Preveiw plan for 'redflags' Moving to AK in summer - would love your insight! (Anchorage: rental car, renter)

[DoriKate]

Hello all! First time poster, several times lurker
THIS as been the most informative resource for me thus far - the AK FAQ thread was awesome! so happy to have come across this forum.

I am so sure you regulars are sick and tired of the "I'm moving to AK, can you help me?" post...and here is another one! Sorry and THank you in advance.
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I have looked back and read many a post about moving, but some are years old and I don't know if some info still qualifies (like about employment and such).


Him: seasoned truck driver, now driving in Oil industry.
Me: self employed massage therapist, no real experience in any other field than bartending.

We are: from North Dakota - used to 9 month winters, short days, well well below zero - am I sufficiently prepaired for what an alaska winter is like? At this point I love dark cozy winters and being snowed in, time for crafts and DVDs! I I can totally handle ND winters, I expect AK to be a few notches above what we already experience, accurate?

We enjoy small towns. We are used to planning life around weather and wait for items you want, or a chance to get somewhere to get them.

Fast reliable internet is important to us.

We will be travelling with pets - yikes. Have 1 older medium dog, 2 small dogs and 1 declawed cat. I understand renting will be a challenge, do you think impossible?

We would LOVE to rent a house. Tiny, cramped and 'not that nice' is fine with us - we don't expect miracles with a budget AND pets. We really wouldn't mind being out in the boonies a bit (but I suspect ND boonies are a far cry from AK boonies!!)

So far we have been drawn to the Kanai 'area'. Been researching Homer, Anchor Point, Seward (BEAUTIFUL!) and Valdez, - if I'm moving to alaska I would love to be positioned near ocean and mountain range - have seen enough flat prarie
We have found something he is qualified for in Homer, and a home in our range in ANchor Point, but nothing definative at this point. I also like Sitka!

I would like a lot of things to do, we are interested in snowmobiling, I like arts, outdoors and active town life - like bars (just one good podunk bar is fine with us), events, street faires, town groups/committees and celebrations ect. Can you think of a town with a good combination of the above?

About the move: Here is what we are *thinking* - using kanai area as an example.
**please let us know if you see any rookie mistakes!

Using online to secure job for him, then housing. Maybe his employers would be 'in the know' about local places, otherwise using a variety of online services like craigslist ect. Then finding something for me. I would love to do massage in a resort place, but open to any place that hires me

Liquidating household junk that weighs you down

Depending on relation of home to work, and if we end in a quite small town or place with taxis - parking my vehicle ('03 trailblazer with 100,000 miles) at my parents for at least time being.

Buying decent sized trailor, loading 2 snowmobiles and 1 motorcycle (for the summer!) and what else we can into it, also loading his truck with a topper.
Packing animals, driving to (I believe Prince Rupert we saw was the start of the ferry system - might be wrong.) about 4 days drive.

Taking Ferry to the next point - might be wrong again...seward or homer it went to..details...or whittier...anyway, the last stop closest to wherever we get both a job AND housing.

And there we are. estimated to end of line - 1 truck, trailor and us at about $2000 for the ferry, and $1300 for 4 days driving. Can bring animals on ferry?

We are thinking about a move in a couple months, spring/early summer, mid summer maybe. THe work he found was seasonal - ending in Oct. Then he would find something simple like bartending through the winter, back on truck next summer. Ultimately, in the future, we would love love love a houseboat.

*****
So there we are. Do you see any newbie red flags? Rookie mistakes? Disasters in the making?
Are we missing something important?

Do you know of another area/town worth at least looking into?

To anyone who made it this far - THANK YOU for taking time to read this incredibly long winded post...bad habit...and I hope you can take a moment to reply with any of your insights or experiences!

[stiffnecked]

KENAI. Sounds like you have a good plan so far. I'd shy away from Sitka and any other towns in southeast unless you have jobs lined up in advance. There are summer tourism jobs coming up but year round employment may be hard to find. Plus rent for most anything isn't cheap.

The KENAI sounds like it would be a good fit for you and yours. I don't know what to tell you about the animals. Many landlords won't rent to pet owners as they do so much damage. Urine stains in the carpet and animal hairs/danders are the reasons I'd wouldn't rent to a pet owner.

Keep doing your research and I'd suggest a visit before a sight unseen move.

[DoriKate]

Thank you!

Ohhh we wouldn't move without A. job B. housing secure and in place. We are spontaneous...but we like to be prepared. (although as for housing/job it is a bit of a 'chicken or the egg' kind of thing eh?) hehehe

I totally understand why people don't want to rent to people with animals....I just wish I could TELL them that we are good and clean renters, with good animals and a GOOD carpet cleaning machine (that is considered one of the necessities we will be bringing!! HA!)
Buuut, I understand and I don't hold it against them. Its just a matter of finding that renter who is lenient...or maybe has a bit of a dive to rent out, I'm creative - I can make any place pretty HA!

My couch is a bit of an issue, I would love to bring it since some convo around here has encouraged it (mostly to military fams with moving budgets tho...ahh...if only...). If I was moving to anyother state Id say bag it and we'll get a used one when we get there, used furniture a challenge to find? I see alot for anchorage on craigslist, but some of the smaller towns like in the kanai area? I wonder.....

Ohh yea, and that was the problem we ran into while researching Sitka, gorgeous...but his line of work is more industrial, doubt he would be happy working at a souvenier shop for the summer. He promised we could spend a weekend there sometime

Yes, forgot to mention we would send him up for a weekend to check things out first.... lowest tickets I have found are at $1200, so likely its just him going

[blueflames50]

for airlines try:

Travel: Airfares, hotels, vacations, cruises, car rentals and more at Travelocity.com

Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air

www.mobissimo.com

to get to the Kenai you need to hop another flight and there are two airlines (commuter flight services):

Era Aviation

Grant Aviation Home

tip: from Anchorage to Kenai...book you flight out of Anchorage into Kenai so that you are not on the last flight out. If you are late coming into Anchorage for what ever reason you will be stuck for the night.

you should be able to find cheaper tickets than the price you stated. Good luck

[Chilkoot]

If you haven't already you should check out the border crossing requirements when traveling with animals.

[snkalaska]

I live in Kenai. I like the whole peninsula... there's advantages and disadvantages to where you live on the peninsula. Homer is beautiful, Anchor Point is not as pretty but more affordable. Kenai/Soldotna is a shopping hub with Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart opening next year and has lots of salmon fishing.
I think you'll be OK for winter. There's a craft store in Soldotna, JoAnnes Fabrics.
Jobs are not easy to find on the Peninsula. My take is there's more people that want to live there than there is work. But people do get work if they're determined.

[stiffnecked]

KENAI!!!

Fly into Anchorage, rent a car from Arctic Rent-a-Car and then drive down to the KENAI area. That would give him a chance to take a look at what is between Anc and that area.

Arctic Rent-A-Car

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

KENAI!!!

Fly into Anchorage, rent a car from Arctic Rent-a-Car and then drive down to the KENAI area. That would give him a chance to take a look at what is between Anc and that area.

Arctic Rent-A-Car

depends on how tired you are, driving down is beautiful.
cost of rental car is high with all the hidden fees it cost us about $130 a day, plus gas
flight down to Kenai one way is $63 to $70 per person and about 20min flight.

[DoriKate]

Yep - health certs. and current on shots. We will also get them set up with those tracking chips just in case.

THANK YOU for the airline and car links, everywhere I checked I put in from Bismarck, ND to Homer, AK. Adding Anchorage in there really brought the cost down. *DUH* I think he might like the drive from Kanei.

Printed out an application for Land's End Resort, they have a spa, which is my first choice *I'm one helluva massage therapist, they need me, they just don't know it yet lol* but thats just first choice. He is getting his application tonight - this is a good jumping off point I think. We are both pretty open to what comes our way.

Also going to check at the border about hauling two trailors ?? I really don't want to drive mine, would love to park her. He has a motorcycle for this summer, and I'll have his truck. But I spose I should have my trailblazer come winter. (CAN'T WAIT for the alcan roadtrip - been lookin on amazon for my copy of Mileposts! but soooo don't want to drive it myself.

[DoriKate]

OH! and thanks for heads up on shopping...especially Jonanns snkalaska!!