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We have been considering going the build route; although I know it can be more expensive it's nice to get exactly what you want. Do you have any suggestions, warnings, or important things I should know about going this route?
Oh yes, where do you want me to start? How much space do I have? I'll send you a DM.
Thanks, I've been looking on job sites and there seem to be a lot of options for employment if I'm not picky about what I'm doing, which I'm not. As long as it's something my organizational, management and/or financial skills fit with, I'll apply. Who knows by then though...maybe I'll be a dog groomer I really just don't want my job to define my life; we want to enjoy our time together!
We actually saw lots of signs in Sandpoint with "Help Wanted." Such a difference from the time of the recession!
I checked out the area on Zillow, and while there are not a lot of options (at the moment) it does seem like an area worth looking into while we are visiting. It is stunning! And glad to hear about the grocery outlet, that will surely make life easier!
You've got a great advantage in having a whole year to plan your scouting trip. On the other hand, it will be an exercise in patience! You'll want to take a quick trip to see for yourself. In that case you'll have to decide whether the (direct ) flight to Spokane, car rental, and hotel for 3-4 days would be worth the money. We've had that discussion lots of times while we've been building the cabin. Sometimes it's worth it, because decisions have to be made. Sometimes you'd be better off saving the money for the move...
Let me also comment on something that Volosong said: the daylight hours in winter. I spent my childhood and young adulthood in a similar latitude, so I'm used to it, even if it has been many decades since I left the NE. But when you are not used to it, it is a rude awakening. You simply can't plan on doing anything outside after 4 pm (Nov-Dec-Jan) if you need daylight to do it. So you have to turn to hobbies and interests that can be cultivated inside. But there is a lot of coziness in the winter indoor lifestyle, and I try to incorporate the lifestyle even here in SoCal, because I miss it. (Yes, the North is calling me home...)
I think the closest full service grocery store to Bayview is the new Super 1 in Athol. Probably about a 15 minute drive from Bayview
I assume CFF is referring to The Old Ice House Pizzeria. That's one of the two best pizzerias in north ID IMO (the other being Embers at Hauser Lake). This would be a benefit of living near Hope.
Dave
Yep! And they have a great upstairs section with a view across the lake.
The further north you go, the more snow and ice you will get.
Be careful with this consideration. We have 4 different mountain ranges in the panhandle, and a couple very large lakes. All this geography creates micro-climates, and it's not always as simple as the further north you go the more cold/snow/ice you get in the winter. Elevation will have a bigger impact on winter weather than how far north you are.
If you do decide to move here I suggest you talk to some long tern residents in the areas you are thinking about to get their take on the climate in their specific area.
For example, Paradise Valley east of Bonners Ferry is known for being somewhat of a banana belt in north Idaho.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast
Yep! And they have a great upstairs section with a view across the lake.
Yup, we love sitting outside on the upstairs deck on nice summer days.
I concluded that winter cold/snow/ice is something I could manage fine. However, there is one aspect that I was totally unprepared for and caused me considerable "trouble" last winter. I had lived my whole life between 32˚ and 34.5˚ latitude, so was used to the seasonal shifts in the length of the daylight hours. However, up here at 48˚, the length of the days are so very different than what I've known.
The long summer hours are glorious. Fantastic, especially if you like to do "stuff" outdoors, which is the big draw to this area. However, in the depth of winter, when it was pitch black at 8:00 in the morning, then again by 4:00/4:30 . . . that was just weird. I found myself losing motivation to do anything, and on those days when I forced myself to get out, by the time I was ready and moving, I had to cut short whatever activity I wanted to do because it would be dark soon.
Just a warning. I was unprepared for that first winter last year. This year, I know what to expect.
Yes, the hours of daylight in the winter is something I have discussed a few times with my husband. I think this is one of those things we won't know until we know....you know? haha
Yes, the hours of daylight in the winter is something I have discussed a few times with my husband. I think this is one of those things we won't know until we know....you know? haha
It takes quite a lot of self-awareness to realize when you are suffering from lack of daylight.
I always knew, from around age 18, that February was always the hardest month of the year for me. I always became depressed, could feel the depression setting in, and never found a way to shake it off.
It wasn't until the mid-90s when I learned about SADD- Seasonally Affected Depression Disorder. A lack of daylight brings it on. It doesn't affect everyone, and it doesn't affect those who suffer from it in the same degree.
I have a severe lifelong case of SADD. Artificial light, if balanced between light that imitates natural daylight and the warmer light of artificial lights, is often enough to help most folks, but not me. The only thing that keeps me out of a deep month-long depression is lots of natural sunlight.
The sun, even on a dark cloudy day, still emits far, far more light than any other source. For years, the only thing that made me feel better were long walks outside, soaking up as much natural light as possible. That was hard to do when I made my living indoors- the best hours of the day for me for light were always spent indoors on the job under artificial light.
So, for years, I took prescribed anti-depressants for about 30 days or so.
February is the worst for me because in my case, the lack of natural daylight is cumulative. I can get through November to January OK, but with each month, my depression gets a little more severe, and the bouts last a little longer. By February, my resistance to the disorder is all used up, and the depression hits hard.
It never got any better until I moved into my present house. It has large windows everywhere in it, and though they allow summertime glare inside, during the winters, I finally get enough natural daylight to ward off the depression.
I no longer need my yearly prescription. While I still take frequent walks, they aren't the necessity they were before.
I bought this house in January. At the time, I didn't notice how sunny it is inside, and had never thought about windows being a priority in my home, so really, I just got lucky when I found this place. February is no longer a month I dread.
The cure was cumulative; it took about 5 years living here before I began to feel less miserable, more alert, and happier in February. Once I noticed those changes, I adjusted my habits so I could be awake when I need the light the most.
I'm a natural night owl, so beginning in December, before the solstice, I begin waking up just before sunup. I'm fully awake by the time the sun comes up, and I turn in earlier correspondingly. Trying to go to sleep is hard for a while, but it's better than the depression.
I'm not exactly an Idaho newcomer. I'm 5th generation Idahoan, and have lived almost my entire life here in all corners of this state. I've lived in Moscow, in NID, in Boise, central Idaho, and in SE Idaho, where I live presently.
The panhandle definitely has more darkness than southeast part of the state. Since it's above the meridian, north Idaho is closer to the north pole by about 750 miles. That translates to about a half-hour of more darkness during the winters. It's also cloudier there than here due to the prevailing wind patterns.
A bright day in winter, when the sun is shining and the snow is so bright it blinds is a blessing from God for me. A couple of them can keep me lifted for days afterward.
So- it's something that might not affect you at all, but it may. There's no cure for SADD. Most folks don't get it as bad as I do. But it's real, and it ain't fun at any degree, so it is something that must be considered.
So- it's something that might not affect you at all, but it may. There's no cure for SADD. Most folks don't get it as bad as I do. But it's real, and it ain't fun at any degree, so it is something that must be considered.
My dad was diagnosed with SADD. The only cure was for him and my mom to move back to LA from Hayden Lake when I was four months old. The grandparents (mom's side), longtime Hayden/Cd'A residents, soon followed. The last relative I had up in the Inland Northwest was an aunt in Spokane, and she has since moved to the Sacramento area, as she developed SADD in her mid 40s. As you stated, SADD is no joke!
Had my parents stayed in North Idaho, I can tell you that it would have deeply effected me. There are days when I'll be in Santa Monica or the South Bay for work, and the overcast of the "Marine Layer" will start to effect me. It feels like a weight lifts off of my shoulders when I drive up over the pass into the San Fernando Valley and sunshine, again.
My dad was diagnosed with SADD. The only cure was for him and my mom to move back to LA from Hayden Lake when I was four months old. The grandparents (mom's side), longtime Hayden/Cd'A residents, soon followed. The last relative I had up in the Inland Northwest was an aunt in Spokane, and she has since moved to the Sacramento area, as she developed SADD in her mid 40s. As you stated, SADD is no joke!
Had my parents stayed in North Idaho, I can tell you that it would have deeply effected me. There are days when I'll be in Santa Monica or the South Bay for work, and the overcast of the "Marine Layer" will start to effect me. It feels like a weight lifts off of my shoulders when I drive up over the pass into the San Fernando Valley and sunshine, again.
People that don't have SADD are very lucky!
I tend to think most sufferers never realize they have the affliction. I never did until I was a freshman in college at the U of I, where the winter skies are much darker and cloudier than in Idaho Falls. My first February there was so bad that I began to notice the lifting of the depression as the spring progressed into March and April.
But it took decades longer to learn it was the lack of daylight that cause my melancholy. For many years, since I knew it would come, all I did was to prepare myself as best I could for its arrival.
It's very strange. I've never been able to understand why I'm never depressed going into the winter solstice or coming out of it. There's about 60 days of winter in that period when it's always the darkest time of the year, one month on either side of the solstice. My Feb. depression is almost like a delayed reaction or something. It seldom follows the calendar too- often it begins a week or so into Feb. and will last into the first 10 days of March.
In the past, it was always classic depression. I would lose weight, sleep way too much, and become very bleak.
Bright artificial lighting helped. When I learned about the daylight florescent lamps, which were developed long after florescent tubing became widespread, using them made a big difference to my mental state. Incandescent lighting also worked when I lit my house up very brightly, and both still help me.
But the lucky break of finding a home with a northern window wall in the living room, along with big windows throughout facing in all the other directions, was the best thing that ever happened to me. There is no dark room anywhere in my house except for a big storage closet in the basement, and it has a small window.
But in the bones of winter, even a clear day can be too dark outside. On those days, my lights are on throughout the day even though I don't need them to see anything.
Weirdly, the new LED bulbs don't help me very much. Flourescents and old incandescent lights work better. So, for me anyway, it appears the kind of light I get is as important as the quantity of light. I found using them all in a mixture tends to work the best.
But even so, I still get the blues in February. They're going to show up, but not so much that they really put a stop to my life now. There's always a time in that month I wish I was in California, New Mexico or Arizona for sure.
My dad was diagnosed with SADD. The only cure was for him and my mom to move back to LA from Hayden Lake when I was four months old. The grandparents (mom's side), longtime Hayden/Cd'A residents, soon followed. The last relative I had up in the Inland Northwest was an aunt in Spokane, and she has since moved to the Sacramento area, as she developed SADD in her mid 40s. As you stated, SADD is no joke!
Had my parents stayed in North Idaho, I can tell you that it would have deeply effected me. There are days when I'll be in Santa Monica or the South Bay for work, and the overcast of the "Marine Layer" will start to effect me. It feels like a weight lifts off of my shoulders when I drive up over the pass into the San Fernando Valley and sunshine, again.
People that don't have SADD are very lucky!
So you've actually lived your entire life in SoCal? I thought you moved south recently.
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I'll send you a DM.
) flight to Spokane, car rental, and hotel for 3-4 days would be worth the money. We've had that discussion lots of times while we've been building the cabin. Sometimes it's worth it, because decisions have to be made. Sometimes you'd be better off saving the money for the move...
