Groups > Alaska is HOT!

Well... you're right. There are changes. Nothing stays the same. Anchorage, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Eagle River, etc ... are all growing. More people are coming to Alaska ... but still, our population total is less than 800,000. So the wide open spaces are still there, but now the infrastructure and services are much better. It's been awhile since I had to follow a CAT, too.

Hey Jon. I've been to every state but Alaska and have seriously considered maybe moving up there. I lived in Vermont for 15 years so I know cold. But anyway, I'm at a point in my life where I need to ... not sure how to say it. But anyway, how's the job market, best places to start off etc... Thanks for any help, resources you can provide

You'll enjoy Alaska, Lisa ... I suggest visiting before moving here. Come up ... look around ... get out of Anchorage and see what's here that you like and don't. This is a wonderful place but it's not for everyone. It is a dream land ... it is also known as the land of broken dreams. I can send you some info ... let me know what kind of info you need.

My family is blessed to be living in Alaska. Moved up here three years ago from Texas. Mosquitoes - YES! You learn to spray yourself to repel them. It's sad to see summer go and darkness set in. But I know the snow will fly (already has at higher elevations) and it beautifully reflects the hours of daylight we do have.

We live in the Mat-Su valley - across the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet (about an hour NW of Anchorage). We've enjoyed the Iditarod race up close the past two years as we watch on a frozen lake while each team crosses at a trail crossing in Willow, away from the crowds of people at the start of the race. What a sight to see!

We've had a cool, cloudy summer, and right on cue the rains of August are coming down. Sometimes it is so light you can walk through the rain drops without getting wet! Other times it reminds you of an unfrozen hard snow, with big fat flakes!

I am waiting for the smell of fall to be in the air. We moved into our house in September three years ago when I first smelled that smell. The musty odor of decomposing underbrush and berries is an incredible scent!

Thanks for the opportunity of an Alaskan discussion, Jon. Like the smell of fall in the air, I have enjoyed it!

The odor you mention comes from the highbush cranberries ... and they're ripe now. But due to the cool and cloudy summer, there's not many of them ... and the mosquitos have not been as bad this year as usual. Here's a couple of mosquito pics for you ...

Thanks for your post!

When I was up in Alaska they only had three

seasons there, the Snow, the Mud and the

Dust. but then Anchorage was only four

blocks long, with 114 bars, Sears was in a

basement store and the highest building was

two stories high. and the first year there

we had 111 inches of snow, was also in Cold

Bay doing some fishing and .....like you

said Mark Twain said is better to keep to

yourself, and then there was Seward, it was

only about 1 block long, a shipping port,

cloudy and rain all spring, but the eight

hour train ride from Anchorage (can't remember exactly how many miles, alittle over a 100, I think) was beautiful,breath-

taking, Seward Folly, I wonder? I always

meant to go back to live but put if off to

long and everybody knows how that goes, you

never do it. A friend was nice enough to

send me some pictures of the earthquake of

1964 in Anchorage on Palm Sunday. On the

Computer I still look up the Anchorage News

and regret I'll never be able to snare another Snow Shoe rabbit. Don't wait to long

I remember those days, jermann! We might know some of the same people. I lived in Seward from the early '50s to the early '70s ... I remember the cranberry bog where Sears is now, before Sears was there. Times have changed ...