WELCOME TO ALASKA! ARE YOU PREPARED???
Alaska is Gorgeous! And you my friend will be captivated by its beauty!
You may be transferring with your current employer... or you are here for our many employment opportunities. Maybe your decision was simply to be closer to family and friends... Perhaps you simply visited Alaska once and fell in love with our immense mountains, lush forests, AWESOME fishing, hunting and exploring opportunities and had to come back.
What ever your reasons are for moving to the Last Frontier, my question to you is: "Are you prepared?"
In this Blog let's simply address driving in Alaska, since the weather has turned, we are waking to ice, and YES we have had our first snow fall, though thankfully it promptly melted the next day... you NEED to be prepared.
Let's Get to the Meat and Potatoes: Being prepared isn't just about knowing how to handle your car in icy conditions or heading to work 30 minutes early in a heavy snow fall, we'll cover that in another discussion To truly be prepared you should ALWAYS have the following items in your car for you and all of your passengers:
First and foremost your cell phone (ONSTAR IS GREAT TOO)! Not to talk on when you're driving down the road, but for making emergency phone calls when you truly need help. Unfortunately we still have many dead areas with cell phones up here. You can ask your wireless provider in Alaska where the strongest areas are and they should be able to tell you where they have the most problems. You'll soon learn what areas are strong and which areas you will not get service in.
When your car runs out of gas or you get a flat tire... there may not be anyone on the road willing or able to pull over to help you. One would like to think that a Good Samaritan would stop to at least make sure you are ok, but it doesn't always happen.
I once ran out of gas with 3 kids in the car on a day when it was 15 BELOW zero and was passed by 5 police cars and at least 100 other vehicles and not one of them stopped to see if I needed help. Because I had my cell phone, I was able to call a friend. Though it took her 10 minutes to get to me, I was able to get the assistance I needed.
In -15◦F weather your car and everyone inside it will get cold FAST if you have no way of heating it. Which brings me to my next tip...
- Gear to keep you warm. Enough for everyone who will be in the car.
Typically in the dead of winter you will already be wearing a nice warm coat, but make sure you have gloves, hats, boots, snow pants... whichever items you will need to keep you warm should you have to walk anywhere to get help.
You may also want to carry thick or warm blankets or a sleeping bag in the back of your car/truck. Emergency Blankets are also available at most stores. They are made out of a single layer of polyester film and reflect and trap body heat and repel moisture. Handy because they also fit in your glove compartment!
- Flashlights, Flares, Jumper Cables!
You need flares in case of an accident, hitting a moose and not being visible to other drivers, especially at night if your electrical system goes out and you are unable to use your flashers OR in white out conditions.
Flash lights are necessary for:
- Flagging down help in the dark (just make sure not to blind oncoming drivers).
- Checking under your hood or "shedding light" to change a tire
- Illuminating your path if you are forced to walk to get help
Jumper Cables for obvious reasons if you need to jump start your vehicle and to be prepared to help others start theirs.
- Last but Not Least ... Food and Water
At this point you may be thinking that toting food and water with you everywhere is over doing it just a bit. The food will get cold and the water WILL freeze if you leave it in your vehicle, but with our crazy weather up here you just never know when you may actually have a need for it.
In the next blog we'll address learning to drive Alaskan roads... 
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