OK I didn't provide enough clarification here...

Up until recently all my LDs had a shift in detail. The reason for this has to do with my physical body. I have what's called a stigma in my left eye. The eye is not completely round, it is slightly flattened, affecting the lens. When I put on a pair of prescribed glasses (worked all summer to get the money to do this at WalMart) there is an instant and noticeable increase in detail. In my dreams there is a similarity. One author does describe or talk about this sort of things. Anyhow during my normal past dreams things looked normal, at a level of detail equivalent, even though its actually less, than waking life. However when I became lucid, it was like putting on glasses. Everything changed to the other end of the spectrum. Now in a lucid dream the detail is equivalent to wearing my glasses in waking life, but it's actually far more detailed. Colors, light, details - everything stands out. There is a dramatic shift. The only time I experienced anything like this in waking life was the day after I had take some amazonian cubensis mushrooms. There are simply no words to describe that experience in waking life, or for me in past LDs. No, I have not taken shrooms for a long time now, nor any other drug, legal, illegal or otherwise.

Now however my dreams are always just about as detailed as my earlier LDs. Every one I've had the last few months. I think this is because of my meditation practice and the occasional full consciousness walk I take. If I could take a picture of an earlier "Ah Ha!" LD and any non-lucid dream of mine now you would be hard pressed to find any difference in the quality of the picture.

Also I'm fairly certain I was lucid, and I agree is sounds like I was at a low level of lucidity. I never knew that there were levels. This is not something I have read anywhere. It's definitely going into my book, with credit to the users here! That you for sharing that with me! Anyhow in the dream with the candy I went through a wooden gate/arbor and said something like, "I'm dreaming." There was a sort of shift and I could go anywhere I wanted, within the range of the area I was in. I could not go back or leave the area, and it seemed I was influenced in some way to go towards the building. I couldn't veer off and go somewhere else. Same thing when it came to the store I entered, hence my description of rails. It would be more accurate to think of it like a level in a video game where someone put invisible walls all around, and they channeled you towards a particular structure.

In the forest LD I could walk all around the woods., but not out of them, not back, and towards a structure again, this time a small cabin. I could even keep myself awake in the dream. I did this by leaning on my arms on a sink, closing my eyes, lifting myself up and opening my eyes. I was in control if I stayed lucid and stayed in the dream.

By conscious though process I meant that while I had made a conscious decision to be lucid, I could not seem to access the conscious mind for anything else, other than staying in the dream. In my first LDs I could pretty much go and do whatever I wanted. I could think about something and arrive at a decision. In these later lucid dreams I had no such ability. I could not think! But despite that I was lucid and had a little control.

I have never tried to use reality checks. Nor have I tried to mnemonic exercises. I will make use of both of these excellent suggestions. Thank you!
- DreamBliss