I guess by the definition of the word, I am not a Cheechako as I have a couple Barrow winters in me, but an absence of residency since 2000 probably qualifies.

1. As we are arriving in November is there any reason I shouldn't buy a house then? ... Versus waiting till Spring. Will be our first home, never been anyplace long enough to warrant owning one. We don't have a 100% lock in on where we will be living. Probably won't be South East, Kodiak, or the North Slope, won't be Anchorage or the Mat-Su. Probably Fairbanks, Parks Highway, Tok, Valdez, Glennallen, Copper Center or Delta.

2. Looking to be active with VFW, anyone have any advice negative or positive about VFW's to avoid or flock to?

3. Wife likes Eastern medicine, got any back breakers or pin stickers that you like or hate?

4. Know any honest Real Estate agents?

5. I will be buying side by side quad, snowmachine, and either a jet boat, hovercraft or airboat after we get a house bought. If you have any brand/model suggestions of any of these I'd be happy to hear them. Hunting, some fishing and winter trapline will be what I use this equipment for.

I greatly appreciate all the help, feel free to PM.

thanks again,

Wait till ya get here to do anything, just dreamin otherwise. If ya don't, you'll make so many mistakes that you'll regret.

Many trails in Ak are narrow, not all are wide enough for side by sides or larger atvs. I see many local using smaller 4 wheelers just for these narrow tundra trails found in rural areas.

quote:

Originally posted by MOA TACTICAL:
I guess by the definition of the word, I am not a Cheechako as I have a couple Barrow winters in me, but an absence of residency since 2000 probably qualifies.

1. As we are arriving in November is there any reason I shouldn't buy a house then? ... Versus waiting till Spring. Will be our first home, never been anyplace long enough to warrant owning one. We don't have a 100% lock in on where we will be living. Probably won't be South East, Kodiak, or the North Slope, won't be Anchorage or the Mat-Su. Probably Fairbanks, Parks Highway, Tok, Valdez, Glennallen, Copper Center or Delta.

2. Looking to be active with VFW, anyone have any advice negative or positive about VFW's to avoid or flock to?

3. Wife likes Eastern medicine, got any back breakers or pin stickers that you like or hate?

4. Know any honest Real Estate agents?

5. I will be buying side by side quad, snowmachine, and either a jet boat, hovercraft or airboat after we get a house bought. If you have any brand/model suggestions of any of these I'd be happy to hear them. Hunting, some fishing and winter trapline will be what I use this equipment for.

I greatly appreciate all the help, feel free to PM.

thanks again,

#1,If snow on ground can't see all dog shit in yard.

Moa, if your still looking at Fairbanks, a good Chiropractor is Todd Lovell Ridgeview Chiropractic in Fairbanks. I am also a Chiropractor located in Anchorage and have worked with Todd doing some relief work in the past he has great staff and operation going there...and he hunts too.

I really like rangers over the other brands, but like Z said, they are limited. Up around Tok where I used to hunt, we used rangers but had a few quads. We would use the rangers to haul in gear, but park them and ride double on the quads in a lot of areas. My machine was a 1988 Yamaha bigbear 350. It sucked for suspension and power but it would go anywhere with its size. We even ran into a few problems with the Polaris 6 wheeler with its size.

If your gonna rely mainly on a sxs, carry a good chainsaw.

The rest I can't help you on since I live in the valley here in south central.

My advice on #1

RENT a place for 6 months (!!!) to see if you really do indeed like Tok, Valdez, a particular spot on the Parks, etc. It may seem expensive but will be the best money you ever spent.

Lots of places are great in theory but the reality is there isn't the store you (or the missus) wants within 300 miles, the winter is 3 months longer than you prefer, the hunting/ fishing isn't up to snuff, etc. If you buy and then decide to sell in a small town with a thin market you may well have to wait YEARS and YEARS to sell and still take a bath.

Lots of problems won't become apparent until you're there. As an example, one place I lived off the road system was served by a single (very expensive) airline with a less than 10% on time rating. That threw any semblance of travel planning,connecting flights, etc out the window. Not a show stopper, but certainy a pain.

Thank you for all your information. I greatly appreciate the knowledge.

Excitement is killing me. I almost walked away from the military at 15 years to move back, but I am glad I toughed it out and am almost finished.

Chiropractic is eastern medicine? News to me.

Honest Realtor??!!! You're killin' me!!! Yeah, I know an honest used car salesman too!

Polaris Widetrack a good pick?

Muskegman you got it bang on...

wow groceries are expensive in Valdez..

way cheaper to buy at three bears in TOK...

I think CARRS knows they got you in Valdez until the new three bears is built...

Watson Lake...

We are still figuring it out, and will be until we get settled.

I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up is the real problem. Glad I am retiring from the military, but it opens a whole new door of "what do I do now?"

I have the wife open to the idea of "off road system" for a change.

What are some "off road system" towns thare worth looking at?

Answer to #1.
Don't jump in with both feet until you've been here a while. As an outsider, you'll have no clue as to conditions of the property you may be interested in. Permafrost/bad ground? Bad water? Which school is best for YOUR kids? Just a couple of examples. There are plenty of places for sale. People leaving 'cause they can't cut the high cost of living.
If you can afford a mortgage, you can afford to pay rent for a year or so. There's no way I'd move to a new area and jump right into a new house. Just my thoughts.
Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

Originally posted by Bear in Fairbanks:
Answer to #1.
Don't jump in with both feet until you've been here a while. As an outsider, you'll have no clue as to conditions of the property you may be interested in. Permafrost/bad ground? Bad water? Which school is best for YOUR kids? Just a couple of examples. There are plenty of places for sale. People leaving 'cause they can't cut the high cost of living.
If you can afford a mortgage, you can afford to pay rent for a year or so. There's no way I'd move to a new area and jump right into a new house. Just my thoughts.
Bear in Fairbanks

Very, very good advice for anyone moving anywhere and especially to Alaska.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

Our kids are babies, so school is not really an issue.

And unless I am going to grad school, we are probably not moving to Fairbanks or Mat-Su.

I think someone gave you the best advice earlier, don't buy anything until you move to your final destination. I could name off boats, etc. that would be great where I live, but in other places a different type of boat or set up might be the best. Every play toy you buy will depend on what you want to use it for and how your terrain is. Figure out where you want to live first and then make the determination on what to buy that best fits the area around you.

there is no way to dampen the entheusiasim of a newby to alaska. i was there once myself as were a lot of us.

the advice you have gotten is top notch but sounds like you will do your own thing anyway. best of luck to ya and here is hoping that your money and enthusiasm outlasts your pocketbook.

i also waited a very long time to get here and all the books and articles i read were of NO use to me. the hunting is NOT like you read...the FISHING can be as good as you have heard...the outdoor experience will NOT stack up to the stories...the country changes drasticlly with every 100 miles you travel in the state and is NOT like the postcard photos except in the very spot they took that exelent picture...the vintage experience is NOT what its talked up as and when you sign the divorse papers from that 'best friend' wife becouse she dosnt like to miss the TOWN stuff will be bitter pill to swallow...and so on and so on and so on.

way better off to take a year to decide if your choice is the best before tieing yourself to an area that may completely change in the flash of a year or two...like having folks move into your favorite hunting spot that used to take hours of painstacking travel in less then great circumstances and that now has a "ROAD THAT RUNS THRU IT" and folks building cabins where you used to set un-bothered for days at a time.

dont think im bitter...just got the shine wore off and lookin at reality now...i wouldnt move to anyplace else in the world but it DOES cost everybody something that was dear to em to finally find their shangrala.

best of luck to ya and hope your glass is always half full

Better learn to fly if you really want to live off the beaten path. I love Alaska but there is no way I want to do winters anymore. Not that I would want to be around my wife after 90 days of little light. Before the road went into Whittier there was a reason most of the mole people were on Prozac all winter. I tease about my wife but I am just as bad with the seasonal affective disorder. When your cooped up anywhere like that doesn't take long for cabin fever to set in. As the others have said rent for awhile. It takes at least 6 months to get a feel for a place. There are several areas you want to check out so take your time and do not rush it. Think of it as this is the last house you will own, the one you will die in eventually. So make sure it is THE HOUSE.

I would go for a 4 Wheeler with 2 up seating and Lite Foot or similar tracks .. in the Copper Basi a wheeled machine isn't worth a lot for overland travel. And when you get a x's stuck, brother, you be STUCK.
Nice thing about the Copper Basin. Execpt Lake Louise. No Burroughs .equals. NO TAXES .. what are u gonna do for work. ?

There isn't much of the past 12 years I haven't spent thinking about when I retire and head back.

I almost got out in 2009 of the military and moved back. Even talked to the Alaska Air National Guard about a job with them in one of the C-130 squadrons. In the end I got promoted and decided to finish it out.

I remember the day I moved to Alaska in 1999, like it was yesterday. Had a 4 hour layover in Anchorage on arrival from Seattle, spent those 4 hours going gun shop to gun shop. Great Northern Guns, Wild West (assholes), bought a new pair of Danner Olympias at the police store near Wild Westgun across from the mall. And that book Great Rams of Asia in another gun shop.

And had a beer and a hamburger in some bar across from the Bush Company, then headed back to the airport to fly to Barrow. Got to Barrow late, and headed to Arctic Pizza for what was at the time the most expensive hamburger I had ever eaten.

I do want to try my hand at flying. Been an aircraft mechanic for 19 years might as well learn how to break them.

The biggest difference between moving to Alaska at 25 and and almost 40 is that I have a retirement income that will pay the bills, and the Post 9/11 GI bill which pays for 100% tuition and fees for 36 months of college, plus $2000 per month living stipend if you attend face to face courses. Would be kind of dumb not to use it.

For work I am either going to teach, or do something in safety, logistics, HAZMAT or aviation as it is my back ground.

Teaching will require a several year stint in Fairbanks or Anchorage for grad school.

We are also thinking about a stint in Ferlach, Austria for the gunsmithing school. They do a 24 month no-degree program if your an old guy.

Who is the gunsmith school run by? Sounds like a good choice for us old types!

HTBL Ferlach is the name of the school. Their website is tough for non-German speakers to say the least.

Sorry about that forgot the website.

http://www.htl-ferlach.at/