What capacity are restaurants / businesses and beaches? (Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry: rental, houseboat)

[Mister Torgue]

My wife and I are struggling to find out what’s open, what’s not, their capacity and where we can go that doesn’t mandate masks in Idaho (a couple of other states too, but mostly Idaho). Pretty much all NPS sites being federal “property” are forced masked so that’s out, this leaves us with a beach vacation or a camping/cabin vacation. Which is perfectly fine with us. But, we still want to head in to town to eat and support local business without having to wear these things. Where can I find this information regarding not just masks but local eatery and business operational capacity we need to plan our trip accordingly?

Please refrain from turning this in to a political discussion, it isn’t needed here. Just need the aforementioned resources for research for myself and anyone else who stumbles in here looking for it. Thank you in advance.

[elousv]

Pretty much wide open up in NID

[volosong]

Originally Posted by elousv

Pretty much wide open up in NID

Yup. Some stores, (i.e., Costco), requires masks to enter, but most places are 'mask optional'.

[oldafretired]

As stated above, you should be good to go in NID. Hardly anyone wore masks up here even last year at least in the Spirit Lake area. The local cafe in Spirit Lake closed for awhile last spring but reopened after a couple months and everything was back to normal. I go there after shooting at Farragut every week and I don't think I've seen more than 5 customers with masks since they reopened.

[Mister Torgue]

Thank you all, this is great as NID is our preferred destination. What's a good quiet beach for us to relax at up around there? I know Sandpoint is a little high on tourist and local traffic, so that may not be a good spot for us to relax. We're good with a little drive too if there is an out-of-the-way place not too busy. I'll be hunting for a cabin to rent for that week in June so any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[banjomike]

You don't have to wear a mask in national forest if there's no one else around.
You could probably go without when there was someone if you had a mask in your pocket to put on if they came closer to you.

[elousv]

I found a unique rental ON the lake in a houseboat, it is on vrbo.

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by banjomike

You don't have to wear a mask in national forest if there's no one else around.
You could probably go without when there was someone if you had a mask in your pocket to put on if they came closer to you.

Most likely that is ok, but I even refuse to carry one. With NPS land being federal "property" there is a current standing executive order making masks mandatory. This cuts off every NF in the state and in MT that we were planning on maybe visiting and of course also the Birds of Prey and Craters of the Moon national preserve/monument as well. Or am I misunderstanding the totality of the order?

In December I had an itinerary planned to visit most of them south to north clockwise but I'm now having to change up the trip for us. At this point we'd be good with seeing at least SOMETHING in the mountains, a beach and some drinks to relax. It was also an opportunity to put my Overlanding rig project through some of the rough stuff since we'll be driving it up from Texas. I have some friends in Bonners Ferry I also wanted to visit with so perhaps our trip will focus on that area in NID and go see the beaches on Priest Lake. I'm still open for suggestions here for the end of this week before I book accommodations.

Originally Posted by elousv

I found a unique rental ON the lake in a houseboat, it is on vrbo.

A houseboat "cabin" is on our bucket list! Just not this time. I appreciate the tip though, they do seem to be reasonably priced!

[elousv]

If you are talking buckets and drinks in the same sentence you need to order yourself a "Derailer" when you are here.

[volosong]

Farragut State Park has a few cabins, but they are probably already rented for the summer. It's on the lake too. Not your typical beach experience, but it is there.