Back in the old days, before my time, and before you could teleport pretty much anywhere you wanted, roads and telehubs were an important part of how people got around in Second Life. Linden Lab set aside protected land and constructed roads, along which people built businesses, attractions, and homes. Curbside appeal mattered in a relatively small world.
As part of my exploration of the older parts of mainland Second Life, I picked a road across the bay from Clementina and started on a journey to see what I could see, and maybe find some more well-preserved Second Life artifacts. I began my trip in Noyo.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Noyo/89/179/41
Before I even got in my car I found something interesting. It’s the Spook House, a “scary” ride that claims to be the oldest in Second Life. It is cheesy, silly, and shows it’s age, but for L$10 it’s still kind of fun.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Noyo/79/191/65
Once on the road, I didn’t get too far because I saw a beautiful forest to my left. This was the Forest of Kahruvel, created by Salazar Jack as a recreation of a forest from what I guess was the beta grid. (Someone who has been around longer than me will have to fill me in on an event he calls “The Great Erase”). It’s a lovely, wild place to wander, full of little surprises. In a lookout post I found a notecard by Jack from 2004 that explained it all.
When my family and I returned here earlier this year, courtesy of the Lindens’ Second Life technology, I made it my mission to restore the great forest that used to stretch from Abbotts to Bolinas and south to Mavericks. I started replanting trees in Rodeo close to my great grandpa’s lookout that I rebuilt on land Shantilly Lily sold me.
The Lindens had named that section “Rodeo” when they extended The Grid to include it. It made sense for me at the time to name the forest the same. Since then, a lot has happened. The forest has grown much larger and now extends deep into parts of Stinson and Cowell. The combined forested area now measures over 75,000 sq. m.
I love how they terraformed land to look wild in those days, and seemingly built bridges and elevated roads to deal with the terrain. Of course, it was probably planned and designed this way before the region was even turned on. Still, in a world where most of what you see is saleable flat land (“Good for building!”) it’s nice to see a more natural landscape.
It’s an old costume store with old models! The costumes don’t look all that bad, considering.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bodega/206/89/40
Public works like this bridge showed people the potential of what could be done. I’m sure if that was the intent, but it still looks good, even today.
Watch yourself when driving into the Limantour region. The parcel at the border was full, meaning my car couldn’t enter the region, and the resulting bounce was akin to an orbiting. I was literally at 10,000 feet and flying at very high speed across continents and oceans. Luckily when I stood up to exit the car, it put me right back at the border of the region. I don’t know where my car ended up (luckily it was set to copy). It hasn’t autoreturned yet. Maybe this is why you find garbage hovering randomly in the air sometimes.
In Limantour I found a build by Blue Linden, the remnants of the original Cornfield (where Linden Lab sends people when they’re bad). There’s a new cornfield someplace, but you can’t get in (unless you’re bad, of course). Hopefully this is as close I ever get.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Limantour/1/188/30
Finally, I found a miniature recreation of Linden Street, the real-life place from which the company gets its name. This appears to be part of a larger experiment in creating miniature versions of real life places, the remnants of which are nearby.
As you can see, I didn’t have to go very far to find entertainment. Are you bored? Get in your car and drive on the mainland. You’ll find something to smile about.
Posted by Garth Goode 
