Soda water & county vehicle registrations (Idaho Falls, Salmon: house, to buy, DMV)

[pioneercroft]

My family just returned from Salmon and Idaho Falls. Great vacation. While camping in Salmon, we noticed that the drinking water was "soda water" and it was also like that to a lesser degree at the home we were visiting in IF. Is it like that all over Idaho? Do most people treat their water to balance it? We didn't mind the taste, but it left us feeling thirsty.
The other question is about vehicle registration. I noticed that vehicles have plates that identify the county of residence. What happens when you move to a different county? Are you charged for new plates?
Thanks for your help!
Nancy

[cleosmom]

You've got me puzzled on the water questions Are you talking about those who have water softeners? We don't have one, however we purchase Spring water for drinking purposes.

Most plates do identify the county, unless of course you buy one of the specialty plates; support of law enforcement. wildlife etc. Considering we've stayed in Bonneville County I've not had to worry about that, however I think they do prefer you switch the plates as it is most likely how they designate the distribution of funds for each county.

[pioneercroft]

The water at the campground came out of the spigot like that. I did see the Culligan truck bring some kind of tank to a shed by the camp hosts. I don't know if our friends in IF had any kind of system on their water supply. But there was a definite soda taste and fizziness to the water, especially at the camp ground. (Morgan Bar)

[shades_of_idaho]

When we moved from Challis over to Cambridge we kept the 7C plate until it was time to renew. No problem changing over. I do not remember if there is a set time frame to have to buy new plates. I think it used to be 10 years then new plates required. AND when you sell your car or truck or trailer you keep your plates and put them on the new purchase vehicle.

We kind of enjoy the county plates as you know where some one is from or can guess. Even had some one way down in California asking if I knew so and so from Challis when I pulled in to get gas. He recognized my plate. And yes I did. LOL

Chris

[pioneercroft]

I like the plates, too. Last November my son bought a truck in Challis, that's when I noticed the plates were all 7C there and investigated. Now when I see an Idaho plate in our area, (near Mt. Lassen, CA.) sometimes I know where their from.
We love Idaho! We've been reading this forum a couple years now while we finish up our house and do hope to move there soon for the same reasons most free thinking people leave Cali. Northern CA is a beautiful area, but it's been going downhill with big city influences for awhile now, and drastically in the last year. It's not safe like it was before and the number of meth heads is astonishing. The jail is a revolving door in Shasta county. The county regs stifle business. It's just not for us anymore.
Thanks for your responses.
Nancy (divorcing CA, courting ID)

[MeInIdaho]

You don't have to get new plates when you move from county to county. Actually, you don't even have to register a new vehicle in the county where you live. My county seat is 50 miles away down a rather nasty washboard riddled gravel road with major truck traffic. Alternately, I could drive the long way around through three other counties adding another 25 miles to the trip, to get to my county DMV. We just go to the DMV in the neighboring county which is 50 miles away over a paved state highway. Whatever fees the DMV collects still go to my home county since my adress is listed here, but my plates don't reflect that. There are many, many people who don't register their vehicles in their home county. Latah, Clearwater and Nez Perce County residence (1L, 6C and N) come to mind. I don't think law enforcement appreciates the discrepency (I've been told it's deceptive) but as long as it takes me an extra two hours and trashes my car to get to my county seat I'll be registering elsewhere.

As for the water, I don't know about that. We filter our drinking/cooking water with a faucet filter, but that isn't because it tastes carbonated or fizzy. Our water is pretty highly chlorinated.