Linden Homes

Linden Homes are basically starter communities for new/premium members. You get a small home, the prims of the home don't count towards your land max, and it comes along free with a premium account of $9.95 a month.

 "Linden Homes are provided to Premium Members. Upgrade today by clicking on the change membership link on secondlife.com."

MEADOWBROOK NEIGHBORHOOD

 Meadowbrook is the most popular. The homes are crisp and modern, big windows, large rooms.

 No one around. The areas are usually pretty quiet.

INTERIOR

"Enjoy clean, simple living in one of these California Modern style homes." - SL website

MEADOWBROOK GORGE

THE A-FRAMES (TAHOE)

The Tahoe homes are a-frames set in pine-studded parks.

"Escape to one of several rustic cabin retreats. Perfect for camping or an outdoorsy getaway." - SL website

 ELDERGLEN

These strange homes are fantasy based: treehouses, wizard throne rooms, and hobbit-style houses. Mushrooms all over the place. Looks like "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."

"Venture forth and behold several fantasy-themed dwellings designed to bring out the adventurer in you." - SL website

 SHARETA OSUMAI

The areas are oriental-themed with about 5 different styles to choose from. The homes don't have any windows and generally are one big room inside. 

"Surround yourself with peace, serenity and good fortune in one of several traditional Japanese-style homes." - SL website

My evaluation: If you want a few extra prim on starter land, and don't mind areas crowded with homes (but pretty private overall, rarely do I see anyone around. They're off doing other things) then it's a good deal. Comes free anyway, so unless you manage to find a nice 512m plot somewhere it does save you work and time. You can change the house location up to 5 times in 24 hours while shopping for one. My first suggestion would be to increase this, because I don't see much point in limiting it. You can't sell your land, and 5 is pretty limited if you're trying to check out all the options. Secondly they need to have community areas and activities. There's no common areas (with a couple exceptions) where people could meet up, rez temporarily, and have events. But it's a nice feature.

WINTER IN SECOND LIFE

Strangely missing this year, so far, is any sign or indication whatsoever that there will be an official Winterfest. This is a tradition since the early days. So, no one really knows what's going on there. In the meantime, I plug around the Grid, looking for some interesting Winter Activities.

I find Scrooge's place at:

NEW LONDON VILLAGE

Fantasy London themed Village community, includes The Doctor Who Zone, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, BT Tower & Travellers Rest Pub. Dr Who themed club, TARDIS,  Maldovarium.
England, British, Olympics, UK, NLS, Novatech, Dickens

Using the Destination Guide as my roadmap, I next teleport to AREA 51.

"Welcome on the Area 51  -  Christmas WinterLand.

Be welcome here! 
It's Christmas time! Time to party for the end of the year!
To this occasion, the Area offers you to discover the Christmas village through an amazing build that will take you away on the scent of your childhood through the magic of Christmas. "

AREA 51 

SANTA'S WORKSHOP

The workshop at Area 51 is quite busy..elves pounding nails and Santa overseeing it all.

ICE SKATING POND

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Next, I find a place called Dark Dharma's North Pole Village and Santa's Workshop.

DARK DHARMA'S

You're taken down a snowy, mysterious and quite beautiful path..falling snowflakes, twinkling lights..it's eerie at the same time, but beautiful.

Then, suddenly, around a bend..behold Santa's workshop straight ahead.

Mildly creepy elves dance silently around the Christmas tree.

Here's where all those pesky, begging letters come each year.

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If in the mood for Christmas shopping, you can find an extremely beautiful holiday shopping experience at

Visit Nuernberg

Experience the magic of the season at this traditional Bavarian Chirstmas Market in Nuernberg, Germany.

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WOLF MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT

VISIT WOLF MOUNTAIN

 SKI LIFT

At Wolf Mountain, you can find sledding, ice skating, and of course skiing.

CAFE AT THE TOP

At the rise of the skiing mountain, there is a little cafe.

Wolf Mountain also features: skiing,  honeymoon suite,Cabin rental, dancing, live music, horseback ride, swim,ice skating, snowboarding, weddings, horseback riding,  canoeing, Spa,Camping, massage, and a sauna.

Linden Realms

LINDEN REALMS

"An all-new game in Second Life! Enter a mysterious portal to transport to a whole new gaming area filled with challenging quests, hidden crystals, menacing crazy rock creatures and big adventures."

PORTAL DEGRAND INFO 

 In order to get to Linden Realms, you must find a portal. One such portal can be found at:

Click to visit Realm Portal

EXAMPLE OF A PORTAL-DEGRAND ENTRANCE

Go here if you really want to try it out. There's terrorists who stand around the portal and shove in hapless noobs =)

CARTOONY WORLD

 For Linden Realms, you are whisked through a portal and teleported to a new region. Once there, you receive a game hud and a guide named Tarah tells you to proceed to her workshop.

SCENERY

There is a machine there that crunches crytals together. You are sent on a quest to find and bring crystals. As you wander around, beware the rock monsters. They will chase you down, and if they catch you, you are teleported to a Resurrection Shrine and have to start over!

THIS ROCK ANIMAL WILL KILL YOU!

MAKE AND USE POTIONS/CRYSTALS

STRANGE MACHINES

DON'T GO IN THERE!

[18:21] Deadly Looking Water: You drowned in the toxic water !

RESSURRECTION CIRCLE

You can actually earn small amounts of linden dollars for playing: L$1 for 50 red crytals or 1 green crystal, L$2 for 50 yellow crytals or 1 blue crystal, and L$5 for 50 orange crystals.

Okay, So....Home?!?

You're going to think I went off my rocker, but I decided to purchase a home. I know! Crazy! Well, we all have our days. But I have a hard time going with the, um, ordinary....so I picked a place at The Wastelands.

This is a private community. It is post-apocalypse themed, and incredibly unique, a group of sims with roleplay and residential/business plots for sale.

http://www.the-wastelands.org/

A COW AND CHICKENS

You can also see my herb garden just in front.

MY NEIGHBORHOOD

From the Wastelands website:

"The Wastelands is the oldest and largest post-apocalyptic themed residential estate within Second Life.Here, you won't find clean and stylish homes, pristine and luxurious beaches, noisy dance clubs, tawdry sex palaces, or any of the glitz and glamor more common to Second Life. But in our parched deserts, rocky expanses, and rank swamps, you'll find beautifully ruined buildings, precarious shacks, and mysterious assemblages of abandoned material, most of it created by the people who live here. From hidden underground bunkers to teetering swamp huts on stilts, from burnt-out vehicles to nomad's tents, from helicopter concert stages to trap-ridden combat pits to ball courts to trade posts to working drive-in movie theaters, The Wastelands is filled with creative, detailed constructions."

ROCKY CLIFFS

These cliffs and the layout of the sims were what brought my attention to this particular space.

PENSIVE

No, my journey isn't over, by far. But time to have a place to call home and kick back when I wanna. I haven't yet decided on my role here, or my exact plans...but it will involve cows, chicken, herbs and magic.

NEIGHBOR'S CAVE

I don't mind at all having visitors, so if you want to come by and see my growing home & the amazing mass of the Wastelands, please do.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cape%20of%20Ruin/118/221/28

SOUTHERNMOST SNOW SIMS

INTERESTING BUILDING IN BRAGGIANI

 ADMUNSEN ROAD

I'm still alone on my journey for now, which is fine. Solitude is fun too! Eventually, I do hope to gather more vagabonds on the trip, like last time. If you missed it before, we had a group that travelled together, when online, camping along the way. Group members would simply join the tour in progress when they were logged in. Some days we travelled alone. It was a great time. I re-started the group today.

MORE SNOWMEN SHENANIGANS

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Piera%20Salino/236/223/86

HALLOWEEN IN SECOND LIFE

So let's go see what we can find!

MISSHAPEN HOUSE

Here is a build based on "Nightmare Before Christmas", the Tim Burton classic.

"Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween"

JACK & SALLY

Nicely done exhibit on a homestead sim, tres eerie.

VISIT HALLOWEEN TOWN

PENTAGON TRAP

I visited a place called Grimworx. They've got various Halloween trappings on sale. By trappings, I mean literally.....

IMPALED

Torture on a Wednesday morning, Allie's caught in Vlad's clutches...You walk in a door which suddenly slams shut behind you, & find the walls are closing in on you...

"HELLO, DANNY!"

"We have realistic interactive items for your haunted house, medieval dungeon, or gothic sim that are perfect for Halloween. We have traps, fog, spiders, bats, snakes, ghosts, & more. Owner: Grim Bracken"

VISIT GRIMWORX

HAUNTED HOUSE

Adventure Isle features a landing in a pool of blood. You must find your way out to see the rest....accompanied by the eerie music from "Nightmare on Elm Street"...

THE PARLOR

"A taste of Hell in Second Life.   Come and wonder around the haunted house.  Try to escape the spooky corn maze.  Much to explore.  Visit Club Paradise, an awesome Gothic style hangout where friends gather during a full moon."

POLTERGEIST-LADEN KITCHEN

I'll give a fair warning that if you don't like being startled (sudden noises, things jumping out at you or suddenly happening), then naturally you probably know to avoid Halloween exhibits, real or virtual....

ILL FORTUNE

If you're brave enough to venture upstairs, there's a fortune telling room (more poltergeists) & accompanied by creepy sounds. A child cries, a woman gasps, insects hover...

RUSSIAN ROULETTE VICTIM

He's seen better days!

VISIT ADVENTURE ISLE
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 SWAMP SHACK
This is the landing point for my next stop.
"Bewitched -- Haunted Dark Forest"

 HAUNTED POND
"Wander and explore this dark, foreboding landscape formerly known as Bentham Forest.  Created by Andrek Lowell, integrated works by Lauren Bentham."

THE TREES HAVE EYES
Betham Forest is a well-known, well-loved Second Life landmark.
"Many moons ago, Bentham Forest was a magical woodland shelter where faes, elves and other wonderous creatures once frolicked and played harmoneously. Then one day a great famine befell the once happy and lively forest. This famine killed off nearly all of the magical beings EXCEPT for a few of each kind.The remaining inhabitants slowly dwindled as they packed up and left, hoping one day to return and recolonize the now dark , foreboding landsape that is Bentham Forest."--Betham Forest Promotional Video
WATCH THE AWESOME PROMOTIONAL VIDEO!

 BENTHAM TREE
I've seen these trees around SL before, so they're apparently for sale, tho this is my first visit to the famous woods.
WATCH ANOTHER VIDEO ON BETHAM FOREST

 GLOWING UNDERGROWTH
The scenery in many spots is almost more beautiful than eerie. Or somehow it manages to invoke both, at once.

 EVER FEEL...WATCHED?
The hills...wait! The bushes have eyes!!!

SHROOM MAN
There are quests around the sim. Shroom man says:
"HAH, Puny thing, If I had not already eaten my fill, I would make short work of you! What makes you think you can just wander around my lands without an invitation? Perhaps I can ensure your safety...IF, you complete a task for me.Around my lands you will find a large assortment of mushrooms, but there are 3 specific mushrooms which are rare, and would serve to further my own ends. Find me yellow mushrooms, they thrive on wood forgotten by time."

MUSHROOM GARDEN
I don't think I'd dare to eat anything along this path. Is that glow nuclear?

"ELDER SHROOM"
"This dark, foreboding, and haunted forest is perfect for a Halloween stroll. An eerie soundtrack plays as the crickets chime and the fireflies hover around you. Watch out for the giant toadstools, and are those really faces staring out at you from the trees?"-From the SL website

SERIOUSLY?
Yes! I'm seriously going to camp here! No, nothing will happen, don't be silly. It's only virtual life! Thanks for worrying about me....but really....I've even got these two friends along with me..See, here they are:

VISIT THE HAUNTED FOREST