Day 3 from WI to Anchorage AK (Wasilla, Palmer: for sale, real estate, rentals)

[Grannysroost]

Have a safe trip! The gas will get more expensive...Jim said he was paying anywhere from $5 to $6 a gallon from the border to past Muncho Lake!

[Grannysroost]

Just talked to hubby, and he was told to gas up whenever he saw it, as there is supposed to be a gas shortage in Alberta

[browncoatflan]

Well, we made it to Whitehorse without any problems despite just about every stop in the Milepost being boarded up from Ft. St. John to Watson Lake and then again from Watson Lake to Teslin. Stone Mountain was doing a brisk business due to being the only decent place with fuel/food etc.

No, John PF- we don't look overloaded at all, just the one truck with a bed-cover.. dunno about the brights thing. We aren't getting flased from ONCOMING, it's trucks that pass us, and then flash some kind of spotlight-lookin' thing at us. Weird.

Thanks, Travis- we're looking at Eagle River/Chugiak areas, but we're open to looking around more.

Hey Granny! Yea... I'm SUCH a dumb ass.. I budgeted 2.80-3.00 US for US Gallons (I had been checking GasBuddy etc) thinking I was budgeting high and would be cushioned... we've spent between 75-100$ US per fill-up (between 18-25 US gallons), and it's put a severe dent in our budget (ie- this morning we had 8$ in our acct when we were supposed to have over 1k to get us from Dawson Creek to Anchorage).

Dream- we're stuck with T-Mobile now, husband went and got a 2yr contract. sigh. No mobile at ALL from Dawson Creek to this point, not even Emergency calls. Sucks *******s.

Arrrighht... back on the road now. Been told it's 6 more hours to Beaver Ck/AK border from here, then an hr to Tok, then 3 hrs to Elmendorf, so we'll hopefully be in Billeting by 10pm. W00t!


PS- anyone travelling now- the roads are GLORIOUS and clear. Very little construction. Just keep an eye out for the wildfires and the wild animals (we're racking up the pics.. SO glad we have digital!). We're incredibly in love already, and we haven't even hit the border yet!




Shan

[Marty Van Diest]

It's more like 5 or 6 hours from Tok to Elmendorf. Sounds like you are having a good trip. Enjoy it. Gas is 3.11 a gallon here in Palmer today. Seems to go up a lot fast than it drops. Funny how that works.

[blueflames50]

Brown... the flashing light thing....It is a safety courtesy signal system.
a trucker will flash when he/she is going to pass you for a "heads up" to you, then flash you when he/she pulls in front of you on the pass. While the trucker is passing you...when he/she is a safe distance to pull back in front of you...you should flash your lights to let him/her know that it is safe to pull back in on the road lane. When a long trailer truck is pulling back in he/she cannot see you behind. But can see a flash of light in the side mirrors signaling that there is room to pull back in. Big difference between an extra trailer truck length with sudden on coming traffic that the trucker can safely pull back in.

[browncoatflan]

Thanks for clearing that up, blue- I didn't even think of that, was just wondering what I could possibly be doing wrong because it was usually just me & a big truck out there.

I saw those prices when we drove through Palmer this morning (around 0200), Marty. Yuck. It's a little less on base right now, so I guess we'll try and fill up here most often.



On the obnoxious-newbie front, the housing mkt here has me so bummed that I just want to go hide under my covers. Called 4 rental realtors- O'Banion (had been recommended to me for mil relocatiion), Lynette someone with RE/Max, a couple others on rental listings, a few more that didn't state a brokerage.... nothing. All taken or sold... was told by several realtors that some 2k Army folks are PCSing here and are gobbling everything up sight unseen. Was told that I must be mistaken in the drive time to Elmendorf from Palmer (it took us an hour this morning under the BEST CONDITIONS of beautiful weather and zero traffic even with that little bit of construction) and that we'll never find what we're looking for on this side of the bridge for less than 2.5k rent/300k+ sale.


I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this bad, I knew it would take more than a day of searching- duh. But I didn't expect to have less to start with than we do either.

Multipexes and apartments (wtf makes a 'condo' different from a townhouse/duplex anyhow???) Freak me out- I'm always worried that the other people will hear us or that their crap will come into Our place..... we have a cat, want a dog, have a 10yr old noisy boy..... apparently we're super-screwed.


Shan

[browncoatflan]

Originally Posted by browncoatflan

..... apparently we're super-screwed.

Sorry. Sorry. Venting. Bad bad. Hate being homeless.


Shan

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by Grannysroost

Just talked to hubby, and he was told to gas up whenever he saw it, as there is supposed to be a gas shortage in Alberta

When we came through that area this past May we paid $6 and something for gas. Gas shortage my arse. LOL....

[JohnPF]

Well, I donno if this helps you, but in a condo you own "the inside" of the unit and the roof, outside walls, pipes and whatever else is common property fixed and maintained from the assesment money. In a duplex or a town house you own your own roof and pipes and a yard and cut your own grass etc.
Different lifestyles, totally. Like when it comes to shoveling the snow...
Hit the papers IMHO the place to find deals from people who don't go online etc. Good luck.

[browncoatflan]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

Hit the papers IMHO the place to find deals from people who don't go online etc. Good luck.

Besides ADN, would you suggest other papers?

Shan