I accepted this position knowing that relocation fees were not going to be paid. So when my wonderful husband and I decided to that I should go, we walked through the house deciding what should go with me. (Just to note my husband is staying here in ND.) Number one on our list was a chest freezer. Why is the chest freezer number one? Well, for two reasons. First, most people in King Salmon hunt and fish for sustenance. If Ken were to come up and kill a moose for me that would be about 800 pounds of meat. Much more than a normal, over the refrigerator freezer could hold. Second, a few years ago we talked with someone who lived in Ketchikan, and she told us most people have two freezers. One is for meat and the other is for grocery store specials. If she saw something she liked and on sale she would fill the freezer as you would never know when you would see it again. Definitely need a freezer.
The rest of the list is as follows: small table and two chairs, obvious kitchen essentials, toaster, crock pot, recliner or the couch, TV, DVD player and my Wii. Movies, two book shelves and books to fill them, a bed and a dresser, and my clothes. Doesn't sound like alot of stuff to me. With my short list I spent yesterday working on how to get it all to Alaska.
Using the Internet I asked google what was the cheapest way to move my belongings to King Salmon. First response, U-pack. They brought the container to your door, you fill it at your pace, they pick it up and deliver it to your new door for you to unload. Perfect! I filled out the get a quote questions and waited for an answer. We just wanted a ball park figure.
Ball parks in my mind are a place you go to watch your grandson hit an infield home run because the shortstop watched the ball roll under his legs. The center fielder runs up and grabs the ball and throws to first but your grandson in rounding second base. The first baseman overthrows the second baseman while your grandson is heading for third. The left fielder now has the ball and throws it to home but the ball hardly makes it over third base and rolls to a stop four feet from home plate and your grandson gets his first home run. That's what ballparks are, family, fun and laughter. I don't know where the moving companies play ball but I bet the bases are solid gold.
I got my first of many ballpark figures. The U-pack company doesn't go to King Salmon but they could move my belongings to Anchorage for a mere $8,900. Being a fast thinker, I thought maybe I would rent a U-haul truck and drive my belongings up to Anchorage and then just ship my precious belongings from there. How much could that cost? So I asked for a quote from other companies. Meanwhile I checked to see distance from here to Anchorage. It is a 52 hour drive on the Al-Can but to do that route I would need a passport. I don't have a passport and am not sure I could get one in three weeks. Next thought, I could drive to Seattle catch the marine ferry to Anchorage. Then I would not need a passport. Quickly I looked up the marine ferry schedules while thinking I have beat the system. Another road block, the ferry only goes to Anchorage once in April and I would have to leave on Friday to make it there on time. The ferry does however, go to Skagway from which there you could drive to Anchorage. Checking google map for the number of hours to make that drive I found that the road from Skagway to Anchorage goes through Canada.
Do you have a headache yet?
By the time I had looked all this information up I got the first quote on the cost of moving my junk from Anchorage 1 1/2 hours to King Salmon. $9,325. Determined I talked with nine different companies. U-pack was the most expensive. The cheapest cost from ND to King Salmon was $5,500. I have to look at this financially. If the job is for 13 months and moving to and from is going to cost $11,000, well, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that its not very feasible even for a dream job.
So I am leaving in 29 days, with only what I can take on the plane and have UPS deliver. How much is that? That's another days project.
Footnote: If money is no object and your moving to Alaska I would suggest using Royal Alaskan Movers. They have been in business since 1985 and provided me with the best service and the lowest cost estimate.
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