In the beginning we were thinking our 2013 RV vacation would be to the Southwestern States as we had never been to the Grand Canyon or the national parks of California and Utah. We happened to be at AAA getting maps, tour and campground books, when Peggy randomly picked up cruise brochures to Alaska. Going to Alaska is one of those things on our bucket list, but we never seriously considered it as there are areas of the lower 48 states we wanted to see.
AAA happened to be offering a special on a cruise to Alaska but there was a due date for signing up. Since we were at AAA, one of the assistants gave us the details. We went home thinking maybe this was the year to take a cruise north. We sat and thought through going on this 17 day cruise. Figuring the cost of the cruise, plus airfare to Vancouver along with travel insurance, the cost for us was significant. And the number of days seemed very limiting considering all that Alaska could offer.
I did some rough estimating of what our costs to drive our pickup and 5th wheel trailer might be, and those dollar amounts where less than the cruise. One of the other deciding factors was that the cruise was only 17 days. We could RV to Alaska and stay as long as we wanted.
So, the Grand Canyon went on the back burner, and we began planning our 2013 vacation to Alaska. Back to AAA for maps taking us 3000+ miles northwest! Game on! Route and timeline planning began along with searching the Internet for information, ideas, and tips.
While perusing the RV.net forum I came upon a posting advertising a part time job in Wasilla, AK. Wasilla is about 40 miles north-northeast of Anchorage. The job involved being property caretakers from Memorial Day to Labor Day on Sundays and Mondays in return for free RV hookups: electricity, water, and sewer. The other five days of the week we would be free to travel and tour around at our discretion. I quickly showed Peggy this posting, and she did not say, "No"!
As property caretakers, we would be watching a private general aviation repair facility that caters to float planes. We would be on hand in the event either a repaired plane was ready for pickup on Sunday or Monday, or be available to assist in the event a float plane landed on the adjacent lake needing to be repaired. The owner indicated that there had only been maybe once in the past two or three years that there was a situation where a plane actually was picked up or came into the facility. The owner would be able to take Sunday and Monday off to fly to their cabin located on a remote lake knowing the caretakers would be on the premises.
After a couple of phone calls to the proprietor, emailing questions to the previous year's caretaker, and visiting with our daughters, we were offered the opportunity and agreed to take it. Obviously this elongates our initial vacation timeline. We originally thought we would be gone maybe up to three months, but now we will be gone closer to four months.
We have quite a bit to think through before departing: pickup maintenance, prepping the house for 4 months of inactivity, yard care, etc. But we are excited for this new chapter in our lives during our retirement. We are feeling blessed to have been accepted for the caretaker position and all the opportunities that await us.
