This will be the Cliff Notes version of our Plan. and act as a Table of Contents for each segment of our Adventure. As it evolves, I will update links here.
- June 2020 Leave Jensen Beach
- Drive 5000 miles
- Rent/squat/cohabitate in Wasilla with our Friends, MammaK and Turtle. They offered, and we appreciate it! We will stay there for about a year, as we get our lives re established, and adjust to the new, well, everything.
- Liz will continue her current job, telecommuting. She (mostly) enjoys the work (but it IS work), and many of her coworkers have become close friends of ours. Continuing her employment means we keep in daily contact with dear friends, a bonus. Add in she is GOOD at what she does and takes great pride in her work, and that gives her a sense of satisfaction. I’d keep my job if I cou…no, just kidding…no way. 🙂
- I will start cutting firewood. I would like to have our firewood ready before I do anything else. And LOTS of it. Liz gets cold here in July. I expect her to learn to love a wood stove. I will find a paying job doing something, I’m somewhat handy, I’m told.
- As we acclimate, we plan on looking for some land.
Land Search Criteria:
* No less than 2 acres, but 5 or so would be better. Close to, if not touching state land.
* Some form of water running thru or bordering it.
* A four season road.
* Within 30 minutes of Three Bears (a grocery store) in Wasilla. This is close enough to our landing address without giving too much up. (OpSec vs Blogging….always a tough choice) and keeps us close to our friends.
* North and/or West of Wasilla
* Not lowlands, or at least not all of it.
* Less than $20,000, unless it offers some SERIOUS amenities we cant find ever again. - Plant a garden
- Hunt. Small game for the first year, as we won’t be “residents” for quite a while…like 18 or so months if I understand it correctly, due to our June arrival. Non resident licenses are pricey…and in all honesty, I won’t have a damned clue about anything other than shooting squirrels, rabbit, and grouse – all things I’ve done many many times. Moose, bear, caribou…there is quite a list..wolves, wolverines, bobcat, coyote…buffalo, muskox…we could be here a while…sheep, can’t forget them (for the Tundra Talk guys)
…you get my point. a LOT to learn about Alaskan big game hunting..pretty sure that is part of the reason for the time it takes to be considered a resident. - Fish. Oddly enough, Salmon are far from my first thought when I start getting excited about Alaska fishing. Halibut, burbot(!), and pike are what tickle my fancy first.
- Forage. Yeah, walk around in the woods and pick up food. Free, natural, healthy, unprocessed food. Sounds horrible….in fact if I heard “free, natural, healthy, unprocessed”, I would think “KALE! RUN!”
Fiddleheads are among the dozen or so wild edible plants found in Alaska. There over a dozen wild berry varieties. And you can find over a dozen edible wild mushroom varieties (worth eating). I am well versed in finding and preparing many of the the Alaskan foragables, and we will easily incorporate them into our diet. I also look forward to learning about those unfamiliar to me, and then adding them to our diet too.
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Simply put, there is a LOT to do, to learn, and, dammit…, to enjoy! We are leaving Florida – the whole damned state is a tourist trap in one way or another. Florida is a FUN place to live…
….but, we believe, so is Alaska. Only bigger. And different. And new.
And we want to enjoy it.
Hope you continue following us
Gonna be an interesting adventure…
Peace,
db