lucy6194
Cape cod MA
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We plan to have son send our mail general delivery while we are in Alaska. I know there is one post office in Fairbanks that we must use. Does anyone know of other towns that require a specific post office for General Delivery. Plan on being up there for 2 to 3 months and traveling. We tried mail service a couple of years ago while in Canada and it didn't work out so well.
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sdianel
Tampa, FL
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You can go to www.usps.com and search for a city. Once you search for a city, you can click on that post office and there is a list of the services they offer. If they accept General Delivery it will say so. I forgot to check once and had our mail sent and they forwarded it to the nearest "hold for pickup" location which was 25 miles away! So be sure to check each location. Enjoy your trip!!
Lonny & Diane
2004 Country Coach Allure 33' "Big Blue"
Towing 2008 Chev Colorado 4x4
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lucy6194
Cape cod MA
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thank you think this will work just fine. thank goodness for skipe and emails aswell.
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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We have had good luck sending our mail to Alaskan post offices (via General Delivery); Canada is a whole other story. We have discovered it is better to send to a post office in a smaller town near an area you plan to be in for a couple of days (unless of course you plan to be in Anchorage or Fairbanks for a couple of weeks). We try to avoid Canadian post offices on our way to Alaska so generally first delivery is to Tok then we sort of play it by ear depending on which way we head from there.
We have used FMCA for several years (ever since Foretravel stopped their service). Our only hassle is that FMCA sends mail out daily (M-F) but which day is based on first letter of your last name. This requires some planning on our part since we never have a fixed route or schedule. We do use the priority service so once they mail it takes 3-4 days as I recall.
You won't have the same issue by using your son and he can reduce more of the 'junk' type mail and/or decide which magazines you want to pay to be sent and which can sit at home waiting for you to return.
Diann
Robert & Diann
2001 34' Foretravel U270
2004 Avalanche
Burton TX
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TripleE
Traveling the country
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Fairbanks and Anchorage are about the only places big enough to have more than one Post Office. Most of the small towns only have one and accept General Delivery Mail. One thing to watch for - not all of them are open on Saturdays and often close for lunch and mail sorting. Check the USPS website and call for info if necessary.
Bill & Treasa
Our Blog
2005 Winnebago Vectra 40AD
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2004 Suzuki Grand Vitara 4X4
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joe b.
Florida
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As a fairly frequent traveler to and from Alaska by RV, this thread got me to thinking about forwarding mail. I can't think of anything I get in the mail that I would have forwarded. I know when my house payment is due and how much. All of my bills come to me over the Internet, I pay my bills electronically and have for many years. I have my computer set up to notify me when my vehicle insurance is due, etc. I download my bank statements and balance my account on my computer using Quicken.
We have banked in Fairbanks for the last 43 years but very seldom will I stop in one of the physical offices when in Alaska, as I prefer the electronic methods.
To be a bit snoopy, what do those of you that have your mail forwarded, actually get forwarded? I can't remember the last time my wife or I received a letter, on paper, from anyone. Everyone that writes to us, including my 94 year old MIL, sends emails to us. My mother passed away many years ago so I don't expect cookies in the mail from her, as I did many years ago.
So when we leave, I just notify the post office to put a "hold" on anything that comes to our mail box and I pick it up when we return in s few months. We get all our magazines, etc. at a private mail box we keep just for that purpose. They would forward but most of the magazines are just as good reading when they are several months old.
So what am I missing out on?
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
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Little Kopit
TheMaritimes.ca
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joe.b. You are most fortunate in your good health.
I have acted as a recipient of items related to rvers medications. Thus, I know that not all mail can be handled electronically.
& I, I took the road less travelled by.
My Photo Album, featuring Labrador 2006
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explorenorth
Whitehorse, Yukon
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joe b. wrote:As a fairly frequent traveler to and from Alaska by RV, this thread got me to thinking about forwarding mail. I can't think of anything I get in the mail that I would have forwarded.
Glad to know that it's not just me! If I only opened my mailbox once a month, I wouldn't miss anything important.
Murray
Whitehorse, Yukon
http://ExploreNorth.com/
and blogging at http://ExploreNorthBlog.com/
I live to travel, and travel to really live
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joe b.
Florida
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OK, so none of the mail forwarding folks are going to share with joe b. what they get forwarded to them. hmmmm. Not exactly sure what my health, good or bad, has to do with mail forwarding. I get all my prescriptions filled here locally at one of the large chain stores. If I am in Colorado or other states and need meds, I stop in one of the same chain stores and, there I am in their computer. In Alaska, there is a Walgreens in Wasilla, same chain as I use here.
I just make sure I have enough pills, potions and lotions, to get me through Canada, unless I have some Canadian script with me. (one of my Florida doctors is a Canadian citizen and is licensed to practice medicine in both countries) Over the years, I have stopped at a couple of walk in clinics in Canada and gotten checked out and given any script I needed to solve my problems and had it filled in Canada. I can't imagine it is any more legal for me to send medicines to Canada than it is for me to buy medicines in Canada for delivery to my Florida address with out a Canadian physician's signature on the bottom of the prescription.
Haven't needed to have my mail forwarded for the last 50 years of driving to/from Alaska, so probably won't in the future either. Fun subject to think about though and some people probably have a reason to forward. Whatever works for each of us.
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robanddi
Burton TX USA
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We go to Alaska for 3-4 months so...........
1) prescriptions (not forwarded but sent to General Delivery)
2) post office money (sometimes we get checks in the mail unexpectedly - not big ones but any money is nice)
3) bills that are irregular (balances from medical services we get just before we leave)
4) invitations (weddings, births, etc.); we can't go but want to be informed
We have a stick house and a stick cabin. In the country they will hold our mail for the summer (this is where most magazines go) but in big city they won't hold mail that long and my mail slot gets clogged. By forwarding mail, the post office trashes some and the mail forwarding service sifts thru and trashes some. We get enough stuff that we forward every 2-3 weeks.
Diann
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