Thinking of moving to Couer d'Alene (deal, trees, shelter)

[pacalady]

Seabiscuit:

NO question is dumb!! You need to have information to help you make this major change!! So don't feel stupid!!!

There are the rare times when a 'glimmer' of the northern lights can be seen here ....but I emphasize "RARE"! If it is going to happen it will be between late December and mid January....and it is different that the photos you see.

I lived in Fairbanks Alaska for four years during the late 70's .... up there ...yes WAY up there, the Northern Lights can be heard before they are seen.... the 'crackling' sound is distinctive; and they are in COLOR! Here in Idaho I have seen them, but it is no color, and looks more like a 'piece of the sky' has a brightness to it that the rest does not.

I will tell you this, however, about the clear nights of August: If you ever wanted to just reach out and TOUCH the stars ..... you can do it here. The Milky Way, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, are at the end of your fingers. The Big and Little Dippers are bigger than life.... and the air is SOOOooooo clean! I remember just going out onto our lawn (of field grass mostly) and just laying down to see what the sky had for me. Although I'm not as youthful as I was then, I still marvel at the stars and moon ...

OH, the Harvest Moons!!!! I'd almost forgotten...... THEY ARE THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING YOU'LL EVER SEE!!! And the sunsets are just as magnificent. I'll see if I can figure out how to attach a photo to this thread tomorrow ....

PacaLady

PS to johns65vette: glad to have you here!

[Seabiscuit]

have a great trip and good luck vette! Bring back lots of pictures if you can! That would be awesome! Take care

hi PacaLady! Thank you again, so much, for all the info, it is incredibly helpful especially since I haven't seen the place yet. I am so glad you told me about the Northern Lights, bummer that you don't see it too often up there. But I'm even happier to find out that you've lived in Fairbanks, Alaska. You see, Alaska was my first pick. We took a trip out there in May just to check it out and I absolutely loved it! It was so beautiful, I would've moved there in a heartbeat. We didn't make it up to Fairbanks but we did get to Denali National Park. I have never seen any place so beautiful in my life, Alaska is magical... those snowcapped mountains along Seward Highway were like a dream. Unfortunately, my husband feels it's too cold for us and our dogs so we had to cross Alaska off our list. Needless to say I was so disappointed and have been searching ever since for a new "magical" place. Can you tell me if CDA is anything like Alaska? Is the landscape similar? I imagine it looks a bit like Seattle but it doesn't rain as much? I couldn't take the grey and rainy weather there. It seems like there's more sun in CDA and the winters are not as harsh as Alaska. It's so nice to talk to someone who has lived in both places. Would you be able to compare the two and tell me if they are similar? Thanks so much for everything!

Seabiscuit

[pacalady]

Hi Seabisuit:
Alaska NOW isn't what it was during the Pipeline Boom ... it has changed. I was there during the late 70's where my youngest son was born. Then moved back to Idaho in 1978. Visited Anchorage in early 1990....

The major difference is people and weather. In Alaska the weather is SO SEVERE! Imagine 35 BELOW zero and having to 'plug your car battery heater' into a pedestal just to go to work, or do grocery shopping. Imagine 24 hours of daylight in the summer, and 24 hours of darkness in the winter (it gets 'to you' about March and you HAVE to take a break to 'the Lower 48' or go crazy!!! Imagine doing an "easter egg hunt" with 3' of snow!!! No kidding!!

I LOVED the experience, the scenery (unlike any of my travels in the US and even to England) and especially the adventure ...but I was in my 20's then, and would not recommend it for someone past 50 (such as me ...tsk tsk). It was wonderful, it was hard, and I learned a lot.

As for Idaho, we have 4 very distinct 'seasons' (in Alaska, even Anchorage, you go from winter to summer very quickly! Skip spring, Fall is short type of thing) Depending on 'where' you go in Idaho the scenery is very similar. Where I live in Post Falls, just west of Coeur d' Alene and kind of a bedroom community with a few miles separating us, the mountains are on every horizon from my house, BUT they are smaller than you are thinking.... If you venture up to Clark Fork, or into Montana which is just a few miles away, the mountains are more Alaska Like ....here where I am is what I would guess to be in the 'foot-hills' of the Rockies....thus less majestic mountains than Alaska, but absolutely MOUNTAINS!

CdA is gorgeous....the lake is huge, the forests next door beyond belief. You can live within a half hour of downtown Cda, Post Falls, or Spokane, and be 'in the forest'.... or mountains if you want.

Having spent 15 years in Seattle, I would have to say that this is quite a bit different. The landscape there is more 'majestic' because of the close proximity of the Cascades (Alaska-type mountains). And it DOES RAIN A LOT there! (One of the reasons we headed east). When I first moved to Seattle, it would rain for 15 mintes, then sun; a little more rain, a little more sun. But the weather patterns are changing everywhere ...even here where we are, has gotten drier (as I mentioned in my earlier post about the snow). When we left Seattle in 2003, rain was more constant ....like days on end, and gray and dismal for weeks. Here, we do get our 'gray days' but we still have a lot of clear, sunny, or partly (and I do mean 'partly' gray days. Much more pleasant for sure!

A traffic jam here means you are still moving at about 40 mph ..... I've been stopped dead twice on I-90 in nearly 4 years, but that was due to accidents and not 'traffic'. (Unless you are headed up to Sandpoint on Hwy 95 .... the 'tourist route'....different story. Haven't gone up there in 3 years ....but friends tell me it is AWFUL!

Have you gotten into the Coeur d' Alene Press newspaper for info? And try the Weather Underground website (Welcome to The Weather Underground : Weather Underground) for photos...it will give you a better idea about what CdA is like and can give you historical weather as well.

Please let me know if I can give you any other info .... PM me and I'll give you our website address that has some additional photos (although most of the pix are of the alpacas!

When do you plan to move? What kind of place are you looking for? Just wondering, cause here in the country, there are 'some places' not on the MLS that are being sold by the owner .....

PacaLady

[IdahoEagle]

There are a lot of deer running through certain parts of town.
Something like 70-80% of the state of Idaho is owned by the government in one form or another. So at least if you live in the panhandle you are never more than about 15 minutes from Forest Service land where there is a lot of wildlife.
We own 20 acres in the Blanchard area between Spirit Lake and Priest River and we have seen tracks from deer, moose, elk and bear on it.

My husband is from Juneau, Alaska and likes it here because there are the same amount of hunting, fishing and camping oppertunities as in Alaska. But the winters aren't as harsh and the cost of living is cheaper.

[Seabiscuit]

thank you IdahoEagle... that's great, I hope we make it out there. It sounds like such a wonderful place. It's really nice to get feedback from people who live/have lived in both Alaska and Idaho. Thanks again for the info. Take care

[jimgui]

We discovered CDA while visiting an alpaca show back in the fall of 2004. We're now considering a move up there with about 20 alpacas, 5 horses and various critters. We're from the SF east bay so never lived in snow/cold weather. That's a big concern as well as schools for the kids since we have one just entering high school. Looks like Rathdrum and PF are best for acreage. What's the support like there for animal/camelid vets? Any feedback on the high schools would be great. We're getting info from the Realtors but we'd like a reality check from non-vested folks so we know what we're facing.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by jimgui

We discovered CDA while visiting an alpaca show back in the fall of 2004. We're now considering a move up there with about 20 alpacas, 5 horses and various critters. We're from the SF east bay so never lived in snow/cold weather. That's a big concern as well as schools for the kids since we have one just entering high school. Looks like Rathdrum and PF are best for acreage. What's the support like there for animal/camelid vets? Any feedback on the high schools would be great. We're getting info from the Realtors but we'd like a reality check from non-vested folks so we know what we're facing.

pacalady (username on this site) is someone you should PM about Alpacas here, and especially in Post Falls, as she is located near there.
I'm with you on needing support for horses...we have 4.

[pacalady]

jimgui:

We have 18 alpacas on our farm in PF, on 10 acres. There are over 60 PNAA members now, and we have excellent vet care for camelids, horses, and dogs etc. We have a clinic about 20 minutes from us who has on staff a camelid trained vet (Studied under Dr. Tibary at WSU). You can take your animal in, or they will do farm calls. There is also a mobile-vet, specializes in camelids that we use as well. No problem there. You will also find that the breeder support is just awesome!!

I don't have kids in school anymore, but the PF High School has received many awards for excellence. I can find out more for you, as neighbors have high-school aged children.

We are planning to move back east to be closer to our grand-baby this fall (if we can get our place sold....don't have it on the market yet). We're planning a trip to look around back there and see what we find.

Good luck! And welcome to North Idaho!!

[mastover]

I have just found this site and have been reading all the post for hours! pacalady i love everything you've wrote! you have a way of helping people picture what they cant see! my husband and i have been looking into move from the south (atlanta) because we are tired of the stress of traffic, progress (everywhere you turn theres a new subdivision w/ over a hundred homes) some days it takes 30min to go 5miles from my house to the highway then another hour in traffic if your going into atlanta. we have two teenage children and we've decide that, although it will be financially and physically hard, we want to move to give them a better life, somewhere they'd want to raise their children. You mentioned seeing the stars. when we first moved to our home (approx. 30miles outside atlanta-covington) you could see stars and hear nature. Now there are no stars (growth and pollution) we have smog alerts in the summer, and all you hear is traffic! I want to be able to reach a town like C.D.A. that has everything if i want it but when i'm at home theres peace. we'd like a few acres w/ or w/o a house. we have noticed that prices have jumped a lot in the last 5 yrs. our home here is approx. 2000 sq. on 3/4 acre 2b & 2b (in a subdivision) and is valued around 130,000 ....my husband is in the medical field so employment isnt a issue ....where would you suggest we start looking for the most for our money? I thank you all for all your great comments I've learned more in 3hours than i have in 2years of searching the internet!

[ppoitras]

I just moved to the CDA area myself within the last year from South Dakota and absolutely LOVE IT! Check out their website... Coeur d'Alene Visitors Bureau