Living In A Small Remote Town In Alaska
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- Опубліковано 26 кві 2024
- Living In A Small Remote Town In Alaska. Join Me From Fairbanks To Whittier To Valdez! I moved to Alaska and am driving from Fairbanks to Valdez, showing you over 50 towns, communities and landmarks along they way. Then grab a hot chocolate and some munchies as we settle down together for our first winter in the snowiest city in the USA, Valdez Alaska.
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• Driving From Anchorage To Whittier, Alaska - • Driving From Anchorage...
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Things were a lot different there in the 80’s when I lived there. One bar for every church. I used umbrellas on rainy and even some heavy snow days-because it was the practical thing to do. There were a lot of maladjusted kids I went to school with. It got really icy after huge snow falls followed by sudden temperature warmth and all the snow would rapidly begin to melt, turn to slush and then freeze which created a chunky texture to bang up your knees on after falling. But we didn’t wear boots or crampons, we wore high top tennis shoes , determination and nerves of steel! My favorite memories are of riding my bicycle everywhere in Valdez during the summer months, dining at the Pizza Palace, the smell of the salty air down around the harbor and the view from the city dock. ☃️😎
I had someone reply to my Nenana video and he was also here in the 1980s and said how much things have changed. There are still quite a few bars down by the docks, but in the entire 7 months I've been here during the rain and the snow, my umbrella was the only one I ever saw 🤣 the other tenants in the motel all tease me saying things like I drove past some guy with an umbrella and I knew it was you haha it's still the same how you described the snow and then getting a little warmer and then turning into chunks of ice, I usually walk once a week on the ice about five blocks to the post office and every time I saw one or two people fall in the street in December through February. My favorite pizza place in town is the stampmill, I'm not sure if that was there in the 1980s though but it's really really good.
I so wish someone out there can arrange for me (from South Africa) to come and live there
@@gideongouvs5559 it's not easy moving across the globe. I would recommend applying at seasonal jobs, therefore you don't have to depend on someone else and you can earn decent money and get to know more about Alaska and find out if you actually want to live here. There are a lot more inexpensive places to live and easier places to get to than Alaska. But if you're set on Alaska, seasonal workers are always needed, and that would be the best start for a foreigner moving here 👍
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- thank you for the honest reply --- i am from South Africa and admire that quiet life --- it looks serene and peaceful
@@gideongouvs5559 since Alaska is so large it really depends on where you live in Alaska and what you plan on doing how's the weather you would have peace and quiet. Most people choose Anchorage, which is the biggest city in Alaska and 40% of the Alaskan population lives there. It's a far cry from peace and quiet haha but that's where all of the year round jobs.... To get peace and quiet you can live on one of the many islands, which is extremely expensive, or you can live in a smaller community in the interior, which is extremely cold, or you can live in a place like Valdez. Most of the smaller communities are very inconvenient to live in, and the winters can be very difficult especially if you're new here (you can also live off grid but that's not as cheap as many of the UA-cam videos say).... In short I think even though Alaska does have a lot more quiet here where you can live, it also has a lot more inconvenience which can make life more difficult, depending on what you do for a living.... But if you come here for work I wouldn't come to Valdez unless you're familiar with or okay with dock work or working on fishing boats, which most people are not. It's much more easier working in the seasonal work for tourism, weather as a receptionist in a large or cleaning rooms in a large or working in one of the parks. I'm going to make a video in the summer about jobs in Alaska, for Americans who want to move here as well as for foreigners who want to get seasonal jobs 😉
Worked on the pipeline terminal construction for Morris Kuntson in 1975-76. While living in Alaska from 1974 till 1979.
When the sun came out it had to be one of the most beautiful places on earth God created!
Nice to see the pictures from today.
So true about the sun, I think I mentioned in a previous video on the ugly days it can be really ugly but on the pretty days it is gorgeous when the sun is shining.
Stunning narration, and a really good video. Thank you.
Thanks so much, appreciate the kind words from everyone.
Pro tip from someone who has lived it in these small towns growing up. If you are in Valdez or Whittier, get your vehicle on the ferry and travel to Cordova. It's not very far. Cordova is like the Valdez that you want. Valdez and Whittier are packed with RV's and businesses hawking to tourists in the summer. Cordova is one ferry ride away and you will have none of that.
Thanks, I've heard a lot of good about Cordova. If I was staying in Valdez I would definitely do what you're saying, but I'm heading to another part of Alaska now. I will get the Cordova one day though 👍
been there twice, hate anchorage so much I've taken the Ferry to Whittier twice.
@fbksfrank4 I think it's safe to assume I probably won't be seeing much more of Anchorage when I leave on June 30th. I'll be 2 hours closer to Fairbanks then I will be to Anchorage come July, so I'll be able to see much more of it and the North Pole then I can now.
For you Old Timers, what ever happened to Sea Hawk Seafood? Worked there during the 85 salmon/herring season. Fall of that year, did a Halibut opener on the FV Myra. Met up with her captain, Dennis Rafferty in Valdez and went on a Halibut opener. Sailed around Prince Williams Sound for about three weeks. Spent about four days fishing and the rest of the time... sailing to Cordova, Whittier, a place called Snug Harbor, and towed a house boat across PWS to a place called Drake Island. Another, GREAT Alaskan experience!
I asked my neighbor who's a long time resident of Valdez and he said after the Exxon oil spill, Sea hawk seafood sued the city of Valdez later in 2001 claiming the amount of money they received in compensation in the 1980s was too low. In 2010 they win bankrupt and the property was taken over by Silver Bay seafood.... Sounds like you had a blast when you were there, I love hearing stories from people like you back in the days in Alaska.
I am 70 years old and worked for Koch Alaska Pipeline in summer of 75 till the summer of 76. It was nothing to make 1k to 1.5k a week with overtime. I could live oñ per diem and bank most of my salary. Bought first house in Texas for cash.
That's cool that I'm getting so many comments from people who used to work in Valdez back in the seventies and eighties... It seems like that's something that hasn't changed, the summer workers are still making really good money and working a lot of overtime. Most of them are from the lower States but there's even people from other parts of Alaska who come here just for the work during the summer.
We are burning with heat. Your video gave some solace. Greetings from Delhi, India
It's 55 degrees (13 Celsius) on June 1st here 😊
The first time I visited Valdez was about 9 months after the 1965 tsunami/earthquake. Almost all of the town was still under water. It was completely devastated. The only building intact and not under water was a gas station at the top of town before you descended in. Anyway, man did you hit the nail on the head with your commentary! You did a fantastic job of really portraying an unvarnished Alaska and Valdez. Congratulations on your effort! And, I hope you have mega views with your presentation here; few people really describe living here in such a real life way.
Thanks a lot 😊 that must have been incredible yet sad visiting Valdez right after the tsunami. That's a memory that's never going to go away and you're lucky to have it. That makes me jealous lol
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- But you pay the price. I am an old man. You are not! haha.
Haha time goes by fast, I'm getting there lol
great video with honest advice. thanks.
Thank you 😊
Droll humor kept me chuckling for much of this video.
I have an odd sense of humor, I never thought about it but you're right it can be droll humor.
this was a good video. i think it will Blow up
Thank you, appreciate it.
I enjoyed this very much. Reminds me of a couple of isolated towns we lived in on British Columbia's coast in Canada.
Thanks... One of my future plans is to visit some of those places in Canada in the future. I look forward to doing this.
Thanks very much for sharing. Very informative.
Thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed 😊
Excellent video - Thanks!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 😊
My time in Valdez was in the late 1970's when I was a sailor on the FOSS tug that brought the floating container docks there from Seattle. Of course it was summer so it was a beautiful place to see. I am familiar with small Alaskan towns from my time with FOSS and before that with NOAA. I have fond memories of many towns that have changed for the worse since cruise ships have arrived.
I guess alaskans and tourists have a love-hate relationship. They know that they need the tourists for the town to make money and the local businesses to survive, but they hate losing their home to swarms of gawking people every summer. But since it's only 3 months of tourists for the most part, it could be much worse haha
Great video! Very thorough and thoughtful descriptions, and lots of great footage. I think I'd at least enjoy a full year here very much.
Thank you. It's really a nice place, great people and just minutes from the Thompson pass.
Very interesting video. Thanks for sharing 😊
Thank you 😊
I can relate to your lifestyle there I'm living in a small Town in Finland with similar daily experiences but I enjoy it that's the best part the enjoyment.
Exactly. It's definitely not for everybody but at the same time those who enjoy it and get to live in it are really lucky.
Thank you. Just scratched Valdez, AK, from my bucket list. Nice video.
Definitely a place to visit one time 👍
Great vid, Alaska is intriguing for an Aussie. The algorithm has decided I must watch your videos.
Haha the algorithm hated me for 8 months, for some reason it picked up on this video. But I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'd love to make it to Australia one day.
Thanks for sharing
I hope you enjoyed it and have a nice weekend.
Nice video and educational, thanks 😊
Thanks, I tried to be as accurate as I could be 😊
I worked on Kodiak Island for a short time during winter. When the weather was bad, no planes could land, ships would get delayed and the Safeway would have nothing fresh including meat. The news of the ship arriving would spread like wildfire and people would grab at the food not even looking at the cost. (mainly the fishing crews). Ice cleats everywhere, the town has 50 traversable miles if you have the right vehicle to do that. It was an adventure.
Sounds like Valdez where 90% of the time the planes were getting canceled, but they didn't have any issues with the boats getting delayed with food this past winter. It really is a unique experience living in places like Valdez and Kodiak in Alaska.
I was at Ft Rich,74-76…rode trail bikes in the summer, hit many small towns and trading posts…Looking at the footage and I can still feel the difference in the air❤️
That's cool, I really enjoy visiting the small towns and the trading posts, I can never get enough of that.
Hi from France, thank you for your videos. Very interesting. Take care.
Thank you 😊
I really enjoyed this video it was quite relaxing to hear how much you loved your tiny town!
Thanks. I actually left one week ago and I'm taking a break and Anchorage now while I look for a new place and a new small remote town for this summer and winter 😊
Well good luck on your travels! I hope you pick a good one!
Thanks 😊
This seems like a nice place for introverts😊.. watching from Nepal ..
Hi, Nepal is a beautiful country 👍 I always thought small towns were really bad for introverts because those people are forced to go into the grocery store where everybody in town goes into any other places where everyone goes. It's hard to get away from people unless you just sit behind your house or apartment building. I think most introverts are going to live off grid alone where a plane brings them food and mail and they only see people three or four times a year if they choose to fly in a small plane or drive their boat into town to get supplies. At the end of the summer or in the middle of the summer I'll be going to a much smaller place and I will look for the introverts 🤣
well done. Like the narrated videos you´ve been doing lately 👍
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Great video my friend 👍🏼 love the north.
I lived in Inuvik NWT for over 5 years, absolutely loved it. ♥️
Cheers from 2 Canadians 🇨🇦 living in Mexico. 🇲🇽✌🏼🥰
Oh, I bet that was a lot of fun! Glad you enjoyed the video 😊
Enjoyed this to the point reality of living in Valdez and surrounding Alaska areas.
Thanks 😊
Wonderful detailed told like a storybook with heart. I would live there for a bit.
After spending 21 hot summers in south florida that could be a perfect vacation
I would melt in Florida. After 2 weeks there you would just see a puddle in the street and say "hey that's John"
You did a great video. It was honest and objective. Very interesting.
Thank you ❤️
Spent a few days in Valdez when I hunted with an outfitter named Guy Gorge. We hunted for sheep not far out of Valdez in a limited access area ,we walked 25 miles into camp and 25 miles out I was in the best shape of my life and was fortunate to take a good ram Guy George lived half the time in Montana and had worked on the pipe line burning brush, he was a great guy but has passed away. I also remember eating in a restaurant on the waterfront,we had halibut and it was delicious. I am 92 now and the trip was in the mid-eighties and I look fondly on my trip to Alaska. I have liked and subscribed and look forward to more stories.
Thanks for the story. I'm guessing you were somewhere on or around the pass when hunting.
Nice video, thanks!
Thanks 😊
I enjoyed this, thanks for sharing. Peace from Philadelphia
Thanks, I appreciate it 😊
Thanks for sharing ❤
Welcome, thanks for watching and hope you enjoyed it.
Really enjoying this ..... subed and 👍
Thank you 😊
Talk about a small town, I was raised in Anchor Point from 1950 until I left in 1963, then went back to work on the pipeline. Anchor Point was S M All. 1 room school in 1950. Boring but unique childhood. But it's not the same anymore, all the people I knew are most likely gone or dead. Just memories now. I'm 80.
I could see how such a small place is boring when you're younger, to me now the small communities are all just unique and really nice. Maybe I'm just become more boring as I've gotten older haha
Fascinating remote villages. Nice infrastructures roads houses. No crowd no noise no pollution. So peaceful place
Yes. In my opinion it's really a great place to live if I didn't want to visit so many places by car across Alaska. Who knows maybe one day in the future I end up making Valdez my permanent hometown.
We lived in Cooper Center in 75/76. My husband worked on the pipeline. Loved the experience.
Some people I met the first month I was here have lived in Copper Center at the past three or four years and they love it there. And Willow Creek was probably my second favorite community I saw when I drove through Alaska last fall.
Great video!
Thank you 😊
well done, thanks
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Thanku!! Very interesting video 😁 beautiful scenery and very good commentary 👌🏼👍 The first thought i had when your video started was the tv series Northern Exposure. I absolutely LOVED it! I'm almost 100% certain that the setting for that series was a town like Valdez... I wouldn't be surprised if they even did some of the live shoots there. As someone who has always lived in warmer climes but just passionately LOVE the mountains, your video is an absolute delight. Looking forward to many more 😁👍Thanku again and God bless 😊👼🏽🙏🏽
Thanks, glad you liked it ....I think the entire Northern Exposure series was shot in Washington State, but that was a fun series. Have a nice Sunday 😊
@@Life_Is_A_Highway-
Thanku 😊 you too 👍
And thanks for the info reg Northern Exposure 😊 much appreciated.
Thanks 😊
Very nice thank you so much❤❤
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful I think I’m going to try the willow area for
My land thanks great video good luck
Willow was a nice town and fairly conveniently located. Make sure you visit before you buy land and look at the land closely (I assume you know this already but some people buy the land before they get here and they wind up getting swampland lol).
Great video! I've always wanted to go to Alaska. I live on a tiny island in the Caribbean, about the opposite of where you live. I'm going on an Alaskan Cruise to Glacier Bay this July. Really looking forward to it!
Thank you. Enjoy your cruise I'm sure you're going to have a blast. And the Caribbeans is a pretty nice place to live also haha have fun when you visit Alaska 😊
Great video:)
Thanks 😊
Hi there.
For me as an European it is a very interesting informative video about a part of Alaska.
Thank you very much for all your work!
For me it would be impossible to live there with so much rain and snow.
I lived in several countries in Europe and also in Asia. I enjoy warmth, sun and a lot of greenery around me.
Sending you love and appreciation from Italy ❤🎉
Thanks, appreciate it. I completely understand, I don't know a single person personally before I came to Alaska who wanted to live in snow and cold. That's probably why there's less than 800k people living here and 30k of those are forced to live here because they're in the military.
We visit your town during the summer with the RV that we rented in Anchorage. I just want to let your readers know that we really enjoyed your town and you’re right and people are extremely friendly and helpful. I was really surprised to see how much snow Valdez gets. I knew about the rain but I never thought about the snow. I come from a place called Lake Tahoe Nevada and we get all a lot of snow. So I probably should’ve thought About that.
I'm sure you had a fun trip driving through Alaska. If you were in Safeway in Valdez we might have even walked past each other haha
fascinating!
It's a cool little town. I won't be here much longer but I'm looking forward to the next town I try out.
I just found this and subscribed instantly. My dream is to retire and move to Kodiak. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks. Kodiak would be really nice. The only reason that's not for me is the cost if I want to go to the mainland more often.
I spent a week in Valdez about twenty years ago. I loved it. You did a very good overall narrative on the city but didn't mention, if any, medical services.
Thanks. I'm sure quite a bit has changed in those 20 years haha there is a very nice hospital right in the center of town. It's not a huge building but it's pretty big. If you break a leg or don't have severe health issues, they can work on you there. They actually have about 20 patients living in the hospital who need to be taken care of on a daily basis, some of them have been there for a few years. But if you have something serious like a stroke or your arm gets cut off, they would fly you with the helicopter to Anchorage. But it's a much nicer hospital that was capable of doing much more than I had thought before I arrived there. Btw even if you're in Anchorage or Fairbanks, you would be flown to Washington State for most major surgeries.
Hoping to come again next year, making it our 5th trip. We love Valdez!
Nice, do you always do a cruise or do you drive through?
Just looking at the footage, I would have guessed your population would be much smaller than here in my NH town. You beat us!
Haha how many people live in your town? Anywhere from 2 to 4 months I will be living in another place and I'm pretty confident this one is going to beat you even more lol
Great video
Thank you 😀
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- you are welcome
Thanks for sharing. I live in a city in Malaysia and always wonder how the most furthest parts of the world looks like. So this is something awesome❤
Glad you enjoyed it 😊 next month I'm going to be in a new small community where I will spend the next year at least so hang around and see how you like that place 👍
Very good and highly interesting video, really! Greetings from Germany🇩🇪.
Danke. Wenn du einmal Alaska besuchst, sag mir. Wenn du in meiner naehe bist, vielleicht kann ich dir eine Ort oder zwei vorschlagen wo du besuchen sollst 😊
Nice production Sir. Your Sunny pics are spectacular. Did not know all that rain in the Summer, that I could not handle + snow in winter. I got isolated for 3 days because of mud slides in my canyon so I know what you mean, but this is lightweight compared to what you experience. Need to look this up on a Map.
Yeah, I also don't enjoy the rain, but Alaska in general has quite a bit of rain. Well, the positives are there's no mudslides around here haha
Your narration was excellent.
Thanks so much
Looks beautiful with the snow. Probably make it easier then mud
Lol the snow is better than the ice also.
Thank you for sharing! :-)
Your description of the weather in Valdez must match how most of my fellow Dutchmen (and definitely of the Americans living here) perceive the rain in the Netherlands and how the older ones among us remember "real" winters.
Your description of the isolation of Valdez reminds me of when I was to become a sailer with the merchant navy. A Dutch saying translates to "we are all in the same boat", meaning that whatever fate will occur to all of us - no escaping.
No wonder that the people of Valdez will readily accept (or even welcome) newcomers: you'll want to know those that may require or provide help when Valdez is on its own.
I have "recently" discovered that I can handle just a certain amount of variation in daylight hours, implying that I shouldn't try living much more to the North than the Netherlands, or correspondingly to the South. I don't mind the dark, I don't mind the light, but I need a certain amount of both each day. - I wonder if you people from Valdez consider yourselves good at handling that. (Yes, I'm aware that winter days may be surprisingly bright due to the snow reflecting whatever light there is.)
I think you're probably 110% correct about how Americans and others living in the Netherlands feel about the rain, and also about real Winters haha .... You're also extremely accurate talking about we are all in the same boat. I think that's the way it is in most of the Alaskan communities that are smaller as well as any of the villages and communities around the world that are remote, people have to stick together.... I feel like whether it's the darkness in the winter or the cold, it's all in your mind. If you go outside and talk to people about how cold it is, you feel cold. If you go outside and just say it is what it is, the cold doesn't bother you. It's all a mind game in my opinion, you just have to accept it for what it is and you wind up not even thinking about it. The darkness is tough I think for people who drive to work and then come back home because you're leaving in the dark and you're coming back home in the dark, and the little daylight in the winter you're inside a building. But if you have a job that keeps you outdoors or if you work from home, then you get to enjoy the light a little bit more. There's actually very little sun in the winter time in Valdez, maybe two or three days every 10 days get sunny for a couple of hours, the other days are mostly overcast or snowing, and low clouds and lots of clouds. I mentioned in a previous video ugly days are really ugly in Valdez, but when the sun shines the pretty days are incredibly beautiful.
Sounds like paradise
What's tough about this place is it would be a nice place to live if it was located maybe 2-3 hours closer to everything else. There's so many places to go to and to camp at and to visit in Alaska, at least for someone who is new here who wants to see many places, even with the car it would be tough unless you were retired. I have two days off a week, if it takes me 7 or 8 hours to get to Paxson lake, for example, if I went there on my days off and let's say I get there at 1:00 a.m. the next day I have to leave to come back home for work. But if you live more in the center of Alaska, it takes you one or two hours to get where you want to go and you have two full days to camp. That's really the only thing I had against staying in Valdez.
I live in and grew up in Florida. Growing up, my dad always dreamed (maybe a little dramatically and with a little embellishment) of building a cabin in Alaska and living alone. Thankfully I was do block headed as a kid to be offended by this. lol. He and I took a trip to Alaska when I was 16. Stayed in a hostel in Anchorage, hiked about mile and half into the national park sometime near the end of winter (plenty enough winter for Floridians, though!) and camped a few nights on a really cool spot next to a cliff that overlooked a river bottomed valley...the other side was a huge mountain. I have some nostalgia there. I remember being blown away by the mosquitos. Being a Floridian, it was crazy to see them that big, that slow. I came back to Florida boasting about how many I could kill in one swipe.
Later in life, my dad got a job climbing telco towers in remote regions of Alaska and installing GPS devices. He got sick while doing this and was out of commission, on the company's pay in Alaska for an extended time. This, and probably old age thinned his blood and killed his dream (if he ever really meant it anyway). I kinda dream about it too these days. Too much I have here as a 38 y/o that I wouldn't leave. Might not ever do it. But, we'll see; Lord willing I have a lot of life ahead of me.
That's an interesting story, thanks for sharing. Maybe you were at Earthquake Park here in anchorage, that's all I can think of now with how you described it, but it may be some other Park...... I decided when I was 42 that I was going to come to Alaska, but I took things slow and I finally came 12 years later. My advice is don't rush it. The more ahead you plan the more you will be able to do that you want to do. And then one day you're just going to wake up out of the blue and you're going to know it's time to go to Alaska. It may take 12 years like it did for me, but that's what happened to me, I just knew it was time. Good luck if you decide to come 😊
Small towns like this are quaint and cozy but it seems like they all have their
hands in your pocket for something. Every thing is so expensive!
I never thought about it that way but in a way you're right. I guess you have to pay for peace. If that's true then I would say it's worth it, and I don't have a lot.
Excellent Presentation 💐 Hearty Greetings from Hyderabad , India 🇮🇳
Thank you 😊
Lovely video. Thanks. I live in Western Washington, where it rains a lot in the winter and its the same with the umbrellas.Locals dont use them
Thanks 😊 it's funny for an outsider to see but it's also understandable who wants to carry around an umbrella everyday with them.
This was very interesting. Thank you for this glimpse into life in a more remote area of Alaska, and the information.
I was wondering what people do regarding medical needs? Is there a hospital? (I am assuming that there are doctors).
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. There's a pretty nice Hospital in the center of town. For any major surgeries or serious accidents the patients would be flown by helicopter to Anchorage, but this Hospital can handle more than I had thought before I got here.
Fascinating to say the least. I'd love to visit it but that's all. Definitely not my lifestyle but thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's definitely worth a visit, and with Thompson pass only minutes away whether you snowboard or ski or go hiking it has everything for you. They'll take you up in a helicopter to the top of the mountain so you can ski down. Or you can take a ferry over to Whittier or Anchorage if you wanted.
Alaska! Love it. Spent about five years through every season! Will admit I was in Fairbanks and Delta Junction. Would have spent more time there but could not manage to convince the wife to move or the customer he needed me and my buds there all the time!
I was supposed to be heading to Fairbanks for 4 or 5 months before I settle in another small remote town for the second half of this year, was really looking forward to it but the place I was renting pulled out of the contract just weeks before I was supposed to get there (they made some excuses but in truth they realized they would make more money off of tourists than a long-term tenant). But my backup plan is Anchorage so I will be heading there unfortunately instead for a few months. I expect I will be about 2 hours away from Fairbanks though when I settle in after July in the new community, so I'll visit Fairbanks after July quite often..... I can understand your wife in a way, as you know since you lived here you do give up a few conveniences (although not as many in the big cities here) and what most people are used to. And it is true I've spoken to a few people who watched UA-cam videos where it glamorized living in Alaska and traveling all the time and how everything is great and wonderful etc, and quite a few of those people spend all their money cuz it's not as easy as UA-camrs make get seem, and they are heading back home. And all of them also mentioned they came to Alaska a bit naive after watching UA-cam videos thinking they're going to have all this free time because apparently everyone in Alaska does and what wound up happening is they were working even more than they were from where they came from because they were trying to leave the same lifestyle they were back in Oregon or California, and that's just not going to work out. I do plan on making videos about those kind of things once I get settled after the summer.... But I hope at least you can convince your wife to come back and visit Alaska, maybe take a road trip for a couple of weeks.
We don’t use umbrellas in Oregon/Washington either. I guess anywhere where it’s always rainy people just adapt/become one with the environment.
True, I mean I can understand it, who wants to carry an umbrella every day everywhere they go. At the same time Mary Poppins always carried an umbrella so I guess if she lived in Oregon or Valdez she would disagree 😆
It’s a neat place
It was nice, I'm happy I tried it out for one winter 😊
Cold cold 🥶😉😉😉👍
Haha I can't disagree with that. But there's always a but... Valdez is like Hawaii compared to where I will be spending the winter of 2024 😉
I love you're manner of narration. You've got a new subscriber.
Thank you, appreciate it 😊
Thanks for the warning
😂
Being from Petersburg AK, I find you describing Valdez as a "small town" hilarious.
I guess no matter where one lives, there's always someone who lives in a smaller town.....Petersburg is really pretty. Although it only has about 900 less residents than Valdez, you're on an island so that's a whole different story haha
Your video has a 70s vibe 👍
I love hearing that, rockin it old school haha
Valdez, a wonderful place to live..
It is, yeah 😊
U got a new subscriber here. Love watching Alaska from miles n miles away. My son n daughters live in Valdez and have visited them twice already. Good for retirees, cannot wait to go back.
@JuliaDLA thanks Julia. It really was a nice place and a fun time I had there. I'm going to do my best to go back and visit later in the summer but shortly after the video I actually left Valdez and settle down in Anchorage while I look for a small community in the interior to move to. If you saw my new video I published today about my first impression of Anchorage, you can imagine how much I miss Valdez already.
Wow, winters in Valdez aren't much colder than winters in Moreland, Arkansas! Actually, it's been colder the last few winters here, just not as much snow. That's crazy...
Valdez definitely has mild winter temperatures compared to most other parts of Alaska. Anchorage is going to get down to about -10 or -15 in the winter and Fairbanks in the minus 30s - 40(same with the interior part near Denali all the way across down to the Thompson pass). I guess spring and summer is going to be much more different than Arkansas haha today when I left Valdez coming to Anchorage it was in the 30's and when I arrived in Anchorage at about 10:00 a.m. it was 38 and the high will be about 48 today. And then most times in the summer in most parts it's in the 70s during the day and in the 60s at night....
Very enjoyable video. Do the locals gather for any social events? Any wildlife, like bears?
They have a community center where they have several events, like movies for example. It's very seldom that any moose or bears or anything else will come into the center of town. 2 weeks before I got there a young bear that they suspected lost its mother was in the parking lot of the motel probably I need some for the first time and desperate for food before winter arrived. And the last time anyone I spoke to saw a moose in the center of town was about 8 months ago in the Safeway parking lot. While I was there for the 8 months through the winter I only saw a coyote run through the center of town around midnight and an Alaskan weasel ran into the motel Lobby. there are quite a few feral rabbits running around, and in April you start seeing a lot more Eagles. In the summertime if you go down to the docks you will see seals and other sea life.... so the real answer is no nothing's really going to come in the center of town other than weasels, feral rabbits and Eagles..... but if you drive 5 minutes outside of town towards the Thompson Pass you will see plenty of bears and moose.
12:18 Same thing where I live, Maui. There is no way out period, (by vehicle) but the weather is nicer, hahaa
Haha but when I'm bored I can throw snowballs at my neighbor and annoy her 😅
I like your bluntness and candidness ! ☺️😊
Wish people in the L.A. suburbs wilould be nice-friendly as there !
To visit for sure ! Will not be able to survive ! 🧊🌨️⛄🥶🥶😁/👏🇺🇸💪
Thanks. A few of my friends have said I couldn't survive in Alaska but what I found that really quickly is it's all a mind game. I'm not a tough person but the cold weather is only cold if you let it get to your head, the darkness is only too much if you think about it, and the boredom only arrives if you don't keep yourself busy. Just like I told my friends I'm sure you could survive up here, if you just accept the cold and the remoteness and the darkness in the winter as part of life, and the wildlife and things you can do here outweigh what you don't like, you'd be fine 👍
Good video, is there any pubs/taverns there?
There is a really good Pizzeria that's open year-round, two diners that are really nice open during the winter and I like, a Chinese restaurant that's open but it was closed for a little more than a month in November because they went on vacation, and a few drinking places opposite docks that also serve food.
..and you missed notation of slightly larger shaker back in March 1964, that displaced old Valdez completely; so the newer location could meet similar fate when circumstances finally might repeat.. "wash, rinse, repeat" like the seasons, if you are around long enough.
And "Safeway" has been Albertson's sub-brand; working on becoming part of Kroger/FredMeyer. Much change is still ongoing, too!
~ small town AK-USA survivor since 1960 🇺🇸💮☃
PS: Ice cleats are better than umbrellas, since they might fit in your pocket.
Yeah, the chance of an earthquake forcing the town to move again is probably more likely than a tsunami destroying the town..... I'm actually preparing to move to another part of Alaska but correct me if I'm wrong he's in Safeway owned by Carrs grocery store now (or is Carrs owned by Safeway)? ... Haha now I'm going to go and get an ice pick lol what part of Alaska are you in? I'm pretty much set on where I'm going this summer/winter, although I'm a bit torn between healy and Willow Creek. I thought they were both really interesting.
Cool video 👍 . I'm thinking about a move to Alaska . I love winter and snow ❄️, cross country skiing and snowmobiling ❤❤. I would live in Valdez too rainy 🌧. I'm not a depressed person or one that has issues. Only time I get sad I'd when winter ends 💔. I live in northern Midwest. Either I move to Minnesota, northern Wisconsin or Alaska. I usually take off to New Hampshire around March to extend my winter 👍, just wouldn't live east-coast.
On the Thompson pass right outside of Valdez is well known for a lot of great snowmobiling and skiing, so maybe you could live on the other side of the pass to be close to that. But if you like winter and snow then you will definitely enjoy it here 👍
Awesome narration! I definitely could enjoy Valdez. Until the vampires from 30 Days of Night show up....
Lol yeah, those vampires kind of ruin things 🤣
A great video, I would love to spend a year there to experience both the summer and the winter.
I would say anyone who comes to Alaska should try there because not only is it a really neat little town but it's also a bit more mild than the rest of Alaska. And arrive between September and November so that you find a room. I'm going to make a video in a month or two talking about stuff like this for those who want to try out Alaska.
Seems tame compared to -40 with 60 below windchill like here in the Midwest!
Other than the two weeks where it dropped near zero, winter in Valdez wasn't bad at all. The thick ice covering the streets for almost 3 months and 400 inches of snow was not as bad as it. sounds
Thank you sir!
Happy you enjoyed it 😊
Very nice video & very informative ❤!
@@marshawargo7238 Thanks :)
I like Valdez fine. Being from Gakona, you could go down there in the winter for some nice warm weather, LOL
Lol before I read the end of your sentence I was going to say I think Valdez in my opinion is a good place for people just coming to Alaska to move to because the winters are much more mild than in other parts of Alaska. Even if they only stay there for 6 months or 10 months, it's a comfortable first winter for them. But I personally could not see living in valdese permanently, only because there's not places in every direction that you can get to, I want to say it's a bit more out of the way than places like even nelchina or ferry. But that's just my opinion or the way I look at Alaska, which is definitely different than people who have been here their whole lives.... I'm heading towards the interior right after the summer, but I still want to visit a few more places before I decide what town or community I'm going to settle down in. I wish I could try a bunch of them but I visited about 50 towns in communities so far and I have Willow Creek, Healy, salcha, as three of my top five. I'll know the answer to which one it will be probably in July.... So if you come back and read this message how do you like living in gakona, and what's the good and the bad in that area?
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- I was born in Glennallen, raised in Gakona. Lived in ANC, Seward, Moose Pass, Sitka, Cordova, Homer, etc. Now i just spend my summers in AK. Snowbird. So I can't really answer that question. I do like the coastal communities better than the interior. But for the rain. Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, and generally less mosquitos. Spent a lot more time around Valdez when the Chenega was still running to Cordova though. I think you need to spend a winter in the interior before you decide, if you haven't yet.
😍
Glad you liked it 😊
You still have a radio shack? I’m jealous.
Haha it's not like the Radio Shack my parents used to bring me in the 70s and '80s... the first floor has a lot of things like batteries and I guess smaller things and upstairs had a section for toys and a very large section for guns. But the family that runs it is really nice. It is independently owned..... the last Blockbuster in Alaska closed in 2018.
Hi i like Alaska and also like small town..
There's a lot of those in Alaska 😉
Fascinating - bit how grim! Are there pharmacies - hospital?
Thanks for watching... surprisingly the town has pretty much everything that's important: a pretty nice hospital, a grocery store, two other tiny grocery like stores, a thrift store, Safeway which has a pharmacy, a liquor store, a gas station / convenience store, outdoor hiking gear store, two banks, a post office, Hardware store, radio shack, what Chinese restaurant, a pizzeria, a couple of diners, and a few little stores like candy shops and stuff like that mostly for tourist. There's a bit more like the museum also.
sounds great to me
I said this in a previous comment, but this was the most fun winter I've had since I've been a little kid. It really was enjoyable there.
i was in valdez when i was in alaska its a beutiful place
It's a fun place to live and it is really nice. What year were you there?
2022 @@Life_Is_A_Highway-
We just missed crossing each other's path.
We where in valdez for only 1 night of the bus tour @Life_Is_A_Highway-
Hope you enjoyed the cruise. My parents went on one and they loved it. The next time though you have to rent a car and drive for 7 to 14 days through Alaska, that's your next vacation haha
Excellent video. I couldn’t turn it off. As being in healthcare for 29 years. Is there any access to medical or especially psychiatric health?
Thanks. There's a hospital in the center of town, they can deal with most injuries but if anything is serious/ life-threatening then they would fly You by helicopter to Anchorage. But it's a good-sized hospital and it's in great condition like brand new looking. They are often looking for nurses, in fact nurses are highly in demand all throughout Alaska.
Valdez is not worse than Saint Paul Island, Alaska,
I worked there for 15 seasons from 2000 to 20015 during the winter processing either opilio or king crab,
it was so cold the ocean around the island got frozen solid sometimes for several days,
it was impossible for the boats to deliver their catch to the where we were working,
I was working for Icicle seafoods.
There's definitely a lot of places worse than Valdez. In fact I would recommend anyone coming to Alaska to spend one winter in Valdez because it's pretty fun.... I'm sure though even though you may not have enjoyed Saint Paul Island, you probably still don't regret doing it?
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- I must admit I did have lots of fun and make a lot a money while working in Saint Paul Island,
we were working 16 hours every day no days off for almost 4 months straight during the crab season every winter the coldest months in Alaska,
there's always a beginning and for everything in life so because of family situations I stopped going to Alaska back in 2015.
Even the construction workers here and the dock workers are working crazy amount of hours but like you said they also get really good money and some of them come back every season, and some of them just had enough or like you family kept them from coming back. But it's good that you enjoyed it because some of the people here don't really like it.
sounds like a good place for works. Retirerees can works a few months and makes end meet or increase living.
It actually is a good place for retirees because a lot of the places there are desperate for workers. If someone wants to work a couple of hours in Safeway year-round or if they just want to work a few months a year and take one of the diner jobs for extra money, Valdez would be ideal.
We’re off grid near Ninilchik 👋🏼
Nice, are you guys originally from here or did you move from the lower States? How do you like it there?
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- Grew up in California but Alaska was always calling. Spent time in all 50 states and most of Canada before deciding to set up roots in Ninilchik.
I like Valdez, Alaska. I lived in Anchorage, Alaska for years; it's nothing like Valdez.
I'll be in Anchorage in 1 week as I'm using it as a base camp while I look for a place to rent in the interior to try out my next town/community. I'll probably put out a video in about 1 month with my opinion on Anchorage and if you happen to come back and watch it, remind me it's you and let me know if you think I was accurate 👍
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- That would be awesome.
Subscribed to your channel now. Thank you 😊🙏
Hello from Thailand 🇹🇭 btw 🤗
Thanks 😉 what brought you to Anchorage from Thailand?
@@Life_Is_A_Highway- My parents; dad in the US Air Force (stationed at Elmendorf AFB), mom in AAFES n my brother in the US national guard.
I used to work at Teds Stevens Anchorage International Airport. 😁
@@AlaskaAli ah, cool. I was just an Anchorage for one day previously and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have many good things to say about it 🤣 but I shall see..