The Winding River Project

[cubby420]

KoV: the first electronic computers were created in the 1940s.

Interesting developments. My money's on an easily explained anomaly created by light reflecting off of an experimental high altitude government weather balloon.    

...or so I'm told...

[canyonjumper]

Looking forward to the update! I have no idea what that is

             -Jordan

[mrbisonm]

Geeez, I wasn't able to make it and upload the next update this weekend, sorry. I had to finish my GRV Challenge 7 first and now I am preparing the judging for it.
I guess I will have to report this update to a later date this week, hopefully before the month is over.

nedalezz, don't get killed by the drama yet, there's still a lot more to come..... You say aliens and/or something supernatural?...Hmmmmm, good reasoning though.

jmyers2043, Yap some good active imagination there.....lol Glad to see you here again.

Cyclone1001 , If I were you, I wouldn't bet on photoshop, because let me tell you this: I don't know why it is in this specific city or how it came to be l;ike this, but the lightring around the corner of the city tile couldn't be more real. There's no photoshopping there, nor any other logical explanantion why it is there and what it is. To me this is simply a coincidence, because I myself can't explain it, it is a mystery just my lightenings that occured near electrical cabling or powerplants. Simply not explainable.
Funny or strange though that it happened right in this citytile where I am planning the mysterious armybase......lol.


KoV Liberty, A lot of good logical explanations here, but I don't know about the aircraft theory, even if there's an underground hangar.

cubby420, Who told you about the weatherbaloon?.... 

See you all later this week. Thanks for reading, and posting

Fred

canyonjumper, one day it will be reveiled I guess....

[mightygoose]

so its a light based phenomenon, ball lightning>?

[Battlecat]

Very strange stuff going on!  Nice couple of updates!

[cubby420]

...a little birdie told me...

[KoV Liberty]

@Cubby: I meant  a computer that inst the size of a warehouse or something.

Btw Fred, I might not be on much until Tuesday because my Internet is out (I'm on a phone right now ).

Alex

[mrbisonm]

Btw Fred, I might not be on much until Tuesday because my Internet is out (I'm on a phone right now ).

Alex

No prob Alex, you don't have to tell me. I see who is around and not and not being here for a week or two or even more, does not mean I will abandon Alex Puto that fast. Good luck with the Internet.

Fred

[jmyers2043]

I see who is around and not

  should I be worried?

[mrbisonm]

  should I be worried?

lol....you got a reason to be?.....lol

[frostwolf]

Whatever that glowing thing is, it seems to be important enough to build a road out to it from the army base. Apparently, someone's really interested in it.

[KoV Liberty]

Well, it seems the construction company screwed up the wiring. I have Internet! Lol.

Alex

[mrbisonm]

Update 51   June 1965



Let's talk about farming a little bit in this update.

We know that farmland has been inexpensive in the Access area and in almost all the valley. The Government even offers very low interest long term subsidy loans for the young farmers who are willing to spend their lifes as farmers in this fertile valley. This had a substancial influence on the developments of farming in the last five years. We haven't seen it grow because we have been busy looking at downtown Access ' growth and changes and other things, plus we have kept our eyes and ears in West River on the armybase, but the region is actually being invaded by famrlands since the last few years.
Below you can see the difference on an aerial picture between 1960 and today, 1965, and not only a difference with farming but also the town, the way it has spred in all four directions.

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Only one really knew what was going on. TS Slye, the man that buys all the logs that come from the clearing of lands being transformed for farming. He's been buying and buying ever since without saying anything to anyone. Maybe he thinks it wasn't important to talk about.
This is what John and his father Henry Gabber all of sudden realized driving on the way from their cottage in Grasslake to Access. Farms and farms and farms it seems alongside the Grasslake and Access road.

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««" What happened?" father Henry asks all of sudden John who was driving the pickup to the town. "Where did all those farms come from, geeez?"
" I know Dad, I have seen all the changes in the last two years or so but never really bothered with it. They grow like mushrooms. The pilot, you know that Gibson fellow I talked about last week, he told me the other day that he drove to Lakestead on the access road west and that farms there actually have been totally taking over the landscape. Forest are considered as a rarity. He said that all those forests that were on the Access Heights are literally gone and only small landstripes still have trees on the flats. You can see it even better by plane. But since I lost Rusty Rover in the lake the other day, I haven't flown"
"Where did all that wood go to?" Henry asks again.
"Well I know that Slye must has bought a good part of it, the army is eating up a lot of it lately  too and all the other went probably directly to Lakestead, where they have a population boom, babyboomers they call them, and construction is like mad there, needing a lot of wood of course."

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"Farmers clear their land and get good money for it, so much that they can have the terrain leveled in exchange, drained and worked on, so.....it's a fortune wheel like event and that is exactly why farms bloom these days here in the valley."
"Let's drive to the Access Heights, I wanna see those farms, haven't been there for three years. You haven't got anything else to do today anyways, don't ya?"
"Nah," John said, "I have he weekend off, we go have lunch after, ok?"»»

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So John and Henry drove right through Access Center, admiring the new highway intersection of Hwgy15 at the exit of town which they haven't see yet neither and then started the small climb to the Access Heights. What they saw what exactly what Mike told John. Farms and farms and nothing else than farms. Hardly any forest left standing in the vicinity and only way back on the hills could one still see a lot of trees gathered together. Henry was astonished to see so much land cleared in that little time, amazed how Sims have worked hard in the past five years. But there was also a small glow of sadness in his eyes, having lost all those fantastic thick and green forests forever.

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Coming to a small intersection almost at the end of the Winding River Region, Henry asked where that road leaded, but John could only nod negatively and say that he never took that road and has no idea at all. Henry told his son to take the new road and see for themselves where it leads.
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They went back down the heights again, right back into the valley but this time north and almost northwest. Far away from the hill, they could see the big Chimelake when Henry said : "Do you think that the road goes right down to the lake now?" and he looked at John who only mumbled "Let's go and see".

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Again through more farmland that they have never seen before, they finally reached the banks of the Chime lake. A first for them, since they didn't even know that it was possible to come here by car. Already some houses or cottages have appeared on the beaches and farms here also have invaded as much as was possible.
««"How is his possible?" asked Henry again to break the silence since their arrival on the lake. "Geeez, I thought it wasn't too long ago that we flew over the region and were asking ourselves if it would ever be possible to come here by road?"
"Dad", said John, "That was 4 years ago, looks like a lot has changed and we haven't looked around I guess. I wonder if it is the same elsewhere in the valley. We should do this every friday."
"Yes, I would like to know that also, I can now understand why the town is so full of Sims on friday evenings and weekends, they all come in from the country", Henry added while getting back into the pickup, " Let's go back to Access and have lunch now at Barby's."»»

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Oh yes, one can be surprised taking the same route everyday for a few months or years what can happen and change elsewhere in the neighborhoods. In all four directions the farming communities have spred and changed the landscapes of the region. Let's have a small visit to all those places they saw and didn't yet see now.

Starting in Grasslake, the municipality itself hasn't much grown, the road is still on gravel and all the Sims still have to go to Sandom or Access for their groceries and things. But here also land has been cleared lately and farms start to show through the forests. Most of Grasslake is privately owned and owners do not wish to clear their land, so total clearing is almost impossible for the at least the next years to come.
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Also are farms getting richer, with cleared land with little cost, they can grow more and more. Some folks have created familyfarms, where the whole family shares the wealth. Like this giant turkey and chicken farm that sells some of their products by the side of the road. Just look at the house, income must have been good in the last years.

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Or look at the size of this pigfarmer, producing bacon, ham and porcshops in big quantities. The owner doesn't even live here anymore, they moved to the Grasslake and have their workers take care of the farms.

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Here below is another chicken farmer, they must produce them by the thousands. Chicken are in great demand, even the KFC in Access downtown, right in front of Wellington's appartments, buy their chicken here. It only takes about 12 weeks to grow a chicken to a reasonable size.

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Then there are other livestock farms, like gost, horses, rabbits, ducks and sheep as in the picture below. Sheep farmers only lately started to come to the Access area and mostly seem to stay on higher and dryer grounds like here in Access Heights. There aren't many yet, because the demand, even in the big cities isn't very high.

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Most of the livestock farms and the biggest also, are the beef and dairy farms, producing meat, milk and milkproducts such as yoghurt and cheese. Some of these farms are immense needing a lot of land for pastures and feed, such as hay, grains and silage. Some farmers buy out their neighbors one by one to enlarge their terrain needed so much. Cattle farms are expensive to run though and need a lot of help. That is good for the economy again, hiring workers full or spare time shares the wealth of the valley.

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Here is a last look of the Access Heights farmlands, where at this moment the biggest farms are. No forests of 2 or more acres can be found here anymore, most of the land is cleared and seeded for livestock feed, fruitbearing trees and livestock grazing. The land is rich, freshly deforested and excellent for growing all they need. Slightly hilly and on a slope, this land drain easily and is never wet or even soggy, something every farmer is looking for. I guess in another 5 years or so, those little forested acres left will be gone also.

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That was for the agricultural part of Access for the moment. In the next update we go back to town and see what has changed there and also go to the Sterling County and have a look how the highway team manages to win over the swampy lands up north. We also have some news about some of our story "celebrities". Hope you liked my update again.


Fred

[KoV Liberty]

Totally sweet.

Alex

[Cyclone1001]

Wow, now that is population exploding like a bomb. tic-tic-tic- 500 bagillion people.

[marsh]

Ahhhh. Dont you just love the way big buisness companys mass produce animals in close almost inhospitable quarters suffering, while all remaining uknown to the public?......... ........ (poor animals )

Great update man! 

marsh

[MattyFo]

Amidst all the histeria about the army and such, I forgot that the Winding River Region was still growing and now all these farms have developed unnoticed!!!  Very nice farms but it is only a matter of time before they are taken over by the expansion of the cities

-Matt

[cubby420]

The times they are a changing. Cool update.

[threestooges]

Nice update Fred. Though I find it hard to believe Slye is "buying" the lumber from the cleared farms, so much as he would be charging them to clear it. Reasonable rates I'm sure, enough to pay the workers, but where else do you find the equipment to remove stumps so fast? Really interesting to see the development that's taken place too. I knew things were growing, but the scale hadn't sunk in until I saw the two overviews. Nice touch too in showing the buyout of smaller farms opening the door for some larger ranches. Good hints at the progress to come.
-Matt

[nedalezz]

Access has turned into quite the center for agriculture, which Im sure will only increase the economy and population growth of the city