Given a home in Central,AK planning on moving there

[stiffnecked]

I've spent quite a bit of time in Central and I'm not sure I'd want to live out there year round. Neat place in the summer but isolated in the winter. The State tries to keep the Steese highway into Fairbanks open all winter but it ends up getting closed often.

There is no place in Central to buy groceries. The store/bar/gas station doesn't really have much more than candy bars, pop and a few canned goods.

You really need to be a live-off-the-land type of person to live there.

Take your Tahoe back and trade it in for a 4 wheel drive crew cab pickup truck. Your gonna need it to haul firewood, fuel, supplies, moose, caribou and everything else your gonna need. A soccer wagon won't cut it.

Does this house have a water well? What are you gonna do for water?

There are just tons of questions you need to know the answer to before you move the whole family up. Fly up to Fairbanks soon, rent a wheel drive and go visit. Do it this winter so you'll know what your facing......

Good luck

[Wrennie]

Sorry I missed your reply, I haven't been on. You can put things that need to stay cold in a wood box with a lid outside and just put something heavy on top of it. Milk freezes well. It's the spring through fall when you'll have to worry about bears. Not winter. Everybody has bearproof containers, you'll see. You can deal with that when you get here. Is there a shed on the property?

[megensmom]

We have been speaking with several people in Central so that we don't feel like total strangers. We have gotten some wonderful advice. I have a couple that actually lives off the grid and they are a wealth of info. One of the people I have spoken to actually has a decent size garden and said they will help me get the proper type seeds for our area.
My husband already has 2 job leads,neither are in Central which we knew was going to be the situation but that is ok. I personally plan to help out at school as much as possible during the winter to help get me out of the house. And I am looking into maybe a job that I can do part time as well.

Thanks for the links,I will check it out for sure. We have figured out exactly what generator we are getting.And some other things are just all starting to fall into place. I can definately say that I still have a ton to learn but we are hopefully going to be pretty prepared before our move. I don't think I would even consider doing this move had it not been for the fact that I have made contact with people that live there and have 1st hand information.

Yes we have a really nice shed,my father in law used it to store some of his food staples and other items. It is nicely insulated as well and has a heavy locking door to help keep the critters out and a small barrel wood stove to help keep the place a little warm so that if you store food that comes in a can they don't freeze and bust. There is also shelving in it. He has another smaller shed he used in the winter for hanging meat.

[megensmom]

Well we have hit a bump in the road. We were talking with a friend and she reminded us that back in 1991 my husband had to pay a fine because we got in an arguement,the neighbor called the police because we were outside yelling at each other. The police came and one got smart long story short hubby had to go down with them,he didn't spend even a night in jail but did get a ticket for $200 for Criminal Domestic. I paid for a sled record check and it was on there.
However back in 2002 we went to Buffalo and then over to Canada to the Maid of the Mist and there wasn't any issue,they never mentioned it or anything. So what are you guys opinions,should we be concerned? Or is that information mainly for people who wish to reside in Canada?

We are worried that this may come back to haunt us.

[imbobbbb]

thats a good question,im not sure what triggers a flag on entering canada recordwise.ive known people that have gone to canada without a problem and others who have been turned away at the border.canada has a process where you can get granted permission as redeemed or reformed or something like that.you can read about it on the web on the canadian customs website.when i read the site there seemed to be some disgression on the part of the customs officer where you enter but it wouldnt be much fun to be loaded with stuff and stuck at the montana border.my wife has a few past issues and ive been trying to investigate the subject myself.i may have to drive and fly her up or bite the bullet and take the ferry.$$$$

[megensmom]

But don't they do the same thing for the ferry or flying?

[aquariusmom]

You don't go through Canadian customs if you fly directly to Alaska or ferry from WA and do not leave a Canadian ferry terminal.

[megensmom]

Ok so maybe we should just not worry just have him fly or ferry there. Now I will need to figure how where he would get on in WA and then where he would need to go so that he doesn't have any issues.

[megensmom]

If we drive to Prince Rupert will we have to go through customs?

[Arcticthaw]

I believe so.