house with barn and stall for one horse. Lot includes an herb garden and
chicken coop. Home of Augustin, Maria, and Hector Lopez
Augustin is a bit conceited and loves to one-up his neighbor Ruben every chance he gets. Their “friendly
competition” in the horse area is legendary. Their wives find the whole thing silly, and while “the boys” revel
in their “pissing contests,” Maria and Hilary swap produce and gardening tips over a nice glass of wine while
Hector and Jolene rendezvous for a make-out session in the barn’s hay loft. Hector dreams of being a rodeo
cowboy. (Augustin pictured above.)
Maria Lopez, Augustin's long-suffering wife.
Hector Lopez, aspiring rodeo cowboy.
Augustin has recently purchased a registered horse named Soldier, who is reported to be fast, but untrained and having a nervous temperament.
The Culpepper Homestead, occupied by Elmer and Ben Culpepper.
After the passing of their wives, Elmer Culpepper and his brother Ben decided to live together in their old
childhood home. They don’t agree on much. It’s a wonder they can live under the same roof! But they do agree
on two things: 1) this town was a much nicer place before the criminal element moved in and invaded their
favorite fishing spot, and 2) Widow Williams is one fine-looking woman!
Elmer is artistic, neat, proper, shy, and an angler. He married Milly, who passed away a few years prior.
(I made the departed spouses ghosts and then sent them to the netherworld. I hoped to have their gravestones
placed in the graveyard, but every time I go to edit town and look at the graveyard, the stones aren't there and
are back in the family inventories, so I moved them to the personal inventories of their mates. They are showing
in the family tree as still married, so if the surviving spouses wish to move on, they will probably need to break
things off with their ghost spouses. This goes for Widow Williams as well as these "Old-timers.")
Ben is athletic, a slob, inappropriate, a party animal and an angler. He married Magnolia, who died from a bad jellybean.
The brothers have a dog named Wally, who is aggressive, destructive, and a hunter (though not trained yet.)
Widow Josie Williams, departed husband Joe, and Emily
Josie Hanson was childhood friends with Joe Williams, and Elmer and Ben Culpepper, but in high school it was Joe who won her heart. She loves gardening, but as she aged, she became less and less able to take care of the place. Joe, a former mechanic who worked at what is now the Pit Stop, passed away a few years ago.
Their granddaughter Emily, a recent college graduate with an education degree, has taken a teaching job at the local school and decided to move in and help Josie with her day to day needs. After all, that’s what being a family is all about.
Fancy Pants Estate
Recently purchased by Dr. Emory Baum for his wife Eleanor, a Desert Mountains native. This palatial estate is
ideal for entertaining and has lots of room to grow - should the need arise. There's a room waiting for daughter
Emily, should she decide she doesn't want to be her grandma's live-in help.
Eleanor, daughter of Joe and Josie Williams, met Emory in college and hooked her wagon to his star. Coming from a modest background, she has definitely married well. Her husband Emory is a successful doctor, but doesn't have a lot of time for her. Is her gilded cage enough to keep her happy? Emory hopes to have a happy wife and successful career. Is it possible to have both?
I went to take a picture of Eleanor for this installment, and she was on her way to the festival and appears to be in quite a snit! Maybe she's upset because Emory had to work and she had to go to the festival alone. 😏
Here's Dr. Emory Baum.
Dr. Ellen has recently moved from Barnacle Bay where she helped many townsfolk get their lives on track and wrote some self-help books: “Anger Management for Dummies,” “Good Grief: Dealing with Loss,” and “Warning Signs of Insanity.” She has now hung up her shingle in Desert Mountains and is ready to cure any psychological malady that comes her way.
The building where she lives has her offices on the lower level and her living quarters on her upper level. She sees clients by appointment (invites them over) and on occasion will throw an "open house" party (locking her private quarters off from the guests so they only have access to her office and reception area.) She is employed as a freelance writer and makes her money primarily from writing her self-help books based on her cases and clients (keeping their identities anonymous, of course!)
Anton is an aspiring photographer who, at least in my game took a job at the hospital. I think he really wants to be a lifeguard. (There are some opportunities for that as I added a couple small beach areas.) Anton loves the outdoors, has the photographer's eye, is good, neat, and friendly.
Guadalupe has existed in some of my previous games. I first encountered her as a babysitter, who stayed even after the parents came home. (The game was called "Toledo" - a build-a-city scenario.)
I decided she was a refugee from a war-torn country who got separated from her parents and ended up in the foster care system. After she aged out of foster care, a kindly widow whose kids had grown and moved away, offered her a room to rent. She stayed in Toledo for awhile then decided to make the move here. Her big dream is to have a family of her own. She is flirty, good, family oriented, a coward, and a kleptomaniac, which is a little awkward, because in my game, she autonomously joined the law enforcement career as a snitch.
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