Possible move to Eastport, ID area (Bonners Ferry area) (Sandpoint: 2015, rentals)

[Doodle72]

Hello to all!

My better half is looking to transfer up to Eastport, ID area within the next 6 months from the Golden Isles of Georgia. We are small-town, God fearing people with 3 kids (ages 1 yr., 6 and 7). I am looking to get all the information that I can as we will need to know what the northern winter is all about along with schools, doctors and drive times in the surrounding areas. I am a stay at home Mommy and also use my music degree teaching private voice, guitar, and piano lessons. I was raised on a farm and I also love to have a little garden during the summer and do some canning for the winter. Is this possible there? All of your insight is greatly appreciated as we are at the beginning of this process! Thank you so much in advance!

[Doodle72]

Is anyone on here willing to shed some light on your state?

[Publius4]

Hi Doodle, welcome to the Idaho forum. The reason you are not getting responses is because your inquiry is rather vague. Also, the topics of healthcare, the northern winter, and driving conditions, etc have all been discussed quite extensively in many other threads. If you spend a few minutes skimming the thread topics you will find the answers to questions you've yet to think of. If you don't find the information you are seeking they'll be plenty of people to answer your questions if you can make them specific.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

We have several posters in NID, and a few who either just moved to Bonners or are planning to, but we don't have any active posters in Eastport. It's way up there! As far north as you can go in ID. But you probably know that. While researching the threads, as Publius4 suggests, you might also go to the C-D main page and do a search on Bonners and Eastport, and you'll get a lot of very helpful stats in terms of weather, populations, and so forth, plus pictures. Eastport is a very, very small border town. Bonners will be your source for most services.

[LionFamily]

Hi, Doodle72. Welcome to the forum!

I agree with CFF; Eastport is a bit out there. Really, I think making Bonner's your home base, especially with no snow/ice experience, would be your best bet if your husband is working in Eastport. And if your faith is a big part of your life, I think it might be a really good fit.

For background, we moved from Central CA about four years ago, and I was here for the first 18 mos. with the little Lion and the menagerie without Daddy Lion (he was still working in CA.) The snow was a bit of an adjustment, and I would NOT have wanted to commute in it; it takes some time to get comfortable. Although Bonner's Ferry was my first pick, we landed in Samuels, between Sandpoint and Bonner's, to be closer to activities for our short person, who is an only. This year, however, we are commuting back and forth to Bonner's on Wednesday nights for Awana. It's been okay so far, but winter hit after the Christmas break started. To be honest, I'm not looking forward to driving a couple of the hills between here and there; they can get pretty ugly if there's ice. Also, the stretch of Highway 95 between here and Bonner's, I believe, has the highest incidence of vehicle v. animal collisions in the state (think deer, elk, moose.)

Back to Bonner's: Really, IMO, it's a lovely little town, but it is small. What church do you attend? You might want to consider contacting a pastor/pastors of a church/churches you might want to go to, and see if he/they have any contacts for rentals. I have found that word of mouth is a fantastic resource here! Also, you might try the Nickel's Worth; it's a smallish publication, similar to a PennySaver, but with lots more stuff! A valuable resource for many things, but I have no experience with rentals. It's probably worth a try. As for schools, we homeschool, but put the short person in a Bonner County public school when she and I first got here for less than a semester. Bleh. She went to the Christian school then, and we were so pleased with her teacher that we left her there for the next year, as well (same teacher), but she's back home now. When she was there, a family from Bonner's had their kids enrolled, but see my caveats above about the commute. I know nothing about the Boundary County public schools.

Best of luck to you and your family.

[arcticfarmer]

Hi Doodle72,
I take it you are probably a born-again Christian? If so, then North Idaho is the place to be. There seems to be a great number of Bible-believers moving to the area these days which is a good thing because perhaps it will counter the leftist leanings of Sandpoint itself. There are also large numbers of preppers, liberals, and even neo-Nazis! But I'm sure it is that way everywhere. I personally consider myself a born-again fundamentalist with really no specific political party or denominational affiliation. Though there are many "Christians" but very few true Bible-believers.
Sorry if that was too rambling! I just wanted to give you an assessment of the area from a Christian perspective.

As far as weather goes, I do know Eastport gets a lot of snow (average 90 to 100 inches). Winters are cold but not severe. Summers are wonderful, though a bit dry. Fall is the nicest time of year with crisp nights and mild days. Spring is a fickle season with alternating warm, then cold wet. Frosts occur in Eastport as late as late-June and as early as late-August. For Eastport the first snow would come in early-November and the last snow would be in April, although 6 years ago we got snow on June 10.

God bless,
Christopher

[Jassaj]

Hi Doodle,

I can't offer much info, as my hubby and I just moved to Bonners Ferry 3 months ago. But, I will share with you my experience so far.

I agree with some others, that you may want to consider Bonners for your home base.

• We live about 6 miles away from the town (about a 20 minute drive)
• Bonners is a lovely town
• many churches, I think every denomination is represented.
• Very friendly, genuine and good people
• The closest thing to fast food I have seen in Bonners is a Zips and Subway (personally, I love that we do not have junk food on every corner and hope we never add more)
• quaint down town area; great for just walking around or shopping
• I love that we are able to buy most of what we need from local small business, including organic pasture raised meat/eggs/milk from local farms.
• if you need a property management firm, I found this company rent boundary county (I know nothing about them, but they appear to service this area). Also the Bonners Ferry Herald has this site: Bonners Ferry Herald - Housing
• the neighbors I have spoken to all have a garden and they do canning. I am looking forward to doing the same in 2015.
• Dealing with DMV is actually a pleasant experience ( you will need proof of residence, such as utility bill, to get your DL)
• aside from the lower cost of living (compared to CA, where we are from), we save money because we do not have every convenience known to man within a 10 minute drive. We not only want to, but we have to do more for ourselves. If we really don't feel like cooking, well too bad! The alternative is a 20 minute drive to get to a few restaurants in town(a few of which are pretty good). We cook more, we are more active because we have some acreage that needs our attention. Our stress level has decreased at least 80 percent since our move.
• We feel more connected to our neighbors here in 3 months that we felt in 20 years at our last home in CA.
• So far, the neighbors we have met are all Christians. Most go to the same church in town.
• The weather has been wonderful in Oct, Nov and Dec
• Traffic.... haha. I was in a store and heard a resident mention all the traffic on the main road (there was about 8 cars lined up at the signal); I will take that traffic any day of the week! There is no traffic to speak of. We drive slower for safety, because there always seems to be a deer ready to jump in the road!

Good luck with your move. Maybe we will get to meet in person one day

Janna

[Cnynrat]

Hi Doodle -

This web site allows you to find the probability of frost by zip code: Dave's Garden.

Your zip code up there is going to cover quite a large area, and there are micro-climates to be aware of, but it should give you a pretty good idea of the growing season in different parts of north Idaho.

As Janna and others have pointed out many if not most people in north Idaho have extensive gardens. The season can be a little short, so you may need to start plants inside, or in a greenhouse or cold frame. Once you get into the summer season though the long days produce good growth.

There are also some great farmer's markets in the area. We've not been to the one on Bonner's Ferry, but it has a great reputation.

Dave

[Jassaj]

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

Hi Doodle -

This web site allows you to find the probability of frost by zip code: Dave's Garden.

Your zip code up there is going to cover quite a large area, and there are micro-climates to be aware of, but it should give you a pretty idea of the growing season in different parts of north Idaho.

As Janna and others have pointed out many if not most people in north Idaho have extensive gardens. The season can be a little short, so you may need to start plants inside, or in a greenhouse or cold frame. Once you get into the summer season though the long days produce good growth.

There are also some great farmer's markets in the area. We've not been to the one on Bonner's Ferry, but it has a great reputation.

Dave

Hi Dave!

Oh!!!! We got to go to the Bonners Farmers Market at the end of the season, we loved it! I can't wait for it to open again.

[Doodle72]

Wow! What a blessing! Thank you all so much! Yes, we are all born again Christians but do not force our faith on anyone. We just love our neighbor :-) I grew up Baptist yet we go to a nondenominational church here, but the way we look at it, you either believe in the Bible and Jesus Christ or you don't. Simple as that. And I just love the idea of talking with a Pastor about insight to the area as well. What a wonderful suggestion, LionFamily! We also have a similar publication for our area such as the "Nickel's Worth", so that could possibly be very helpful!

As far as the winter weather, you guys know how to help a lady out! My husband spent 8 years in Minnesota and he has lots of experience but I do not. One snow flurry in Georgia and we all freak out! However, I just love the snow and all the winter activities with it. We snow ski, ice skate, snowmobile, and my husband has ice fished many times. However, it's quite a drive to get to do those things from here. Honestly though, I don't know who is more excited about a white Christmas next year, me or the kids! Lol

Janna, thank you for being so thorough with me in your new experience to the area! You covered a lot of questions there! I'm pretty much your traditional woman in the household. I cook, clean, take care of the house and our precious babies and can ride a horse or drive a tractor with the best of them. Quality time with family and friends is very imprtant to us and I hope I get to share some of those delicious southern recipes with some of y'all sometime. Love the "traffic" comment! I use to live in Atlanta for a few years...need I say more?? Haha. I am looking forward to just 8 cars!

I am going to do some research with the links you all provided and I'm sure there will be more to come! Everyone have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve! God Bless!