Road trip to Northern ID to find and buy a home next week. (Boise: RV parks, loan)

[luvmyveteran]

I have been a long time lurker here in the Idaho forums, have read as many previous posts as possible the past few years. I LOVE Banjo Mike's informative posts, but now that we are coming back to Idaho next week in our motor home to find and buy a property, I'd love to connect with some of the members who actually live up north. I am a bit wordy, but won't waste your time, we are seriously on a mission to find an area/home.
We want private, no subdivisions, but not remote. Easy year round access as my husband is beyond tired of navigating our long dirt/gravel driveway on his Harley.
My husband will need access to a VA hospital on occasion also.

Can anyone recommend a campground/rv park that is centrally located for us to explore different areas around Sandpoint, CDL, Bonners Ferry, ect?
I check rv sites for suggestions/info, but would prefer local's opinions as we stayed in some higher rated rv parks that did not deserve that rating on our last road trip. Might be nice rv park but in bad areas. We had planned to use AirBnB's and drive our truck, but so many are closed, and as a former nurse I am a bit of a germaphobe right now, I want my bathroom, my bed, no cooties, lol. If you know of anyone with rv hookups that may want to earn some cash to let us stay we would love that also. I know, we are strangers, but can't hurt to ask.

Our last trip we spent 3+ weeks checking out southern Idaho, and fell in love, but feel like we are a better fit for the Northern part now after watching how many people are escaping to ID, especially the west side around Boise.
I feel half crazed to take a road trip across country with a pandemic going on, but we have been planning to buy for 2+ yrs and have no idea when, or if things will calm down, so do not want to wait any longer.

Friends think we are crazy to move to a cold climate in our 60's, but anywhere warm is no longer an option due to having had a heat stroke. We have both lived in cold climates with snowy winters, but it's been a long time. We are retired, so no worries about employment, kids are grown with lives of their own, so no worries about schools either. We are pre-approved for a loan but the virus hit and we stayed put, so we renewed/updated it yesterday.
I am an Air Force brat, former nurse, my husband is a Viet Nam Marine veteran, we are not afraid of change, or moving, just concerned how much more challenging it may be to meet and talk with locals when learning our new area.
We are both used to isolation, live deep in the woods already, but even if I didn't have to move for health reasons, our conservative state has been on a downhill path of caving to liberal agendas, and that is the final straw.

Sorry about the long post, and thanks for any words of wisdom and info.

[Shaner]

Hello!

These two RV Parks I have heard good reviews and had clients stay at them;
Coeur d'Alene Idaho RV Park - Blackwell Island RV Park - RV Camping
Ravenwood RV Resort: Only a Mile from Silverwood Theme Park!

As far as areas to look, if internet is a priority, make sure you make that clear to the agent you are working with. Our area has spotty coverage when it comes to fast internet so just a heads up.

Without a price range or specifics of home, it is hard to tell you where to go.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Welcome to the forum as an official poster, not "just" a lurker!

Trestle Creek is about 10-12 miles NE of Sandpoint on Lake Pend Oreille on Hwy 200. Easy access. The location is beautiful, and there is good cell coverage on the beach where we like to swim. There are two RV parks in Trestle Creek, one on the water, and the other on the other side of the street (Hwy 200). Jeb & Margaret's Trailer Haven is the one on the water. A friend of ours had his RV parked there for a few days last year, and it seemed okay. They don't allow pets, but that may not be an issue for you. They wouldn't even let us drive onto the RV park grounds to visit with our friend, because we had our dogs in the car. There is no information about whether it is open: https://www.campgroundreviews.com/re...r-haven-249715

The one across the street, RV Park Trestle Creek, gets better reviews, but I haven't any personal experience with it. This one is open: https://www.campgroundreviews.com/re...-rv-park-11669. This RV park is pet friendly.

Best of luck with the trip and your search. Times may be strange, but you have to grab the opportunity while you can. I'm going to send you a DM.

[banjomike]

Luvmyveteran... Welcome to the forum!

Have you checked out the VA facilities here?

I'm a Navy vet, but I've never used the VA, except for my benefits while attending college years ago.

All I know is their facilities vary, with some things that are unavailable in some places here but are in other places. Many of the vets here in Eastern Idaho have always had to go to Salt Lake City for major medical services, but apparently, that's changing down here now, and it may be changing in NID as well.

Boise and Pocatello both offer some VA services we don't have here at the moment, so I think it's worth looking at for you and your hubby.

From secondhand knowledge, the VA here seems to be pretty good at veteran assistance. A good friend's 93-year old father decided the VA retirement home in Pocatello was the place for him when he had to leave his home because of his age.
The old guy is plenty well off, and could have chosen about any assisted living care that's available here, so his choice made the VA look pretty good to me.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by banjomike

...Many of the vets here in Eastern Idaho have always had to go to Salt Lake City for major medical services, but apparently, that's changing down here now, and it may be changing in NID as well...

BM, et alia,

There is a VA hospital on the west side of Spokane right next door to the NOSC. My Sea Cadet battalion drills at the NOSC and it takes me right at 50 minutes to make the drive from Rathdrum to the NOSC, (probably the same amount of time from CdA, slightly more from Hayden, less from Post Falls). Remember, I make that drive early on weekend mornings, so traffic is very light. Going home after drill, I haven't timed it because I'm tired and am just going through the motions.

A quick web search shows that is is named, "Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center". A fellow from our church received care there, (he was on an oxygen bottle due to smoking earlier in his life). Sadly, he has recently passed on from this life. He never complained about the care he received.

[luvmyveteran]

Thanks for the warm welcome and info everyone.
I am trying to figure out how to subscribe to this thread and reply to each post, but am a bit tech challenged
.
Shaner, I thought about posting more specific info on what we are looking for, but that changes frequently while looking at properties.
In our price range we can afford a view and a smaller house/lot, or some acreage and larger home where we can have a similar lifestyle to what we have now.
We currently live on 111 acres in an old farm house, very private, but we have had to downsize the workload, animals, ect, due to the heat, but I also have to keep in mind, we aren't going to get younger, lol

We should arrive in NID next week, and as we get a feel for what area we prefer I am sure I will have many questions and can provide clearer parameters. A part of me wants to give up the homesteading type lifestyle and just relax, fish, ect, but the other part of me still loves it. Not sure which part will win out.

BanjoMike, your posts have been such a joy to read, and we had planned to check out homes in Id Falls and Pokey area and still will, but have directed our main focus to NID, we have family who still live in WA, and would be nice to see them more often. I have seen you mention a number of times for people to come spend time, look all over your beautiful state, and that is our plan. I think the hardest part will be choosing which amazing scenery and area appeals to us. Not bad having so many incredible choices, lol.

Volosong, I sincerely thank you for your service to our country, and for the VA info, we live 90+ miles from a VA so my husband has been able to utilize the rural health VA system when medical care is needed. I think they changed the name to Community Care?
Good to know there is a VA on the east side of WA, I think my husband would rather die than go to crazy Seattle, lol. We escaped from Calif in 04 and he refuses to ever step foot there again.
We have family in the Yakima area that we only got to see when we'd visit them in Alaska.

Sorry for the long post again, but I don't know how to reply to individual posts. All of your replies have made me more excited to get out there in spite of the pandemic and a 2100 mile one way road trip!

[luvmyveteran]

Chris T I don't know about ID specifically as we wonder the same thing, but I read in many RV forums and many people have stated that BLM land is still open, some bathroom/shower areas in state or federal parks are closed. Traveling never was a concern as we are self-contained, but the world changed, so we are going to wing it ourselves. Thanks for asking that question.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Farragut State park has several campgrounds and at least one has full rv hook-ups. The campsites are beartiful and roomy. Some areas are dog restricted but i was allowed to have my dogs in the campground.

Normally reservations get filled up, but this is not a normal year, so worth a try.

[oldafretired]

The parks up here might be pretty crowded because of the Wuhan Flu but I haven't actually looked though. There sure are a whole lot of WA and OR plates on vehicles on the roads here towing boats and trailers. There must not be any lakes or campgrounds in those states. LOL I think they might still be pretty closed down so NID becomes the alternative and the parks here become more crowded than usual. I guess you can't blame them.

There was an article in the CDA paper a little while ago about this.

https://cdapress.com/news/2020/jul/3...-of-staters-5/

[DvrGrl]

Round lake state park is a beautiful place to camp or overnight or longer in an RV. Small lake for the neighborhood, but calm, with fishing, paddle boarding, canoeing, and pretty, mild, hiking trails.
https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/round-lake