Eagle River

The house-hunting has gone better. Here's what I have ATM:

One friend wrote and suggested living in an RV this summer if the rental stuff doesn't pan out. Here's my reply to him:

Yep, an RV is definitely looking like an option. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I think I've sent over 20 emails so far this morning. I have to go look at another scary place shortly.

I'm currently in Anchorage, sipping on a pitcher of maragaritas. I worked harder to get into Seward, but it was still a no-go, so I've been focusing on Eagle River, Palmer, and Wasilla, three towns just north of Anchorage, and closer to Denali. I've sent out at least 20 emails, maybe 30, with an additional 10-20 phone calls.

Working the leads, the next two options are north to Fairbanks, or southeast to Sitka. (Sip, sip, gulp.)

The ongoing tour of The Places That Scare Me (aka, rentals in Alaska) continues. The housing situation looks very bleak, with no relief in site. Today's tour included:

Dateline: Anchorage, Alaska, Sunday, May 27, 2007.

5:00am-8:40am: In the hotel, it's light out, so I have periodic thoughts about getting out of bed. Manage to fight them off.

8:50am: In t-shirt, sweats, and slippers, slowly walk down a very long hall to find a cup of coffee and a cookie. Think about shaving, but manage to fight the urge.

10:15am: Drive downtown. Don't feed the meters, do give money to the homeless. (There are a lot of them. One is still sleeping (or dead) on a bench.)

(Waiting for my pancakes at the Downtown Deli in Anchorage ...)

As cool as the scenery on this trip has been, so much of it has been about the people I've met.

An older lady at a restaurant yesterday told me about "panic hill", a section of road between Anchorage and Eagle River. When I asked a girl at the coffee shop about homes and apartments that I could rent, she told me she lived in "the ghetto" on Tudor Road in Anchorage.

Oops, the sourdough pancakes just arrived, and I'm starving.