Road trip to Northern ID to find and buy a home next week. (how much, hotel)

[Willamette City]

Originally Posted by 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

We moved to northern Idaho in 1977. The first place we stayed was Round Lake. We stayed there for about 3 weeks and got to know the park ranger pretty well. Eventually we moved to Bonners Ferry and lived there for about a month. I totally loved the area, Schweitzer Basin in particular. After a while we moved to Sandpoint. I have so many fond memories of the area, the beach, the trails, the restaurants.
I went to school at the College of Southern Idaho near Twin Falls. Totally different area then the north. All worth exploring!

[Boone1791]

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

....spending a fair amount of time visiting an area before buying will no doubt improve the odds of making the right choice.

That's what we did. Over a couple years we made several trips to the CDA and Pend Oreille areas, renting out vacation homes through Vacasa for a week here, a couple weeks there, each time with several days spent with a realtor driving us around to houses we'd picked out to look at.

[redwood66]

Originally Posted by luvmyveteran

Redwood66, could you share why you wish you had rented first?
I am frugal, so the thought of paying rent that is the same or more to what a mortgage would cost makes it seem preferable to buy.
Big drawback of course is not knowing the area, and being locked into a place we just like if one we love comes available soon after.

Not knowing the area caused us to buy in a location that has undergone huge changes over the past 15 years that had we lived here we might have been more aware of before buying. We also realized that further north is where our heart lies but are stuck now. It takes time to know an area and what works for you.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by luvmyveteran

Redwood66, could you share why you wish you had rented first?
I am frugal, so the thought of paying rent that is the same or more to what a mortgage would cost makes it seem preferable to buy.
Big drawback of course is not knowing the area, and being locked into a place we just like if one we love comes available soon after.

We visited NID four summers in a row before picking a property, so we considered ourselves as having done a fair amount of research, with a carefully planned check list. Even so, there have been a few surprises, such as cell coverage going from 2 bars to 0 in 6 years, businesses we had relied on ending up closing in Clark Fork, Heron, and Noxon, the neighbor doing the winter plowing of the joint access road moving away, and digging a well being much more expensive than we'd planned on (and having to be delayed). I don't know whether renting for a year would have made any difference. You're always buying into an uncertain future. But we chose as well as we could at the time, and we're still happy with our choice. If you stick to a check list, you're somewhat protected against buyer's remorse.

[ChrisMT]

We are road-tripping pulling a 18 foot trailer....it has everything you need and is wayyyyy more reliable than a RV...I borrowed a RV once and although it was super convenient, it broke down lol...

So pulling a trailer is fine with sway bars and a good tow package on your well-maintained SUV. Plus you have a car if you stay put for awhile camping...my husband is 6'6" as well and it was hard to find a good mini-trailer that would fit him. It is a Mighty Lite and has almost a king size walk around bed, a full-size bathroom and full oven/stove and big fridge even...

I like having my own little home and bed when traveling. I only like very high-end hotels and that can get expensive and is reserved for the CA coast and such

So luv, was the scary Lake Tahoe icy road with a cliff situation on Hwy 50 heading out of Meeks to CA? I absolutely hate that drop-off there :O

[luvmyveteran]

We wondered why so many odd things happened with our motor home that caused us to cancel our trip to Idaho, until I woke up with severe kidney pain 2 days ago.

I saw our Doc yesterday who confirmed kidney stones and bad kidney infection, she said we were really blessed to not be on a cross country road trip when getting hit with this, and I agree! Brutal.

I had kidney stones for the first time in 2013 from working on our farm in the heat, and I swore never again! I've made it a point to stay very hydrated in hopes of preventing another attack, but it is hard to avoid the heat with farm animals, ect.

The suggestions to make numerous visits make sense but we are 2100 miles away and have refused to fly since they implemented tsa gropings, so making a road trip across country a number of times is not feasible.

Rentals seem to be very few, as does the selection in our price range. Shocking how fast properties go into contract in ID now. Our next plan was to rent a vehicle and come out asap, but that is now on hold until this bout with kidney stones goes away. It hurts to ride in the gator, can imagine the torment on some of the roads, lol.

ChrisMT, we talked of getting a pull behind, thanks for the info on the one that y'all use, hard to imagine an 18ft trailer accommodating my extra tall husband but encouraging that it works for your's.

Also, my spin out near Lake Tahoe was on that same area on highway 50, incredible view but scary place to lose control and we were being cautious! Wasn't our time to go I guess, but won't ever forget it, lol

[luvmyveteran]

ChrisMT, could you share the model# of the Mighty Lite that you have? We found Pacific Coachworks has a Mighty Lite, not sure if that is the brand you have?
We started checking them out, they have great reviews and comments about the amount of space.
Never would have thought that, it may be a really good solution as we could pull with our truck.

thanks!

[ChrisMT]

Ours is a Mighty Lite 16RB model, the year is 2016 I think. I think they changed up the configurations after 2016...and put in a smaller fridge and stove....ours has a full oven/gas stove combo and a big fridge and a walk-around bed..it is a queen bed size, but it works because of the 'end tables' on each side allowing more elbow room lol...

Our Toyota Highlander only had a 3500lb capacity at the time so we had to go with a light weight trailer, our newer Highlander is 5000lb towing so we are good. The only feature I wish that was different is that it is a single-axle to keep the weight down and I would rather have double-axle on long trips. We had it professionally fitted to our SUV with sway bars which is important with the high winds here and curvy mountain passes.

So maybe you can find a used 2016 of our model because it does work for my husbands size even though it's not really big...it is actually a 16 foot!

And I totally understand your freak out about Hwy 50 and the cliff area there above Meeks/Tahoe...it gives me panic attacks if I am on the outside lane near the cliff...thank goodness it's only a short section, but yeah...these roads can scar you for life

I am sorry about your health scare, best wishes on a speedy recovery!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by luvmyveteran

We wondered why so many odd things happened with our motor home that caused us to cancel our trip to Idaho, until I woke up with severe kidney pain 2 days ago.

I saw our Doc yesterday who confirmed kidney stones and bad kidney infection, she said we were really blessed to not be on a cross country road trip when getting hit with this, and I agree! Brutal.

I had kidney stones for the first time in 2013 from working on our farm in the heat, and I swore never again! I've made it a point to stay very hydrated in hopes of preventing another attack, but it is hard to avoid the heat with farm animals, ect.

The suggestions to make numerous visits make sense but we are 2100 miles away and have refused to fly since they implemented tsa gropings, so making a road trip across country a number of times is not feasible.

Rentals seem to be very few, as does the selection in our price range. Shocking how fast properties go into contract in ID now. Our next plan was to rent a vehicle and come out asap, but that is now on hold until this bout with kidney stones goes away. It hurts to ride in the gator, can imagine the torment on some of the roads, lol.

ChrisMT, we talked of getting a pull behind, thanks for the info on the one that y'all use, hard to imagine an 18ft trailer accommodating my extra tall husband but encouraging that it works for your's.

Also, my spin out near Lake Tahoe was on that same area on highway 50, incredible view but scary place to lose control and we were being cautious! Wasn't our time to go I guess, but won't ever forget it, lol

My goodness, imagine if you had been on the road, and had to go to the hospital in these pandemic times! So now I'm sure the disappointment over having to postpone the trip seems less severe. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

We have a small 20-ft travel trailer sitting on our property next to the house. It isn't road-worthy at this point, but it was a great little home for us during the first summers when we were trying to figure out where to break ground for the house. Two adults and a huge White Shepherd made for very crowded conditions! But it was fun. My point is that a travel trailer is not a bad idea. It will be cramped, but you'll have your own space traveling with you, you can detach it and park it when you get to your destination/new home, and use it as guest quarters in the future, or sell it, or keep it for future vacation trips around the NW.

[luvmyveteran]

CFF, we are discussing travel trailers as an alternative especially after ChrisMT shared what they have that works for big and tall husbands, thanks Chris!
Now we are just trying to figure out how to get out there safely during the virus. We are also considering buying land and building, but we need to get out there and learn the different areas first. I am very grateful to not have been on the road when the kidney stones hit me. It was creepy enough for me to have to go in to see my Dr, let alone end up at an ER in some random town.

We have seen some land with power/water already to the property but don't have enough knowledge without an in person visit. Am hoping this health issue goes away asap or we may just get to visit during winter.
There is a saying in the South, "I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could". My family goes back generations in the deep south, and while I never had a burning desire to move here, that IS how I feel about Idaho...