April Road Trip: Visiting the Neighbors

Location: Wellington Road
Soundtrack: Bryan Ferry

I've tired of paying Linden Lab $5 a month for land I seldom use. Not finding any willing buyers for my 1024 sq. meter Hillbilly encampment, I abandoned the land and set out to purchase a little 512 plot that would cost me nothing per month.

Soon I spotted just the place: a parcel bordering one of the Linden highways. At only 1500 Linden dollars, I snapped it up. It's along the Wellington Road, a cobbled and quaint roadway that passes through lots of protected land: forests, hills, ocean vistas. A good deal of it is straightaway, just the thing for going as fast in a virtual vehicle as I possibly can go.


Once I had put down my cash, I decided that it would be time to make a trip on the highway to see what my neighbors were doing. Besides, I wanted to drive one last time before I upgrade my viewer to Second Life 2 and Linden Lab brings in the Havok 6 physics engine, which may result in vehicles I'll no longer be able to drive, until my new MacBook Pro arrives in June.

Mostly, it was a lonely and empty road, punctuated by pleas not to abandon our mainland parcels but to sell them instead.

I left the map window open, searching for dots. Soon I found a bunch around RockinRob Rassir--he'd gotten his Elvis on that the Memphis Blues Club in Molesworth Sim. I dropped him a tip, then IMed him that I'd stop in but I was "just a lonely boy on the lost highway driving by on my monthly road-trip."

This shout-out is for you, King of Rock and Roll, from me, King of the Fake Road.

I went back to confirm the SLURL and found "Elvis Park" (hint, check for the pink Cadillac). You'll find Sun Records, Elvis' birthplace from Tupelo, and of course the facade of Graceland.

It's good fun, even if I'm more a glam and punk guy. Without Elvis, and his hair, Bryan Ferry would never have existed.


I got to a place on my journey where the Lindens had not finished their road-work. Well, the road-cut was in place. Road-trip rule of the month: don't let the end of the road stop you.

This worked great until I crashed into a very odd place in Blackmont. The "about land" feature told me it is the home of Alyx Sands. I'm still trying to figure out what the purpose of the area might be. It seems to combine a meeting hall, outdoor church, and tomb-stone-like slabs that, when clicked, provide first pages of classic works of literature long in the public domain. Toss in a a hookah bar, cuddle spots for amorous avatars, and a grand entrance reading "The Anglo-Saxon Rabbit Hole: A Place of Teaching and Learning With Regard to Language."

Just the sort of inscrutable location that makes SL so delightful. Go have a look yourself.

Crazy neighbors: I love them in real life. I'm glad they are in my virtual life also. And the Wellington Road connects to lots of other byways.


Next trip: Havok 6. Let's see what the physics next month do for me.