My trip to Northern Idaho 7/24 to 7/28 2007 (Pocatello, Idaho Falls: hotels, houses, employment)

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Hi everyone,

I think I finally have all my photos arranged properly, and I will post links to my Webshots page so you can view the slideshows. Some of the pics are not all that great, since I took a lot of them while driving My pics start on Tuesday the 24th when my wife and I started looking at properties, although we did arrive in Post Falls on Sunday the 22nd at night. The last set of photos are of Western Montana, and Southeastern Idaho, since they were all taken on the drive home.

Speaking of the drive home, it was 1400 miles from Bonners Ferry to my house here in Southern California. We took US 95/2 out of Bonners Ferry ID into MT. Then caught US 56, to the US 200, which is the same HWY that comes from Sandpoint/Clark Fork area. We then caught the US 93 south and went through the Bitterroot Valley of MT. Once over the Continental Divide, we passed through Salmon ID, which is a very pretty area. In Salmon we caught the 28 through the Lemhi Valley. You talk about wide open spaces, man that place is wide open. We then caught Interstate 15 and went down through Idaho Falls, Pocatello etc. We hit Pocatello right at sunset. The 15 takes us right to our front door in So Cal. All in all it took 22 hours to get home. I drove for 20 of the 22 hours. We left Bonners Ferry at 9:30 A.M. Saturday morning and arrived home at 7:30 A.M. Sunday. All in all, we put about 3500 miles on the car Guess I’ll change the oil this weekend

I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw. Very little traffic, clean streets, no graffiti, beautiful scenery, lots of lakes and rivers. All of the drivers were courteous, and none of them seemed to be in a hurry. Most everyone drove the speed limit or slower it seemed. Took a few days for me to get used to it, and slow down. I didn't want to be seen as another one of those rude California drivers. We had "0" problems with anyone knowing we were from California. In fact most people seemed to welcome and encourage us to move there.

While we were there, the weather was absolutely glorious. Low to mid 90’s and low humidity. I guess it was considered quite hot, by local standards during the week we were there, but by Southern California summer standards it was quite pleasant. No wind, only light breezes occasionally. It would warm up early and stay hot longer in the day compared to So Cal, but as soon as the sun would go down, it would cool down very quickly to a comfy mid 60’s temperature. Speaking of sun, it would be light about 45 minutes earlier than California, and stay light about 45 minutes later in the day. I know this all changes in the wintertime though.

I would say the worst traffic we experienced outside of roadwork was in Sandpoint. I did manage to bypass the downtown areas by going through some of the residential neighborhoods to get to the north side of HWY95. Most of our driving was done during a normal workweek, so maybe weekend traffic is worse? I understand the "Long Bridge" on US95 can get pretty backed up, but we didn't have much of an issue with it. We only traveled it once in each direction when we went from Post Falls to Sandpoint and back to meet with our realtor. That was around 9 a.m. The other trip we took back to Sandpoint from Post Falls was when we switched hotels. We took the scenic route of US2 to Oldtown/Newport and then over to Sandpoint.
As far as roads are concerned, the northern part is 2 lane highways with passing lanes every so often. Roads are pretty smooth, and the locals I talked to said they (counties?) keep them well maintained, and cleared in the winter. It was told to me by several people, that you could pretty much get away with just good all season tires throughout the winter.

The biggest obstacle I can see for someone like myself as far as employment goes is work. I am a light to heavy industrial mechanic, and there is basically none of that type of work available in northern ID. Spokane is probably the nearest place to find that type of work, so that would limit my available areas to live as, Post Falls, which I was not particularly fond of, or CDA, which was nice, but to expensive for the horse property we would need.

I might need to focus on changing my field of work, if we decide to move north of Sandpoint. I will either have to learn to like dealing with people, and get into the tourist business or find an Internet type of business .
My wife and I really fell in love with the Bonners Ferry area, and found a wonderful property in Moyie Springs, but with a population of 2500 in Bonners, and about 660 in Moyie, what’s a person to do?? Guess I could look into railroad or Government work, but if it's anything like here, you have to know someone to get into one of those jobs
I talked to one of the locals at the visitor center in Bonners Ferry, and she basically said the area is run by the Mennonites, which would make it very difficult for my wife to get a job with a local utility like she works for now. I guess they tend to only hire men for those positions.

I’m sure I am leaving out some details, but feel free to ask any questions you may have .

Just look for the slideshow link in the upper middle right side of the page.

P.S. When you see Lake Pend Oreille, it is pronounced Ponderay.


Idaho trip. Tuesday. Looking at different areas north of Sandpoint pictures from idaho photos on webshots

Idaho trip. Wednesday. Leaving Post Falls heading to Bonners Ferry pictures from idaho photos on webshots

Idaho Trip. Thursday. Just driving around pictures from idaho photos on webshots

Idaho Trip. Friday. More sightseeing. Looking around Schweitzer and Priest Lake areas. pictures from idaho photos on webshots

Idaho Trip. Saturday. Drive home pictures from idaho photos on webshots

[DESERTRYDER]

great picture cool story.
Thanks

[Sandpointian]

Nice to see the photos. I would like to read more of your impressions of the places (positive and negative) you visited.

Best, S

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by Sandpointian

Nice to see the photos. I would like to read more of your impressions of the places (positive and negative) you visited.

Best, S

Post Falls/Rathdrum: I can't put my finger on it but I never really cared for Post Falls to much, although I must admit I never made it much past the I90. Maybe it was all of the tract homes right off the freeway, that made it seem kinda California like.
We did go visit pacalady (username here on the forum), and I found that area of Post Falls (north of the I90) to be pretty nice. The biggest problem for livestock in PF is that the ground is very rocky. I guess it is part of the Rathdrum aquafir (sp?) or something to that effect. Like Rathdrum, I found PF to be a little flatter than I like also, but that is not a bad thing if you would rather have that. Positive thing is it's an easy commute to Spokane for work.

Couer d' Alene: We didn't spend any time in CDA really. My wife and I ate at the Olive Garden on Monday night, and that was my only time in CDA, other than the drive through there to get to Sandpoint. I felt CDA was pretty nice and well laid out. Didn't look like as big a city as it actually is. It wasn't until we got north of Rathdrum and Couer d' Alene, that we started getting into what I personally felt were more attractive areas. More mountainous, more trees etc.

Sandpoint: is obviously very tourist oriented. Cute downtown with too many restaurants Would have been nice to see more gift type shops. The harbor and beach areas were very nice. Clean and uncrowded. Traffic was bad, trying to drive down mainstreet. Best to avoid that area if at all possible, although the traffic pales in comparison to here in So Cal. Cute little craftsman style houses on the outside of the downtown area. Didn't spend a lot of time there either. Just basically driving through to get to somwhere else. Ate lunch at a yummy little Italian place on the corner on Main and Pine st.

Ponderay: Not much there. Just north of Sandpoint. Has a WalMart. Thats the road you take to get to Schweitzer ski area.

Schweitzer: Beautiful up there. Obviously very expensive. Killer views of the Lake below. They weren't running the chairs or I would have went up the mountain. I understand you can see the mountains of Canada and Montana from up there.

Oldtown ID/ Newport WA. 2 border towns where US2 and 41 intersect. Really nice area also. Very scenic. Only drove through town though.

I will elaborate more later. Getting ready to leave work.

[cleosmom]

Haven't looked at the pics yet, but you were in SE Idaho and I didn't get a heads up?

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Haven't looked at the pics yet, but you were in SE Idaho and I didn't get a heads up?

Sorry Didn't know we were going to go that direction till the night before. Plus with the long drive, I wasn't really up for stopping

Originally we were going to go home down 95 and visit with Shades-of-Idaho, and didn't meet up with her either Hoping for more time next time. I will be trying to visit again this winter to get a feel for what it's like, plus additional trips at least once a year.

[pimit2]

I enjoyed the pix and commentary of your Idaho road trip, johns65vette. I live on the Pack River off Colburn Culver Road, so you got real close to me.

I agree with your evaluation of Sandpoint. Nice, clean place....but travel problems (particularly in tourist seasons) not easily solved. When a highway with a heavy semi-truck volume (plus that danged tourist traffic) goes through the heart of a small town it presents great difficulties. A city bypass is inevitable, but understandably fought against by many businessmen.

Good luck with your relocation. I know good-paying employment is a problem. Hopefully, you will overcome that issue. In spite of what you may have read in this Forum about Californians, I'm sure you will be welcomed and accepted. To paraphrase Bob Barker on the Price is Right, "Come on up!"


pimit2 (Bob)

[IndigoMoose]

Great pictures! I was so excited to see your photos and now I want to move to Idaho more than ever.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by johns65vette

Sorry Didn't know we were going to go that direction till the night before. Plus with the long drive, I wasn't really up for stopping

Originally we were going to go home down 95 and visit with Shades-of-Idaho, and didn't meet up with her either Hoping for more time next time. I will be trying to visit again this winter to get a feel for what it's like, plus additional trips at least once a year.

You're forgiven... this time I'm glad you enjoyed your trip through our beautiful state and hopefully things went smooth for you.

[Sandpointian]

The layout of PF is very unattractive. Endless development and overdevelopment. Before I get flogged, I refer only to the planning of the city not the people, several of whom are good friends. I liked the old PF, pre-development. The wide expanse of the prairie kept one more humble.

CDA is mixed. My hope is that the city focus more on infilling than expansion. There are some georgeous streets but also some really trashy places. One hopes that after the bubble deflates, that the right people are there (long-term folks) to beautify. Lots of individual gems.

Sandpoint is best on a more relaxed schedule. Wish you could have spent a couple days. Drive throughs give you a non-representative impression. It is still largely walkable. It is everyone's hope that the traffic problem gets resolved in our lifetime! But we love it. It has just about everything we want. And certainly places that have similar offerings in the US are 3-4 times more expensive. It is true that the jobs are hard to find. However, I have lived in places which all of a sudden had new jobs come in...these places were ruined within 5-10 years and became prohibitively expensive.