how cold DOES it get?

[Sunset_Va]

I have never experienced that severe cold, but am growing tired of the hot humid summers of Virginia.

Dealing with the northern climate is just part of life in Alaska, you either cope or move. I would like to try it. Remember Soapy Sanderson in "Northern Exposure"? He moved up there right after his wife died...he said he had tried to get her to move up there for 47 years. When she died, he moved up there the next week.... :-)

I would do the same thing...wife does NOT want to move. Lookout , Homer, Delta Junction or Moose Pass!

[murlough23]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

I lived in California, and yes, it was while I was in the military. But people never made me feel at home like they do here in Alaska. CA folks are probably great if you get involved beyond the over-the-fence conversation, but here, they WANT to know you. Every neighbor is YOUR neighbor. They take an interest in your life and are always there for you.

Yeah, there isn't nearly as much "over-the-fence" coversation in larger urban areas in CA. Especially not in Los Angeles. Here a neighbor is mostly someone to be annoyed by and/or suspicious of. Growing up in L.A. has taught me to be wary of strangers on the street - 9 times out of 10 I worry that they either want to sell you something, ask you for money, or mug you. The funny thing is that when I travel, I'm totally at ease around most strangers... either because I know they're fellow tourists who are just as disoriented as I am, or locals who may be able to help me get more oriented and in tune with the rhythm of the place. I don't take the "L.A. Attitude" with me to the rest of the world, but here, sad to say, it's kind of essential for survival.

Generally speaking, I think it's a big city/small city thing, and since most life in Alaska appears to be "small city", it makes sense that people are a little more friendly to strangers and laid back there, because most of the state isn't so overcrowded that you're just plain sick of all the unfamiliar faces. (Well, except for maybe some of the towns that get overrun with cruise ship passengers, but that's another story.)

But there are plenty of pockets of small-town life where everybody knows everybody else's business and there's beautiful scenery and not a whole lot of traffic and all that in California... and it's not all in the desert... you just have to look a little farther off the beaten path to find it.

[mal_flisk]

All good points. I will say that I was raised in Chicago, and all of the neighbors knew me and know my parents to this day. When I messed up, they supplied the "Hey!" and knew that my parents needed to know what I was up to when they were at work.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by Rance

Because it's awesome!

Though I've never been to Alaska, I recently travelled to Ft. McMurray, Alberta for work. That's around 56.5 degrees north of the equator. Previously I'd never been north of the 46th parallel. I was pleasantly surprised.

The land was rolling hills and nothing but woods. (where people hadn't cut it down) I arrived in early spring just before the leaves came out and it was still pretty green. When I left it was late spring and it was very pretty. For weather, it was almost the same as the normal May weather back home in southern Ontario; afternoons between 50-80 F. The main difference was nights were cooler anywhere from 25-50 F. However the winds tended to be calmer and the air usually drier.

The northern sun was noticeably weaker, but I found that to be a good thing. It was easier on my eyes wearing sunglasses when the sun was near horizontal and it was also easier on my skin, as the U.V. level was only 4 or 5. I never needed sunscreen, just moisturizer.

I previously had the suspicion that in northern Canada, when you're not freezing your butt off you get eaten alive by bugs, but I hardly ever needed gloves for cold and still I never got a mosquito bite.

I was also surprised that I enjoyed seeing daylight start before 5 am and last until about 11 pm.