Shipping our house from Seattle to Anchorage

[Gonorth9]

@JasonAndJulie
Yes, they are smaller than one might think. I have a friend with one at his business so I've taken the time to look in it to get a better idea of what will fit. Our plan: take the dining room set, master bedroom set (no mattress), two small bedroom sets (again, no mattresses), the big TV and a couple smaller ones, one couch, about a third the toys, and some personal family stuff like Christmas ornaments and pictures, and finally some of my tools. Everything else we will sell or donate before leaving. Clothes, we will take what fits in our suitcases and purchase anew there. I know it will be a tight fit but we are already a family that believes in less is best. We don't hold onto material things like alot of people do - it's all just stuff.
We will hit garage sales and thrift stores at first to replenish dishes, children's books, silverware, fridge, washer/dryer, and the accoutrements of living. We are prepared to live a minimalists lifestyle for the first year as we get settled.

@akck
No, I haven't looked into that. I know they are not too expensive but adding the cost to ship 4300 miles may end up being 6 of one - a 1/2 dozen of another. Since I have time, I will explore that idea... thanks!

[kit-kat-55]

hi ho, we are planning the move as well, and just talked about this. we are going to have several yard sales and put stuff on craigslist, to wittle it down to "very sentimental" and 3 motorcycles. and ski stuff. very very little furniture. considering driving up. would take the ferry from Bellingham up, but it's expencive. have not checked out storage containters.

question - is it very expencive to buy snow mobiles up there? hubby wants to buy here and bring up. I say it's got to be cheaper to just buy up there, as they would take up a lot of room!

also, we plan to store some stuff here, and if we miss it, we'll have to take a trip the following summer to fetch it.

and, lastly, one can buy things online and have shipped, yes? and there is a Costco, so, can't be too bad.

thanks, k

[keyman51]

Snow mobiles - we call them snowmachines or snogos up here, can be found for sale all over. Depending on where you live,you may have a little, or a lot of time to use them as snowfall can differ from area to area and you may not have a place where you can use them close to home. There are rentals too. I can not say if used ones are cheap, but the best time to buy is probably in the off season.

[kit-kat-55]

thanks man

[AK76]

What kind of snowmachine do you have in mind, what kind of riding would you like to do, what is your budget? All are factors. Also, the riding up here is almost entirely back country/cross country with deep dry snow, very little is groomed trails fit for touring or short track machines if that is what you are used to, the most popular and useul types of machines are longtrack or mountain machines then SUV/UTV types. The typical new longtrack in 600cc or more are $10k to $12k, for used prices I suggest you look to Craigslist or Alaska's list.

[kit-kat-55]

no idea. hubby knows. I had a friend that lived in Kalispell, MT and he talked about using a snow-mobile to go to town or to get to his house. they left the cars parked some where when it snowed and used the snowmachine to get around. so, dunno. guess we'll wait to get there and see what's up. thanks!