Today we are deciding about whether to take the van to Alaska or not. We just spent $750 to get it winterized, and although I feel as though I'm in for a penny so I'm in for a pound, I'm feeling somewhat perplexed. Val has helped work through the thoughts pretty well: it would be best to not spend the almost $5000, of which $3000 would be our direct responsibility. Therefore we would keep the extraordinarily winterized vehicle here in the lower 48. When we come on down to visit family and friends, we will then have something to drive around. We would simply have to buy a beat-up something-er-other once we get up there.
With this plan, we would be able to bring a bit more of our creature comforts with us to Bethel, as we can now quite easily stay within our $12,500 allotment. I guess it is really the only option.