Moving to Homer or Seward areas - big family, lots of decisions! (Metlakatla: 2015, new home) - Alaska (AK) - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

45XD · 07-30-2016, 10:40 PM

Good evening- I know I'm late to this thread but your situation sounds a little familiar so I thought I'd reach out and share our recent experiences. Our family moved up from the lower 48 in June; drove from Colorado to Wasilla, AK over 8 days. We drove a diesel- a 2000 Excursion- pulling a 20 ft enclosed trailer. Everything we owned was in the trailer- we had sold off most of our belongings when we sold our house- and the trailer was pretty closed to max weight ~ 7000 lbs total. The truck weighs nearly 7K as well and was packed to the gills. Under the best of circumstances, the truck only gets about 12 or 14 mpg; pulling that weight, we were well under 10 mpg. And on top of that- our max speed was around 63-65 mph. Not an issue in Canada as that was right about their speed limit, but well below the legal speed limit in CO, WY, and MT. So we didn't make near as good time as we thought we would.

Gas in Canada is sold in liters and there was a big discrepancy in the cost- Alberta was less expensive, through BC it cost more and then the highest cost was Yukon/Whitehorse. We did a final calculation on the cost/gallon after we arrived and of course I can't find those notes

But I can tell you that our total cost in gasoline was nearly $1100 from start to finish. More than we'd hoped but we honestly didn't know what to expect as we had a lot of unknowns with the trailer. We followed the Milepost and the advice to drive on the top half of your tank as you may have long stretches between stops for gas.

We stayed in hotels/cabins/b&b the entire way: CO, MT, Calgary, Dawson Creek, Toad River, Whitehorse, Tok, and then to Wasilla. It cost a bit more but we knew we'd need the hot showers and swimming pools for the kids after long days of driving.

We considered taking two vehicles but ultimately sold our 2nd one before leaving. I'm glad we did. The drive was amazing and I'm glad we did it, but there were some very long days and it helped to have 2 drivers to spell each other. It would not have been near as much fun to have half the crew in one vehicle and half in the other.

Don't underestimate the time needed to drive between stops. We would plan a 6 hour drive with breaks for lunch and to stretch our legs, it would take 9. Construction in Canada would mean a stretch of road 40 km long that was torn up and/or down to one lane. We would often have to park and wait for 30 or more minutes for a pilot car. And the road gets gradually worse the further north you go. Once we left Whitehorse, it got pretty wild- we'd be driving along and then the road would drop off underneath sending the whole crew bouncing as we navigated the severe dips and rises in the road. Some parts of the drive were pretty nerve-wracking. All I'm saying is give yourselves plenty of time and don't rush those roads.

Definitely get the Milepost for advice on driving through Canada and have your ducks in a row. Also, you don't need passports for kiddos under- I think it's 18. So yes passports for you and your husband, but for the kids, original birth certificates were sufficient. And paperwork for pets too.

Good luck with your trip- we had an amazing time, I would do that drive again in a heartbeat (I'd take longer next time though because- even though it was 8 days, it felt rushed and there was so much we would have like to have been able to see). And we've only been here a short while, but we are loving it so far. Very glad we made this move...

XD

MouseBandit · 08-03-2016, 03:20 PM

Thank you 45XD! That was an awesomely detailed post! My husband is gleaning a bunch from it. :-)

We got our Milepost - got the map on the wall over my desk, and been reading through the book at night. :-)

Had a family look at our house here to buy, but I don't think they qualified for their loan. The right one will come along soon, though. Husband has been cranking out the projects during his layoff, and we now have a big double-gate on the driveway, and almost done with the insulated pumphouse. Plus lots of little projects - raised bed gardens, water/power outlets around the property, and the finishing up of the stuff for the final county permits.

Not sure how our timing will work, summer is headed out, but if need be, the kids and I can fly up (no passport needed) and the husband can drive the old truck.

Picked up about 200 lbs of meat this week on big sales. Gonna be doing a LOT of canning to get it all ready for the trip. I have a lot of boxes specially designed for canning jars (with the dividers between each jar, and heavy duty cardboard), but I might need to order another set or two. Food storage will take up the most space in the trailer when we come. But it will be worth it - lots of peace of mind in already having a winters worth of meat ready to take with us!

Thanks again, everyone, for the sage words and encouragement! Now send us some washouts who don't want to stay another winter, but would like to buy a nice hidey hole in the SW Oregon woods, haha!

stiffnecked · 08-03-2016, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MouseBandit

Thank you 45XD! That was an awesomely detailed post! My husband is gleaning a bunch from it. :-)

We got our Milepost - got the map on the wall over my desk, and been reading through the book at night. :-)

Had a family look at our house here to buy, but I don't think they qualified for their loan. The right one will come along soon, though. Husband has been cranking out the projects during his layoff, and we now have a big double-gate on the driveway, and almost done with the insulated pumphouse. Plus lots of little projects - raised bed gardens, water/power outlets around the property, and the finishing up of the stuff for the final county permits.

Not sure how our timing will work, summer is headed out, but if need be, the kids and I can fly up (no passport needed) and the husband can drive the old truck.

Picked up about 200 lbs of meat this week on big sales. Gonna be doing a LOT of canning to get it all ready for the trip. I have a lot of boxes specially designed for canning jars (with the dividers between each jar, and heavy duty cardboard), but I might need to order another set or two. Food storage will take up the most space in the trailer when we come. But it will be worth it - lots of peace of mind in already having a winters worth of meat ready to take with us!

Thanks again, everyone, for the sage words and encouragement! Now send us some washouts who don't want to stay another winter, but would like to buy a nice hidey hole in the SW Oregon woods, haha!

Make sure you check with Canada Customs before you get too carried away with the meat thingy. You just never know with them.

What Can I Bring Into Canada in Terms Of Food, Plant, Animal and Related Products? - Food - Canadian Food Inspection Agency

retiredinhomer · 08-04-2016, 09:36 AM

you should read this about meat.
What Can I Bring Into Canada in Terms Of Food, Plant, Animal and Related Products? - Food - Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Boat_driver · 09-08-2016, 11:58 AM

Any update from OP?

MillerThyme · 09-10-2016, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boat_driver

Any update from OP?

Would like to know myself before making a nice post. Having lived and met my wife in Homer, and visit at least 3-6 times a year because of friends still live down there, I have some good information.

Same goes with Seward. Never lived there, but have spent tons of time walking around and camping in the area.

6.7traveler · 09-11-2016, 12:16 PM

I think the hauling up hundreds of pounds of meat and food is kind of crazy personally, but I guess it would save you money if you could pull it off. I do know customs has usually asked me about my food situation every time I crossed the border, but if I remember correctly, they were most concerned with citrus and vegetables and the amounts....

I just wanted to add that Save U More is one of the greatest stores in Alaska. It's like a run down, industrial homer mini costco. I love it. It's also a popular meeting place

.

MillerThyme · 09-11-2016, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6.7traveler

I just wanted to add that Save U More is one of the greatest stores in Alaska. It's like a run down, industrial homer mini costco. I love it. It's also a popular meeting place

.

And they have some of the best pizza around. Don't get me wrong Fat Olives is excellent, but the the pizza made at Save U More is a tremendous value. Starvin Marvin's is okay at best.

MouseBandit · 10-04-2016, 01:29 AM

OP still here! Looked at the customs stuff a little. I am officially worried now about trying to bring all the food storage, lol. Thank you guys very much for the heads up on that. Another thing that would have never even crossed my mind. It might very well be better to just plan on buying a new stockpile once we are up there.

House didn't sell over the summer, so now probably not going to happen until closer to spring. I am trying to convince the hubby he should let me and our 8-yr-old daughter fly up in January or February to check it out . He's not yet convinced, but it could happen!

I think homer is now the preferred destination. Seward looks gorgeous (as does dang near every place up there) but homer feels like the right starting point. As much as I loathe infrastructure, we will need it the first couple of years. After that, the kids will be older and we will know what we've gotten ourselves into and we can head further out if that's still what we want.

And our latest wrinkle: we adopted two German shepherds, so we will have to factor them into our travel plans. 😀.

DanaMO · 11-03-2016, 08:12 AM

MouseBandit, I've loved reading this thread. I even created an account so I can follow your adventure! I'm in Missouri and I've "romanticized" Alaska. I could never actually live there as I can barely make it through the Missouri winters, but I love reading about everyone's adventures in moving to AK. You're all so brave!