Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Yosemite


By Gemma Cleanslate

After the hustle of the SL13B and the frenzy of the Relay for Life weekend I really needed some peace and quiet and went off to visit Yosemite, a place I had not been before. I met the owner and creator, Jadyn Firehawk, at the SL3B where she was working on the build for the Ethnographia project .
 
I was glad to see open spaces with trees and meadows brimming with flowers and jumped on my horse to take a look around the Yosemite Valley, Forever Wild.  The mountains reached to the sky as they do in the real Yosemite National Park in the USA. Tall pines and rocks dot the area and next to passed by  the home of Jadyn who dearly loves the real Yosemite.

Nearby I arrived at the Bluefield Wildflower Meadows , a delight to the eye and a nice place to relax or dance. Further along I came to the Shinzen Japanese garden. "Shinzen" means goodwill or friendship. A peaceful place for solitude and relaxation. Cuddles, Intan dance balls, hidden lovers' areas. A gorgeous romantic park. Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself." This is a very lovely area with bridges over the small streams along paths that pass a variety of cherry tress of different colors and stands of bamboo and Japanese open home to visit. I stopped in at one and found a wonderful laughing Buddha.  Wind chimes songs filled the air around the house and across the way I found a charming tea house where one can enjoy sushi. Past that on my ride I found a meditation Pavilion.  At the corner of the gardens there is a Japanese Village that has Maganda houses for rent.

I returned to the main entrance in Forever Wild. Here there is a teleport station that will take you to all the places I visited on horseback if you want to take that way, but there are many more places to visit. A lovely place to hang out with a friend is Little Yosemite Valley and the teleport will take you there. Take a hike up the mountains to Tolumne Meadows or to Glacier Point or ride your horse up the incline. It is a place for hiking or again there are nooks and crannies with resting or picnic places.

My next stop took me to The Glass House. Be sure to see this because it is a house that you can pick up for free when you land at the Maganda homes. I wish I had a place to put it!! It is lovely. Wander that area in case you are in the market for a new house. I saw some very nice ones there for sale, including the tea house.

The Maganda Arts is located at this level. The name comes from Jadyn’s birthplace, the Phillippines.  On the second floor there are boxes of tips for building from the Builders Brewery that you can pick up for free in case you would like to build your own home. Also on the second floor you will find the Maganda cafĂ© to sit and have more sushi or a Filipino dessert. I saw some lovely art pieces on the wall as well as furniture and gorgeous room dividers.

 From the store I wandered into the Little Yosemite Art Forest. Here, Jadyn has installed several of her marvelous art pieces, some of which are interactive so don’t miss them. There are pieces made for various exhibits and competitions on display. I loved wandering around that area. and there are some gifts hidden in one of the interactive pieces. Have fun finding them.

I happily ran intoJadyn  and she told me she has had three parks on the sim since November and she said, “When I first came to Yosemite sim, it was just on one 4096 parcel that came available my dream has always been a Yosemite National Park in SL . Little by little I acquired more parcels as they became available. I added Little Yosemite Valley, as a skybox surround, as soon as i had four 4096's.” 
The National Park has been in place since July 2 when she acquired the entire region and she is thrilled to finally have brought it into the sim. While we were talking Jadyn was busily working on a new area called John Muir’s Camp Ground. It is now open and  will be a lovely addition to the region as she adds to it. Go for a picnic and you can rezz for limited time and enjoy it all. All you need is 1 L.  Check the guide you can pick up at the entrance that will keep you up to date with all the sites to see. This is still a work in progress so watch for more. Jadyn says to all, “Bring your friends, and happy exploring!” 

Gemma Cleanslate

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