Younger couple possibly moving to Colville (living, law, shoppers)

[Fleeby]

I've only been here (Kettle Falls) since July so I'm not the best source of climate info but I'll tell you what I know so far. Late summer was beautiful but it did get hot (103 or so in town) for a couple weeks. Fall was also really nice and a great time to be out hiking with the first hard frost around the first week of October if I remember right. Winter seemed to really start with freezing rain and snow about the first week of December. November was pretty cold and windy. We had a ton of snow in December and my family enjoyed skiing to the store in Kettle Falls on Christmas Eve. I think we had 24-28 inches on the ground in our yard at one point. I'm told this is an above average snow year. Now the snow is in big dirty piles around town, melting a bit during the day and freezing at night. I expect spring will come in fits and starts in early April, like it does in much of the interior Northwest. We'll see.

One weather related thing about the Colville Valley that you might want to consider is that the valley gets inversions sometimes and all the woodsmoke from people's stoves and exhaust just hangs in the valley as sort of a nasty haze. This isn't all the time, but it is kind of nasty and if you have respiritory issues, it's something to think about. If you move to the nearby mountains, it probably wouldn't be so much of a problem.

So, that's a long-winded answer to a short question.

[bailey1024]

My husband was a California State Park Ranger for almost 30 years. When he retired in 2003, we moved to sleepy little Post Falls, ID. Unfortunately a lot of other Californians moved out to Post Falls about the same time as us, and it quickly lost its small town charm for us. So- I looked around, and found a little house on some property on a small private lake 5 miles east of Colville. It is heavenly out here. Definitely 4 seasons. Cold and snowy in Winter, beautiful in Spring, hotter than hades in Summer, and absolutely gorgeous in Fall. There is "nothing to do" here, which suits us just fine. Actually there is lots to do, but most of it is free- as in gardening, hiking, camping, and occasional trips to Spokane for "big City" activities). We also head down to 49 degrees North near Chewelah for skiing- only 45 minutes from home.

We love it here, however we have a little gypsy in our blood, and are now thinking maybe we'd like to try Florida for a while. We'll probably be listing our home on the market as soon as the snow thaws and the flowers bloom.

[Small and solar]

Bailey1024: I hope you are not leaving because you heard I may move into the area!

Best of luck.

If you need a really good Realtor in the area PM me.

[breathe&relax]

there are many that have read my posts about the negatives of Colville, but I have to say that Relo's post was a total joke. Been here 5 years and never seen an animal head on the road, don't know any white supremacists ....but did meet a child who said his family is (poor kid was a mess but very nice). Havn't had any probs with my kids playing at the beautiful city park, the movie theater...tho weak, plays all the kids movies (just takes a while to get here), never heard of the women having to be subservient here or in Kettle Falls, much less everyone getting beaten...please! Haven't heard of any men with more than one wife, but must be cause they are ALL pregnant teens. really, did you get shot by a hunter while jogging? yah I heard that happens to my jogger friends every day!

Do you honestly think people are going to take your post seriously? It is so full of overblown generalizations and made up nonsense it's ridiculous. and as we can see Relo hasn't been back to share more of their amazing knowledge of Colville.

[fieldmama]

This is rural living for sure, but the groove appeal of this school makes it feel so much less isolating. It is a real community!

The school is a public school (but its own independent small district) and the teacher there is retiring. She had taught PreK/K for 33 years there. Next year, they will combine K with 1st-3rd grade. This is mixed age learning at its best. Total there are about 30 kids grades K-8. All of the teachers there over the years have had their own children schooled there alongside. They sled and snowshoe at recess, take Japanese with a Japanese intern, do yoga for PE...it is an incredibly groovy situation We love it!

The Preschool position is M, W and Th mornings. If you have a partner looking for work as well, something where he or she works from home would be ideal, since there are not alot of other jobs in the area.

Feel free to pm me for more details, or the posting is actually in the paper thru April.

[Dizzydog]

Sounds like it might NOT be a great escape for a couple from Phoenix trying to beat the summer heat???

[Small and solar]

Dizzy- While it does get hot, it also gets SNOW.. I miss the very cold mornings.. everything is a trade off.

[KimberleyT]

I must agree that relo is totally off base. I lived there for 18 years and never noticed anything they talked about. Yes the population is mostly white. But when i went to school there were at least 3 people in school with me that were black. They never had any issues. No one ever so much as said a word about them being "different". I don't believe there is a white supremist group in colville. If there is they must have meetings elsewhere. Also, joggers getting hit with bullets from hunting? Just talked to my mom who works in the ER and she can't recall hearing of such a thing happening. The city park is like every city park in the U.S. You will have some shady characters, but not all the time. Most shady characters like to hang out where they're not seen. The park is lovely, and it's a nice quiet retreat. I remember spending many summer days there. Also, the pool is a great place for swimming, and there is a swim team, and swimming lessons durring the summers. And if you want to swim in the winter, colville inn has an indoor swimming pool. And most of all if you don't want to swim in a pool there is the lakes and rivers that surround gorgeous colville.

[SenseiJames]

My Wife and I are thinking of moving there from Aberdeen Wa, and we were wondering the usual things like crime, drugs, and other stuff like that how is the job market and such. My wife works in a photography place in wal mart so she can transfer but I want to work also. Right now I am a full time stay at home dad because where we live there is almost no jobs and the lucky people who do are usually on drugs and work fast food and only hire other druggies. We are really trying to find a place where that type of life is not seen very much if at all. ( to each their own ) I am prior military and also teach at a local martial arts school here. If there is any info you can offer or know where to find more info could you please let me know? [EMAIL="senseijames@rocketmail.com"]senseijames@rocketmail.com[/EMAIL]

[gaduchman]

Originally Posted by bailey1024

We love it here, however we have a little gypsy in our blood, and are now thinking maybe we'd like to try Florida for a while. We'll probably be listing our home on the market as soon as the snow thaws and the flowers bloom.

Personally I'd keep the house and rent it out, just in case you don't like North Cuba you can retreat to the peaceful calm of Colville!