You are mistaken it is AK not AL.

[QUOTE=Debbie C;5858261]I see many posts here referring to Alaska as 'AK'....the O.C.D. in me has to make a correction here. The abbreviation for Alaska is 'AL'......I am very excited for you - this sounds like an amazing opportunity. Please keep us up to date on your experiences there!![/QUO
You are so wrong--Alaska is AK--those of us who live in Alaska should know---AL is Alabama. Before you correct others you should get your facts straight.

I recently finished a book, "Alaska Bound: One man's dream...One woman's nightmare" by Tammy Jones. It is a true story about the author's trials when her DH talked her into going to AK in March to build a cabin. It was a free Kindle download at the time.
Good luck on your adventure. Let us hear from you and please send pictures when you can.

Nancy's Notions have times--like right now when they offer free shipping. I take advantage of that.

My son and his wife live in Bethel. There are some very nice restaurants there. Think they even have some fast food places. They have never complained about the water and their clothes aren't stained. There is a large group of quilters there and they have made many friends.

One more point of interest - for such a remote area, Alaska is very technologically advanced. In visiting the lower 48 in larger areas (cities, etc.) I have found that we're pretty lucky on that score. Sure, because of the terrain we have dead spots for cell transmission, can't really get XM radio in our cars, and we're limited to slightly over 200 some satellite stations (not including XM), but we live with it, and they're improving all the time.
You'll get used to finding companies that ship free, or like Sheila says, call the company and have them flat rate it.
By the way, we're all planning one or two or more quilting retreats, and that helps keep us sane in the winter - having fun with our quilt sisters!!

This style of sewing/embellishment is specifically that of the tsimshian people, who are generally around southwest Alaska and north west Washington and Canada in between. Each segment of the Alaska Native population has a fairly unique style of native clothing which is still used for formal occasions and some casual occasions. The area around Bethel (and northwest) is primarily Aleut/Eskimo and as such have traditions that are wonderful and many are unique to them.

You sound like an awesome person! What you are doing is wonderful! They will be blessed to have you in their community, and you will have an unbelievable experience. I wish you all the best and hope you will be able to post now & again & let us know how you are doing.

As several other Alaskan members have said, we have a great quilting community here in AK. I have never done any research on this, but I'm guessing that given the population of the state as being a little over 500,000, we have more quilt shops per capita than any other part of the US...we routinely ship to the bush...we encourage and support one another...and we all understand the frustration of shipping quirks...but we, for the most part, stay here because in spite of some of the things that might be "less favorable", there are many more things that are more favorable...Tho the winters are dark and long, I wouldn't give up the beautiful snow and scenery - northern lights frequently - attitude of "we're all in this together" - and in the summer? well, the average temperature in Anchorage is low 70s and well, I could go on.

My special thanks go to those of you who don't like Alaska, or wouldn't move here, since it gives me space to live here and means that I don't have to live in Florida, Arizona, etc. Different strokes for different folks!

I just looked this book up on Barnes & Noble. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading. They don't have it in ebook form & the cheapest they had was $73! Guess I will be looking at the library. Years ago I read one by an actor who moved there with his wife. Can't remember his name, but I do remember his telling about taking his wife to have her baby (she was in labor) to the hospital on a snowmobile.