Houston TX to Anchorage, AK!

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Actually Houston to King Cove AK, midway down the Aleutian island chain. My daughter (25) is a school teacher, who wants the adventure of teaching elementary school in Alaska. She has been hired, and will be moving there in August.

Here is the issue. She needs to pack up her very low mileage Ford Crown Vic, using it as a storage container, and ship it to Seattle, or Anchorage, then ferry it out to King Cove. (buying another car won't work for us, thanks).

So, any ideas about this? Tips, any great deals we may not see by surfing the net? Thanks.
 
I shipped a car last year using Uship.com . Worked out really affordable compared to some of the larger moving services that I looked into.
 
No tips for you, but the place looks like a neat fishing village, from the website anyway. Sounds like a great adventure and great to do while young. Best of luck to your daughter.
 
shop carefully, I've only shipped a car once, but I was prevented from having anything in the cabin of the car, and nothing more than a spare tire and jack in the trunk. That wasn't something I was made aware of until the day before load up. Sort of put a wrench in things.
 
I second what RichardS just said, I had spoken to 3-4 transport services, all of them had a strict nothing in the car policy (they said it was liability reasons).
 
You'd be better served buying a shipping container large enough for the car, then you could load whatever you want...
 
I've used UShip a half-dozen times for motorcycles with good results. I imagine this will be similar. It depends entirely on the individual shipper; make sure they're reputable and insured.

This is going to be very expensive though; I'd expect at least $2,000 to get it just to Anchorage, and significantly more to King Cove.

Good luck.
 
Best of luck to her. Not quite sure how it is being stuck with only a few miles of road and the only way out for a vehicle is by ferry. Doesn't look like there's that much snow this time of year, although I'd think there's snow in the winter. Maybe get ready with winter tires? Does she know how to change a tire? There's not a whole lot of driving to do around there, so it might make sense to use winter-rated all-seasons like the one Nokian has?
 
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Actually Houston to King Cove AK, midway down the Aleutian island chain. My daughter (25) is a school teacher, who wants the adventure of teaching elementary school in Alaska. She has been hired, and will be moving there in August.

Here is the issue. She needs to pack up her very low mileage Ford Crown Vic, using it as a storage container, and ship it to Seattle, or Anchorage, then ferry it out to King Cove. (buying another car won't work for us, thanks).

So, any ideas about this? Tips, any great deals we may not see by surfing the net? Thanks.


I would drive there and make it a nice trip.

Of course the company doesn't want anything in the car due to it getting stolen and claims filed.
 
My cousin accepted a school teaching position in Alaska (I don't remember where) for a year - she really didn't want to leave!
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I would drive there and make it a nice trip.


Me too! 4300 miles, 76 hours behind the wheel
 
When you're young it's a good time for an adventure like this. You'll find out that what people tell you about what to do and how to do it will usually be helpful but often times a bit wrong. That's part of the adventure.

I've done this kind of relocation job adventure stuff a couple of time, once to Alaska, once to Athens, Greece, once to the UK and once to Texas but always back to California.

This kind of stuff is what life is about when you are younger and more mobile. Hope she has a good trip.
 
There looks to be about 1 to 2 miles of roads in that town. Talk about short trips.

If it were me, I would plan on taking a car, and selling it when I decide to leave. Should be an easy sale to sell it to a local than then having to import and ship one in.

I'd look into what kind of cars are popular there. My guess is a 4x4 truck. You could buy a cheapish 4x4 truck in Oregon, Washington, or Alaska and ship it in, which is better than shipping that Crown Vic across the continent.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Actually Houston to King Cove AK, midway down the Aleutian island chain. My daughter (25) is a school teacher, who wants the adventure of teaching elementary school in Alaska. She has been hired, and will be moving there in August.

Here is the issue. She needs to pack up her very low mileage Ford Crown Vic, using it as a storage container, and ship it to Seattle, or Anchorage, then ferry it out to King Cove. (buying another car won't work for us, thanks).

So, any ideas about this? Tips, any great deals we may not see by surfing the net? Thanks.


I would drive there and make it a nice trip.

Of course the company doesn't want anything in the car due to it getting stolen and claims filed.


You CAN'T drive there. Check a map people. The only way to King Cove is by air or water so the vehicle will have to be shipped. Now you COULD drive to Anchorage and have it shipped from there, a win-win situation with a road trip as well as less expensive shipping.

Add to that, the climate there is moderate and snow rarely accumulates. I agree with Bubbatime about selling the Vic when she's ready to leave...if ever. Some folks love AK's isolation and some don't. She'll have to live there awhile to decide which applies to her.

Sounds like a great adventure!
 
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Alaska state ferry not an option? I have fond memories of being camped out on the deck with wife and toddler daughter. The locals typically had car stashed below, packed to the gills.
 
my advice would be a new battery and a new set of snow tires. getting stuck out there could be deadly.

sounds pretty sweet though
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Actually Houston to King Cove AK, midway down the Aleutian island chain. My daughter (25) is a school teacher, who wants the adventure of teaching elementary school in Alaska. She has been hired, and will be moving there in August.

Here is the issue. She needs to pack up her very low mileage Ford Crown Vic, using it as a storage container, and ship it to Seattle, or Anchorage, then ferry it out to King Cove. (buying another car won't work for us, thanks).

So, any ideas about this? Tips, any great deals we may not see by surfing the net? Thanks.


I would drive there and make it a nice trip.

Of course the company doesn't want anything in the car due to it getting stolen and claims filed.

Here's a good idea of how to get there from Anchorage.

kcv_map.jpg


It looks like the state ferry charges almost $1100 for one adult with a vehicle from Homer to King Cove. I'm not quite sure how registration is handled, but it would seem to be pricey to bring a car back. Without a car it's about $300. There's your adventure right there. That and being hit on by all the guys in the fishing and canning industry there.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Originally Posted By: gfh77665
Actually Houston to King Cove AK, midway down the Aleutian island chain. My daughter (25) is a school teacher, who wants the adventure of teaching elementary school in Alaska. She has been hired, and will be moving there in August.

Here is the issue. She needs to pack up her very low mileage Ford Crown Vic, using it as a storage container, and ship it to Seattle, or Anchorage, then ferry it out to King Cove. (buying another car won't work for us, thanks).

So, any ideas about this? Tips, any great deals we may not see by surfing the net? Thanks.


I would drive there and make it a nice trip.

Of course the company doesn't want anything in the car due to it getting stolen and claims filed.


You CAN'T drive there. Check a map people. The only way to King Cove is by air or water so the vehicle will have to be shipped. Now you COULD drive to Anchorage and have it shipped from there, a win-win situation with a road trip as well as less expensive shipping.

Add to that, the climate there is moderate and snow rarely accumulates. I agree with Bubbatime about selling the Vic when she's ready to leave...if ever. Some folks love AK's isolation and some don't. She'll have to live there awhile to decide which applies to her.

Sounds like a great adventure!


thank you, I was just about to make the same point.

My Buddies Mother, who is a PA-C, Back in the fall of '13 took a 4 year contract, Doctorin' at a small local(tribal owned) medical center in St.Mary's (Near Pitka's point, confluence of the Yukon and Andreafsky Rivers, up in the Yukon Delta Wildlife refuge.

similar situation, accessible only by water and air.
her contract is up this fall, but she doesn't seem to be interested in coming back.
she even picked up a native GF.

this past spring she finally bought a car up there, an 2007 Forrester. she had talked about starting a Taxi Company.
when I asked folks here what they thought would be the "best choice" for a Taxi(should she expand to a second car), that i could buy/outfit here, and drive to Seattle and barge to her, the suggestion that sounded the best to me was a CVPI, with an Aussie Locker diff...
 
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