Well, I've done my research and I've come to the conclusion that there are about 6 times as many welding jobs in Florida than there are in Alaska. So, maybe sometime in October we'll be moving to somewhere in FL. I've been thinking about the Tampa area. Any suggestions? Oh, and I believe we'll be driving down so we can visit relatives and take in the scenery.

 

If you need a place to stay on the drive or a coffee stop give me a PM

 

Wow, that's going to be a long drive!! I don't think you will have any problems finding work anywhere. Welders here seem to have as much work as they can handle...

 

Las Vegas NV is the fastest growing city in the US over 100000.

Henderson (basically part of las vegas) is the fastest growing city in the US.

 

Aww, that's not going to be too much of a climate change for ya. Good luck with your relo.

 

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp

 

Thanks guys! It should be a fun drive. And the wife is tired of snow and cold, and she's never been to the East Coast...so I figure why not Florida?

When I came to AK I was in the Air Force and was stationed on the Mississippi coast for school. I spent the whole stinkin hot summer there and came to AK in August and froze my butt off for the first month! Ofcourse, the temps here in AK in August were only in the 60's, but when you come from the 90's that's quite the temp drop! And since I've been here I've been stationed in a couple of warmer climates temporarily. The worst one was going to Okinawa in March...it's in the 30's-40's in AK and it's in the 70's-80's and humid in Okinawa. Not only that, but we were there for "wartime" training and had to wear the chemical suits and gas masks for about 7 hrs and run all over the place.

But anyway, I'll have to make the best of it because FL has tons of construction jobs!

 

Gulf side Ft Myers and Naples has quite a bit of work. Nice area tons of $$$ there. Avoid Miami unless you like crime. You know your gonna melt in Fla summer time coming from the big freezer up there ? I couldn't imagine living up there. COME ON DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!! You won't go back.

 

Yeah, I've seen lots of ads for industrial work in FL. Powerplants, paper mills, etc.

I know it's gonna be a cooker down there...that's why we're leaving in October...that way it's not too hot when we get there and we'll have a gradual introduction to the oven! Heck, it gets to 80 up here MAYBE once a year and that's equivalent to 100 in FL...that's hot in AK. Heck, we're wearing shorts at 55-60 degrees!

 

It depends when in October you're talking about.

There's very little difference temperature-wise between mid-August and the start of October.

Later in Oct you'll start to see a difference.

I lived in Jupiter for awhile, which is exactly 60 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale on the Atlantic coast.

Once you're down there long enough you're blood will thin out. After that even 60 degrees will feel chilly.

You'll get used to it. Even though it gets super hot in the sumertime everything is air-conditioned, and you'll enjoy the sun. It's sunny most days of the year down there and I liked that alot.

Nice blue sky, birds singing and the smell of fresh cut grass in the middle of winter, can't beat it.

After I came back to New England it took me a few months to get used to the normal cloudy weather up here.

It was depressing at first.

I predict you'll like it.

Coming from Alaska you'll be a true Snowbird!

 

BTW, northern Florida does cool off sooner than southern Fla., season wise.

Tampa's not considered to be in south Fla., so Fall probably does arrive sooner there temperature wise.

There's actually a temperature belt just north of Stuart on the east coast that when you drive through it, north or south, you can feel the temp change over just 10 miles or so.

 

Excellent! I grew up in PA...lived there for 22 yrs...and I've visited various places on the east coast including FL. It won't be a total shock...probably more of a culture shock than anything. I'll actually have lots of roads to drive on and about 6 different ways to get to the same place! Wow!

 

Hey welder27, I live just outside of Tampa. I was born and raised here, so if you want, give me a heads up when you come down and maybe I can show you around a little. I live in Brandon, FL. Its just a few miles outside of tampa. October is usually a great time, the weather is nice and cool. If you have any questions, please shoot me an PM. Hopefully I can answer them.