[Rick]

Hello all. Been gone for many months.

Once upon a time, I said I was going to go to Alaska and check it out for possible relocation.

I made the trip in mid-April, which was late winter there. I flew into Anchorage, rented a pick-up truck, and drove 1836 miles (2937 km for the Europeans here) in 7 days looking it over.

I'm not easily impressed, but Alaska was more than awesome.

I drove the length of the Kenai Pennisula - all the way to Homer then back to Anchorage. Then, I drove through Palmer to Glennallen, took a right, and went to Valdez. From there, I headed back north to North Pole and Fairbanks, hit the Parks Highway, and went south to Talkeetna, where I spent 2 days before getting back to Anchorage and flying out.

Here are a few pics. Keep in mind that the pics do not do it justice. Everytime I went around a corner, I kept saying, "Wow."


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[cindybear]

Cool pictures.

Two questions:

1) What compelled you to want to move to Alaska?
2) What does the average Alaskan diet consist of?

[Rick]

1) Peace, solitude, wide open spaces, and self reliance.

2) The average Alaskan diet is very high in protein. Most people I met there were in much better shape than people here, even though they ate more. They get lots more exercise.

At the Talkeetna roadhouse, they had a cafe. The 'half' breakfast consisted of 4 eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, juice, and coffee. If you ordered pancakes, they were bigger than your plate. Only once during my travels was I able to finish a meal that was brought to me.

[Julia]

Wow is right. The pictures alone are inspiring and yet I know nothing compares to actually seeing it.

I would love to go see Alaska some day. It is a profound place.

[cindybear]

Originally Posted by Rick To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

1) Peace, solitude, wide open spaces, and self reliance. 2) The average Alaskan diet is very high in protein. Most people I met there were in much better shape than people here, even though they ate more. They get lots more exercise. At the Talkeetna roadhouse, they had a cafe. The 'half' breakfast consisted of 4 eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, juice, and coffee. If you ordered pancakes, they were bigger than your plate. Only once during my travels was I able to finish a meal that was brought to me.

What kind of exercise to they get on a daily basis?

That half breakfast translates into two hearty meals for me!

I'm curious about the self-reliance: what makes it appealing to you?

[Rick]

Regarding exercise, I spent as much time as possible outside Anchorage, where office jobs were prevalent. Outside that, people were very involved in outdoors activities - hiking, hunting, and fishing. Living off the outdoors was commonplace. Many times, I happened upon conversations I couldn't understand, because they were in Alaskan native tongues.

The whole aspect of self reliance boils down to...do you go to the supermarket to get your food or do you get it yourself? I'm all for doing it yourself.

[Pcell]

Great pictures. I have a friend in Alaska right now, actually. I think she's doing some sort of med school rotation thing. She loves it so far. I also have a friend that used to live in Alaska with her husband and little girl. They liked it a lot, but had to move since she got accepted into our school.

I'd like to go there one day, but I don't mesh too well with cold climates so it'd be a somewhat short journey.