Author: Inara Pey

As I noted back in 2018, America’s historic Route 66 has been a popular theme for Second Life region designs over the years. In fact I made the observation about Motorheadz Café / Route66, designed by ROCKET (Rocket Biedermann) – see Another trip on Route 66 in Second Life.

Another popular Route 66 destination from around that time was Mother Road by Paul Cutter (Xtreme Paule) – see Get Your Pics on Route 66 In Second Life – and which today has grown to three regions in size (marking itself for a potential re-visit on my part).

I mention both of these settings, as I was immediately reminded of them on arriving at Cherishville – Summer, the 2025 summer iteration of Lam Erin’s Cherishville setting, which offers another take on the Route – and with its own twist.

The road runs east-to-west across a desert-like setting, complete with sandy hills forming a surround on three sides, and mesas breaking up the landscape. Some of the latter are places to give the impression the road winds through them as it leaves the region at either end.

Bordering the ribbon of tarmac is an assortment of locations that tend to typically inhabit these roadside scenes: petrol (gas) stations, diners, a motel, and so on. A second road exits the main thoroughfare at 90-degrres, providing access to a run-down drive-in theatre, passing a rag-tag circus-come-carnival along the way. How safe the latter is to visit is hard to say: two large African elephants and a tiger seem to have the run of the place.

A smaller sign at the junction of the two road hints at the setting’s little secret. Whilst the main road and its surroundings suggest somewhere deep in the desert, tucked behind the mesa running along the south-west edge of the landscape sits a coastal scene which – for me – totally transforms the design.

In contrast to the drabness of the main road and its tired, grimly gas stations and diners, this coastal scene is gaily vibrant in its colours. An open market is filled with fresh fruits; a street café and coffee house offers refreshments, cakes and pastries; pizzas can be enjoyed at the local pizzeria; brightly painted mobile vendors…

The beach might be slightly grassy in places, but there is enough clear sand to be enjoyed underfoot, the waters appear inviting enough for swimmers and surfers, while the entire scene has a sense of bean popular place to visit for those in the know.

I admit that I found the default EEP settings for the region to be a little murky – although they are well in keeping with the general sense of tiredness the main road and its surroundings exude. So for the pictures included here, I opted to make a few adjustment with cloud cover, brightness and ambient lighting.

There are a few oddities within the setting which, while small, are the kind that once seen, cannot be unseen – such as the stack of wooden chairs embedded in the chest of one of the elephants. However, whilst these do draw the eyes when seen up close, they do not interfere with the overall theme and look of the region as a whole.

I noted last time around that recent iterations of Cherishville have followed more-or-less the same broad design of a small town environment, viewing them through seasonal changes. This iteration therefore offers a significant change from the last few iterations, one that largely works and offers plenty to see and explore.

SLurl Details

• Cherishville – Summer (Tuscan Hills, rated Moderate)

It’s been just four months since my last visit to Reality Escape, the Full private region held by Tripty (triptychlysl). It’s a place I appreciated at the time (as noted in A Reality Escape in Second Life), both for its own beauty and for the way it carried forward themes and elements found in Tripty’s earlier build, Books, Coffee and Chairs, Oh My! which I’d visited in 2023. So when Tripty dropped an invite on me to come visit the latest iteration of the setting, I was only too happy to accept.

Tripty’s region builds are always somewhat personal to her, something made gently clear by a sign waiting to be found within the landscape: WARNING You Are About To Enter Someone Else’s Dream. However, it’s a dream that likely resonates with  anyone visiting the setting, allowing Reality Escape to live up to its name: a place we can all visit and experience a season of escape and indulge in a little dreaming of our own.

As with its previous iteration, this version of Reality Escape once again embraces three comforts I always appreciate: coffee, chairs and books; it also embraces some familiar motifs echoing Tripty’s past builds.

The Landing Point sits to the west of the setting, where wooden decks, complete and partially complete, all standing at the water’s edge with those that are complete offering outdoor seating from the Reality Escape coffee house. From here, the island offers a west-east orientation, with a smaller island to its eastern extent and two very small isles lying just off the coast, one of which lies between Reality Escape and Tripty’s private home and workspace within the adjoining region.

A number of routes of exploration are available from the Landing Point. For example, you can go through the café and the arch of rock beyond it to ravel along the middle of the main island; or you can take the path on the left side of the café as it offers access to paths on the island’s north side and along its coast. Or you can veer to the right of the coffee house and either head down to a small meadow and pond sitting on a little headland, or take another path rising up towards the island’s middle, or follow that path part way up the island and then turn aside to follow the trail and decks offering views and a walks along the southern coast.

What matters here is not the path you take, but the time you take in exploring; while the island might be comparatively small, it is rich in detail, large and small. Some of the obvious locations are sure to attract the eye and camera. One of these are the decks reaching out over the southern waters with their intervening chair bridges, and chair tower and arch – the latter offering a memory of both the setting’s previous iteration and that of Books, Coffee and Chairs, Oh My without imitating either.

Balancing this on the north side of the island is what I think is Reality Escape’s most engaging feature within this iteration. It is here that a slender finger extends out from the island proper, wetlands and shallows at its feet, its sides hanging with ivy and railings along its top marking the route of a path along its back.

Only this is no rocky promontory. Instead, it comprises a series of giant books either stacked up or standing upright or on their edges (allowing their spines to act as the walkway). Thy overlook more giant books floating on the water below, their pages open, together with the words Knowledge Is Power – a valuable admonition is this age where ignorance or falsity are increasingly valued over knowledge, experience and expertise.

With swings and sit points, this promontory is both imaginative and attractive. It is also braced by two more features. To the west of it, and looking like a great flat shelf of rock, lies another giant book its cover festooned with grass and more ivy hanging down from it. Sitting on it is a table set for a tea party and seemingly just missing a certain chap in a hat, a March hare, a dormouse and their guest. To its eastern side, wooden decks and steps descend the cliffs beyond to reach the wetlands whilst offering places to sit of their own.

The smaller details come in many forms and are all-encompassing. From the natural beauty of the setting with its burst of flowers and colour, to the presence of the cats and rabbits keeping an eye on things and the signage to be found scattered around, through the bees busily collecting pollen, these little touch add so much sense of life to the setting. I also liked the little touches of humour, such as the seagull cadging a ride rather than flying himself, or the stone Tibetan monks, one of whom is clutching a curious choice of book…

The little island to the east is neatly linked to the main isle by the hollowed-out trunk of a giant sequoia tree. This bridges the waters between the two, meaning there is no need to get wet feet when moving between them. Small it might be, but with its pond, garden and open-fronted pavilion (where fortune readings can be obtained), it has an attractiveness entirely of its own whilst also fully in keeping with the rest of the setting.

Throughout all of this are multiple places to sit and pass the time. These come in many forms, while most of the chairs in the region offer artistic statements (such as those mentioned above) more than presenting a place to sit. Which is not to say they cannot be sit upon; I enjoyed a latte whilst sitting amidst one chair tower!

As noted, this iteration of Reality Escape might appear small, but it packs a lot into it – more than I’ve described here. As such, I not only suggest you go see it for yourself, but that you allow time to explore all its trails and paths, nooks and crannies and allow the islands and their accompanying sound scape smooth away worries and concerns.

My thanks to Tripty for the invitation to re-visit!

SLurl Details

• Reality Escape, rated Adult