Well, I am still at Chamonix City. I am done with trying out the activities here. There are lots of things to see. First I decided to take a walk through the center park area. There was a frozen pond where I could have skated, but I was too tired and sore from my ski jump fall. I noticed some nice reindeer made from wood. They had a log as the body and head with sticks for the legs and antlers.
As I continued walking through the park, I was startled by Woolly Mammoth. This was a massive beast and would be a site to see them roaming the Arctic plains if they were not extinct.
Woolly Mammoth in Second Life
Artistic rendition of the Woolly Mammoth
When I was finished walking through the park, I entered a building that had some historic photographs from Chamonix City. The first one I really liked was the one of the first professional hockey team that played here. Below is a picture of their team.
The first pro hockey team at CC
The next one that caught my eye was a photograph of the early days of Chamonix City. It has an absolutely majestic view of their outdoor hockey rink that is still in use today. Behind the hockey rink is the mountain that will eventually used for skiing and the ski jump.
Chamonix City, the early days
I decided to visit the hockey hall of fame here. One of the places that I want to visit in real life is the NHL hockey hall of fame. As I walked through, there were numerous plaques on the walls that enshrined the most outstanding players at each position. I did not recognize any of the players on the walls here.
Hall of Fame
League MVP
As you can see by my two posts, there is so much to do here. If you are the athletic type and like winter sports, you would absolutely love this place. If not, you can still stop by and enjoy the outdoor park or even catch a hockey game. Make sure you check your schedule for dates and times of upcoming games. I definitely give this place two thumbs up, it’s a true winter wonderland!!
Today I wanted to try out an activity. I looked for a place where I could play sports. I found Chamonix City. They had a billboard listing all the activities that I could participate in while I am visiting.
Chamonix City Welcome Center
I decided to give ice hockey a shot. They had step by step instructions on how to get the hockey gear for free and how to equip it to your avatar. I clicked on the equipment rack and waited for the gear to be delivered. Equipping the equipment was a little tricky because when I equipped it, it placed the hockey gear over my current clothing. So I had to go use the inventory to remove the parts of my clothing that was conflicting with my hockey gear.
Hockey gear instructions
Ready to go
The hockey gear came with instructions on how to play. They were helpful however I could not figure out how to get a puck. I looked all over and did not find one. So I stepped out on the ice and decided to just skate around. I drove towards the net like I was a member of my favorite team, the Philadelphia Flyers. He shoots, he scores!!!
I'm a superstar
I left the ice rink in search of something else to do. I wandered over to the ski mountain and took the lift to the top. I tried the ski jump over plain skiing because if you remember, I love danger. I sat at the top of the ski jump and was ready go.
Here goes nothing...
I thought this would be a piece of cake, but I was mistaken. I took a hard fall and had a terrible score. I guess I don’t have a chance to make the Olympic team for the ski jump.
Such a graceful landing
I had a lot of fun trying the activities. They are a little tough to get used to with the interface. They are not as fluid as an actual computer game or even a console game. It was a good experience though. I’m going to split this into two posts because this location has lots to do and lots to see. Stay tuned for my next post!
I have come to the reality that I will never get to actually see the inside of the Oval Office. I have seen pictures of it but using Second Life; I thought it would give me a chance to see the inside of the president’s office. The first thing that caught my eye was the president’s desk. I could feel the power emanating from the desk. Imagine the immense pressure put on the president in this very spot and the incredibly difficult decisions he has to make. I decided to take a seat in his chair; I even put on my best suit and thought to myself “I would have made a great president!”
The call me El Presidente
Looking around, I noticed paintings of President Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, as well as other pieces of art from various time in American history. One thing that I found quite funny is a particular book that I found on the bookshelf. Its title was “How to be a President for Dummies.” It pokes humor at our presidents because sometimes it seems as if they have no idea what they are doing.
Notice the Book, hmmm
As I continued around the Oval office, I found what looked like a hidden door. Now I have heard about hidden doors, trap door, underground tunnels in the White house. I walked up to the suspicious part in the wall and pressed on a little button. The door opened up I peeked in. There was the Presidential Seal on the wall. There was also a picture on the wall that gave the impression of a tunnel leading to other rooms. It was obviously false but you could imagine how difficult it would be to recreate this in here.
Hidden Door
Presidential Seal
As I closed the false door, I decided to relax for a bit on the nice plush couches. While I was trying to sit on the couch, and because of the difficulty in controlling the avatar sometimes, I found myself standing on the president’s couch. I really tried hard to get positioned right so i cold sit, but it just wasn't working for me.
The President's Couch
This reminded me of a scene from the popular comedy show “The Dave Chappell Show” where Rick James was messing up this Eddie Murphy’s new white couch. Check it out below!
*** This video may contain offensive language***
Now believe me when I say this, I did not mess up the President’s couch, I swear! Anyway, something happened that has not happened to me yet in this virtual world, I encountered some other people. While I was SITTING on the couch, three people came in and started to role play. One person sat in the president’s chair while the other two stood in front of his desk. They were acting like they were discussing important matters that pertained to national security. I watched for a while because it was quite humorous. I joined in but i was told that interns are to be seen and not heard. That was a little bit harsh but, I was OK with it, just knowing that I wasn’t alone was enough to make my day!
For my next part of my journey, I used the search feature from the Second Life (SL) website. I chose to browse the “Real Life” section. I found Folsom Island where they had the Statue of Liberty. I have visited the Statue of Liberty when I was a child so I figured this would be a chance to compare a real life (RL) location to a replica in the virtual world.
The REAL Statue of Liberty
Prize wheel
I was pleasantly surprised a how accurately the statue in SL was compared to RL. All of her features are correct, even down to the base that she is standing on. However, that is as far as the similarities go. Nothing in any virtual world will ever rival her beauty in RL, she is indeed a goddess. I continued to look around the island and found there to be a lot of activities around. I saw batting cages, a skydiving rig, and this prize wheel. I stepped right up and give it a spin, kind of like I was on the “Price is Right”. The wheel spun and when it had stopped, I had won 2L$. SWEET!!
As I walked out of the building, I saw that it led to some wilderness. I noticed a sign saying “No peeing off the Porch!” which I found to be quite humorous.
Funny Sign!
I made my way through the woods and came to a campsite. There was a fire still burning and I had hoped that I would have met someone here but I was alone out here.
Of the three places I have been, I have not seen a single person. I am beginning to wonder where everyone hides in this virtual world. I saw a mountain through the trees and decided to hike up to the top to get a view of the island. As I started to get near a clearing, I stumbled upon a hidden secret on this island.
Mount Rushmore in Second Life
I had come across another one of our nation’s treasures, Mount Rushmore. Just like the Statue of Liberty, this was another stunning replica. The president’s faces were accurately portrayed and they were, for the most part, facing in the right direction.
The REAL Mount Rushmore
If you want take a tour of two of Americas most iconic landmarks, this is definitely the place to go. I came here only thinking I was going to see the Statue of Liberty and I discovered on my own Mount Rushmore. I am still a little confused on where are all the other people in this game. Usually, these landmarks become a tourist spot, but not here. I’m beginning to wonder I am all alone in this virtual world….
I’ve always been sort of an adrenaline junkie. I always push myself to the limit. It was only fitting that I take a trip to the Abbotts Aerodrome. I could live at a place like this. When I arrived at the aerodrome, there was a nice welcome sign and map there to greet me. It laid out all of the attractions and neatly numbered them for me.
Abbotts Aerodrome Welcome
Terra CTH-200 Helicopter
I decided to head right down to the tarmac. They had rows of the most technologically-advanced aircraft. I first started by browsing the Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft. These are a sort of hybrid aircraft combining the forward flight of an airplane with the vertical capabilities of a helicopter. As I walked further down the runway, I noticed that most of them were for sale. Sadly, I forgot to bring my checkbook.
Next I came to the helicopter area. I noticed that one of the helicopters looked a lot like the Bell Huey helicopter which became famous in the TV series MASH. They had an information card that gave me details on performance and customization options.
At the end of the runway I came to the hanger. It was set up like a museum. The exhibit was set up by advances in aircraft technology. First were the human powered flight, then bi-planes of World War I, then turbo powered planes and jet, and then variants of personal aircraft. This reminds me of the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles, VA.
Abbotts Aerodrome hanger display
I have recently discovered a hobby that will finally satisfy my need for speed, Skydiving. The Abbotts Aerodrome had a functional skydiving setup that anyone can try. It appeared to be more of a daredevil setup than anything. I strapped myself into the chair and dialed in the altitude I wanted to start my freefall. In this case I chose 5280 feet (which is a mile). The chair had some sort of a rocket on it because it shot me into the sky reaching speeds of 400 miles per hour. Once at the top I began my freefall. It was the most amazing experience. I was on top of the world (literally) with me and my new friend Newton. I did manage to snap a few pictures and even get a video to savor my first skydive.
skydiving
Check out this video of my first skydive!
On my way out, I stopped at the gift shop. They had all sorts of skydiving and piloting equipment. There was one thing that I found intriguing. It was called a “wing suit”. It’s a new way to controlling your free fall like a soaring bird. The salesman was nice enough to give me this nice brochure. Id like to try this out next time i visit!
Wing suit
I would highly recommend that you visit this location. There is lots to see and many more things to do. I did not get to take a ride on the blimp and airship they had. It also has a working runway where planes were coming and going throughout the day. I had a blast getting to skydive for the first time. If you have skydiving on your "bucket list" this is your place!!
The first place off the list that caught my eyes was the Sci-Fi Geeks Museum. I do consider myself a “geek” and I love science fiction. So I teleport to the location and I get a nice view of the facade of the museum.
Sci-Fi Geeks Museum
I flew around the building and it was huge, I was sure that this would have many exhibits that would take up a lot of time. As I entered the building, I immediately came to the theater. Today’s movie was the trailer for the sci-fi flick “CLOVERFIELD”. Much to my dismay, the doors were locked to the theater so I could not get inside to catch the trailer. I walked around and noticed that most of the walls in the hallway were bare like maybe it was not finished yet or it has been abandoned. When I get upstairs, I notice a whole wall of movie posters from popular science fiction movies. They had a very good selection, most of them I have seen and even a few of them are my all-time favorites.
Movie Posters
Right across the hall was the Sci-Fi Museum Main Computer ready. This was futuristic holo deck that uses a control panel to select a popular scene from a sci-fi movie. Once I pressed the “start” button, the scene appeared in the holo deck. I could walk around the scene and the objects appeared absolutely real. I scrolled through the choices of scenes and decided my favorite was from the movie ALIENS. The scene consisted of two of the aliens and a mobile vehicle behind them. The walls and floor were covered in alien organic matter, just like in the movie near the alien’s nest. This was by far the highlight of my visit to the museum.
ALIENS scene
I left this part of the museum and walked around some more. I came to the only other exhibit. It was an exact replica of the transporter from Star Trek. I read the sign next to it and it would transport me to the Klingon ship Bird of Prey. I stepped into the teleporter and gave my best Captain Kirk impersonation by saying “Scotty, beam me up!” The ship was not too big and wasn’t much to look at.
As I flew away from this place, one last thing caught my eye. It was the transporter from Stargate.
Stargate transporter in Second Life
Actual Stargate transporter
It was amazing how the center was lit up. I tried to walk into it but was not functional. I was hoping that this would transport me to some far off civilization on a distant planet for the next part of my journey. Ahh, that’s ok, I will just have to discover it on my own!
I wanted to give a brief introduction before I embark on my journey in Second Life. Having been my first time in Second Life, I was a little unsure where to go. So I did a Google search for the best places to visit. I plan on picking a few locations off of this list until I get familiar with the world and how to use the search feature. This list may contain some hidden gems that I may have otherwise overlooked. I hope to visit places that share my real-life interests. It would also be cool to also visit some places in Second Life that I have also been to in real live and then compare the two. I don’t want to get my expectations too high as I realize this a virtual world that has limitations. I also hope to meet some people in game, maybe even make a friend or two. After all, this is a virtual world where users can interact with other users. Well, that is all I have to write for now, I am very anxious to get my journey started!
