What is a typical day in Alaska like?

When I lived in Portland it reminded me a lot of Anchorage, except more spread out and of course a ton more poeple!

I think you have been watching too many Northern Exposure type shows because they have Walmarts, Sears, Safeway, all the normal places to work. . .it's just more expensive to travel, buy produce, milk, and cost of living is hirer because most things are shipped up there. Of course, people (outside of Anchorage) are friendlier. . . you seem to chat with people in line more easily.

You should go during winter to see all the snow, but summer is fun for camping and hiking trips!

I live in Alaska in Anchorage, however I have lived in different cities here.

Today I went to class, which was Organic Chemistry, at the University of Alaska. After, I went to the bar for a little with my friends, then went to the gym, then came home and had dinner. There is still 24 hours of sunlight so I got done with the gym.

Smaller cities are less active. But Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau are really a lot of fun. There is a ton of stuff to do.

In the winter, younger people mostly have house parties and drink at the bars a lot. There is a ton of life up here. Anchorage especially. It's like living in a mid size city, only near the arctic circle and with a lot of snow.

Oh, and everything is really expensive here. Like Hawaii.

I live in rural Alaska, on the south central coast. I work and live at a dog sled kennel. We have no running water, so we haul our water in barrels from town (which is about 40 miles away) No running water means out-house, sauna for bathing, and we collect water from the rain in large barrels attached to our gutters. The town is small, a grocery store is about all there is for shopping. I have dial-up internet which I use to order items I need that I cannot get in town.

The weather here is in the 60's now, as it is through most of the summer, and is around zero during the winter. Because we are near the coast, it doesnt get much colder than that because of the ocean air.

I spend most of my time out in the dog yard feeding, walking, cleaning, working with the dogs, and once it snows (November, usually) I'm dog sledding.

There are cities/towns here, which most people live in or near them, and life can be much like it is down in the lower 48, though people tend to be more helpful and kind up here, helping each other out a lot.

I live in Juneau 4 months out of the year and 8 months at a remote site in southeast Alaska. This morning (In Juneau), I woke up at six. The sun was up, two cruise ships were coming down the channel to the harbor and there was a year old black bear out my living room window. Had my coffee and went for a hike on the flume trail on gold creek. On my left was Mt. Jumbo (3,800 ft.), on my right was Mt Juneau (3,600 ft.). Behind me was the pacific ocean in the form of Gastineau channel.

The rest of my day I remodeled a house and listened to NPR.

Tonite I'm grilling a king salmon that I caught on saturday. (You know, the fish you pay something like $7 a pound for?) And enjoying time with friends.

Some parts of Alaska are desolate, however most of our state will take your breath away. Out my back door the mountains are less than a mile away, out my front door the ocean is about 700 yards away. I have to be careful driving because of the deer, bear and porcupines this time of year. If I lived further north moose would be a problem. (A state trooper just had one go through his windshield yesterday.)

We don't live in a desolate state, we live in God's country. Keep in mind, the shows you see on TV about Alaska are meant to be dramatic and show extremes, we usually watch them and laugh about it. The show on Discovery about the Alaskan challenge comes to mind. (Great comedy!), Tougher in Alaska is another "must see" hype show.

Here's a link for some webcams. They might give you a better idea.

I hope this helps.

I live in North Pole, Alaska. Today my lilacs are in full bloom - the cherry trees bloomed last month - and thanks to the near 24 hour of daylight the roses are in a second bloom.

Alaska is a land of extremes. Extremely nice in the summer, and, cold in the winter. But, it is a dry cold - not that dampness that goes right to the bone. You can enjoy being outside in the winter!

I live in Palmer, AK. It has about 6,000 people in the whole area. I am retired so the highlight of my day was going to the post office. I stopped at the local coffee hut and got a tasty chocolate ice cream cone. It is now 9:13 pm, about 63 degrees outside.