Possible Winter Visit - Want Opinions (Anchorage, Fairbanks: to live, price, safe)

[Dakster]

The rule of thumb I used when traveling was $100 a day for lodging, $30 a day for food, and $100 a day for fuel for my Truck. (Believe it or not, it averaged right close to $100 a day for fuel.) Because you have to rent a car and are planning on driving alot, keep the $100 a day budget for a vehicle. That is $230 a day, round-up and say $250.

Now, you have to check on what staying at places will actually cost as AK is supposedly more expensive than anywhere else in USA. I also do not KNOW how you eat, so the $30 could be too high or low. I also BROUGHT a lot of food with me on my drive, so eating at restaurants was limited to one meal a day and my son and I ate for pretty close to an average of $30 a day because of this.

Having said all that, it isn't like if you stayed home you wouldn't spend anything... But it is still expensive to live on the road.

[gobrien]

Don't fly from Anchorage to Fairbanks, I assume you want to see snow and scenery. I doubt if watching the population go to work, shop, and then go home and eat dinner and watch some tv would be very entertaining or educational. Geesh. Hire a cheap tour guide, if I'm not employed by then I might enjoy a little bit of travel....

[Moose Whisperer]

Its too bad Floyd isn't posting here anymore. Then we could add the "you won't see the real Alaska on the road system" argument into the mix!

[Frostnip]

Fly into Anchorage. If the driving conditions are good to take the Richardson up to Fairbanks, and you're as good a driver as you claim, then rent a car and have a nice trip. If the driving conditions are bad, just forget the trip into the interior; there's plenty of stuff to do in the Mat-Su and/or down the Kenai.

All the chest-beating about experiencing the real Alaska aside, the way to enjoy winter here is to be flexible. So be flexible.

That's my advice, for what it's worth.

eta: I hate Anchorage, though, so I actually wouldn't take my own advice on this one

[stiffnecked]

Lets take a time out and pay homage to Dick Proenneke our true modern day hero of the Alaskan Wilderness. Sometimes we need to take a moment and reflect.


Alone in the Wilderness - YouTube

Then after that we need to take the time to read the memoirs of Elmer F. Keturi. He followed in the footsteps of his uncle Oscar and walked 400 miles from Nenana to Flat, in the winter to work on a gold dredge. Then at the end of season they'd walk the 400 miles back out.

Trails And Tailings



Oscar began making trips to Flat City where he worked as shoreman on a gold dredge. His wife and daughter stayed in Detroit. Oscar went each spring to Nenana, Alaska, where he got off the train, and with a packsack on his back, walked about four hundred miles to Flat, following the winter mail dog team trail. Each fall, when the dredge had to be shut down due to freezeup, he walked back to Nenana and returned to Detroit for the winter.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

He needs to prove it to HIMSELF. Otherwise he'll be like so many others that come up here with fairy tale dreams only to have them dashed by the cold hard reality of WINTER. I hope he comes up in the middle of winter so he can see what it's really like.

When I first arrived in Alaska I was certainly very well prepared for the "cold hard reality of WINTER." In fact, I was prepared for -80°F.

However, what dashed my very carefully planned, two-years in the making dreams was the copious amounts of vegetation. There was simply no way I was going to be able to move all the equipment I had brought off the river in a single summer, while building a cabin, planting a garden, and trying to feed myself.

I was prepared for the Devil's Club, I had purchased some snake-proof chaps from Cabella's that worked great. Even before the WWW came into being, I knew the guy who ran the bulk fuel company out of Talkeetna and called him regularly. He told me about the flora and fauna, but neglected to tell me how thick it can get so quickly. It is truly amazing what 20 hours of sunlight does to vegetation.

My dream was only half-dashed, however, because 20 years later I am still living in Alaska with no intention of ever leaving.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

Fly into Anchorage. If the driving conditions are good to take the Richardson up to Fairbanks, and you're as good a driver as you claim, then rent a car and have a nice trip. If the driving conditions are bad, just forget the trip into the interior; there's plenty of stuff to do in the Mat-Su and/or down the Kenai.

All the chest-beating about experiencing the real Alaska aside, the way to enjoy winter here is to be flexible. So be flexible.

That's my advice, for what it's worth.

eta: I hate Anchorage, though, so I actually wouldn't take my own advice on this one

Good advice.

Particularly about being flexible. Alaska is a great place to learn how to be flexible. Or in the words of the Marine Corps; "adapt, improvise, and overcome." Things never work out as planned, and challenges, both great and small, pop out of the woodwork when you least expect them.

You, you, and you: PANIC! The rest of you, come with me...

Source: USMC Gunnery Sergeant

[warptman]

Originally Posted by SityData

And help someone when you see them struggling. Beans cafe is very low on food- they can't get people in Anchorage to even donate any more!!

300 homeless - population is now how many in Anchorage ? 300,000 can't absorb 300 ?? That is pathetic !! Yeah EVERYONE IS SO HELPFUL --

There is the biggest bunch of bull I have ever witnessed !!

Wow, what the hell does homelessness have to do with Ship's trip here?

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Glitch

I was prepared for the Devil's Club, I had purchased some snake-proof chaps from Cabella's that worked great.

Even though I know it's there I always seems to forget to prepare for the dastardly Devil's Club. I have found that duct tape works wonders in pulling out all the little devils that get stuck in my palms....

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Tigre, I have seen jobs in my field pop up in Valdez on several different occasions. They were park ranger jobs, and reading the requirements, I could get the job for sure.

I don't know what you're seeing, but there's no park ranger office here at all. There's one guy who does seasonal work for Fish and Game and some seasonals at a little Forest Service cabin who tell tourists about salmon for about three months a year. I guess there's someone keeping order at the Worthington Glacier restrooms and collecting camping fees at Blueberry Lake, if you want to do that for a career. You're a big guy though as I recall, and you might be able to do okay here if you're useful as general labor.

About your trip, I don't see too much wrong with driving around. Any time someone asks if it's safe to drive to AK in the winter they get a few pages of people telling them that it's perfectly fine and the state doesn't shut down in the winter. And it doesn't. But you do have to take things slower and be much more flexible. Look at weather and road condition reports before you go anywhere. Have alternate plans in case it's crazy out there on one of the days you're wanting to drive all over tarnation. Try to get a halfway-decent rental car. Make sure you're insured. There's not as much traffic on the highways in the winter, but there are still people out and about. It's not a deserted wasteland. And I think maybe you should leave Valdez off this time. The road can be hairy, and not just at the pass (which is unlikely to be closed, but is often bad enough that you wonder why it isn't). But that's up to you. Most of the time the roads are passable, if you take your time. Give yourself at least 25-30% more time than you expect to need. There's lots of great scenery everywhere, though, and you can get a feel for Southcentral, the Kenai, or the Interior without visiting every town in each area.