by Jazendar » Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:36 pm
Gas was 99 cents per gallon when I left, which was in '98, groceries were similar in price. PG&E I cannot be too sure about, I'd need to talk to my family. Like I said, I was 15 at the time when I left so I wasn't too concerned with anything other than school and driving. Ironic enough, with the weather conditions and everything, one can apply for permit at 14-1/2 and retrieve a license at 15-1/2 (Atleast it was at the time, not sure about the present.) Again Amazon shipping I'm not too sure about, but I wouldn't think it could be too expensive. The cost of living wasn't harsh, each house in Juneau had at the very least one acre to their lot, some to most of which even more. Yes, 30,000 people may seem small, but type Juneau in google and check out the downtown area, if you can get elevation views of the area, it is a bit more urbanized than you'd think. Juneau is also connected to Douglas, an island half the size of paved Juneau, by large bridge.
I can't talk about the experiences in Fairbanks, I have relatives who live inland and they do talk about the mild blizzards they receive. I can't imagine them being any more severe than any coastal weatherstorm, though. The houses are built fortified, and the culture up there really aids to the well being of other people, which is nice.
We used to boat from Juneau out to some of the random little islands where we had a cabin. Fishing and four wheeling in the sand on the beach was part of some fun activities.
Look up the Mendenhall Glacier online, it was 5 miles from where I lived. In the winter the Lake froze over and you could walk across the ice to the glacier. There was a path up along the side that would take you up in the mountains above the Glacier as well. In the summer the small lake was water obviously, aside from one giant piece of glacier that hangs out in the middle. On the right hand side is a huge waterfall that pummels the ice fueling the lake and the river to continue running.
In 1997, when the Hail Bop comet was flying over, we used to go to the glacier, lay atop the ice and watch it. There was a nice with heavy northern lights coupled with the comet aflight. There's no other place in the world like Alaska. Customs in Alaska aren't hard getting used to. Moving to Mexico where it's 110 degrees or whatnot, you can't do anything to get warm but spend more money for air conditioning (which, by the way, my utilities bill was over 250& during the summer, constant). But when it's cold, pack on another layer and you're fine. Like I said, the culture of people that I experienced were always extremely helpful and projected warmly faction~
All in all, vacation or home, it's a beautiful *affordable* place to visit. As far as I know, the only expensive thing about Alaska is getting there if you plan to fly, Alaskan Airlines charges up the ass within Alaska because they are the only ones that fly. If you take the Ferry, it's to my understanding that the faire is cheap. As stated before, a vast job market (surprisingly).
As far as bands traveling, in all honesty I doubt it because of the overall simplistic view of Alaska (Antartic weather, Dark six months, Igloos blah blah), the publicity isn't enough.
ramble ftw
