KC,
No offense taken, and it sounds like you got a good price on the tires.
Just so you know, my reason for suggesting "cheap" tires was due to the fact that some of the AK to Lower US roads can be pretty rough, and I figure why f-up a good tire, and have to replace it when you get to the lower states, better to f-up an inexpensive tire!
(besides the fact that pretty much everything is overpriced in AK, why spend the x-tra when you don't have to)