Kendall, yep, we get the annual Permanent Fund Dividend, which runs from $900 to $1200 per person.

On the other hand, rent for a studio apartment here will run you about $750 + utilities (easily another $150), a one-bedroom unit about $950, a two-bedroom about $1200, a house anywhere from $2000 on up. What are your prices?

In McMinnville, Oregon, comparative rentals don't compute. My sister rents half of a duplex with a full dining room, two bedrooms, an automatic doored garage and a fenced large backyard with a lockable storage shed for $625.00.

Airfare? A Seattle-Juneau round trip costs anywhere from $550 to $625 - three weeks beforehand. A Seattle-Anchorage round trip is just over $200- but that's because there are multiple airlines in Anchorage. We have only one.

An Alaska state ferry trip to Seattle (Bellingham, a half-hour from Seattle) takes three days and costs a walk-on more than $300 one-way, plus food. If you want an onboard cabin it will cost you another $350 on top of your own carcass. If you are not a walk-on but have a car you wish to take along, that will cost another $460 dollars - for a compact car. Costs more for a larger vehicle.

Keep in mind that all these fares are for ONE WAY. If you want to come back, double all the prices; there are no price breaks.

The only thing that makes Juneau, Alaska's prices - and climate - bearable is that we get to live here!