Choosing between Sandpoint, Kalispell, and Pagosa Springs (Boise, Bonners Ferry: spring break, for sale)

[mgold]

My husband and I are trying to decided between Sandpoint, ID, Kalispell, MT and Pagosa Springs,CO. We now live in Frisco,CO (near Breckenridge). We have never been to Sandpoint but will be going there in June to check it out. Some things that are important to us are: Schools, hospitals, employment in area, recreation(skiing, biking, hiking), and I would like to have change of seasons (a defined summer, fall, winter and spring). As I write this now on April 26, 2008 it is snowing and I rather not have that the next place we live. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.
-Mgold

[cleosmom]

Considering all three location are in the mountain states, you're standing a good chance at seeing snow this late in the season.

I'm in SE Idaho and we got more yesterday, didn't stick, but wasn't Spring like weather even for these parts.

[Doug Benson]

Why not rent an island in the Mediterranean Sea? You could always make your own island by buying a couple of government surplus ships, securing them together, having them towed out to sea with your family on it, then sit back and enjoy a secluded life.

There are also some sand lots in Texas that are for sale cheap. Lots of rabbits, scorpions, snakes, and no water. Try Hudspeth Texas on ebay.

[esselcue]

Mr Benson is being a bit sarcastic but he does have a point...you are looking for the Perfect Place and it probably does not exist. Four seasons means snow, and seasons are always unpredictable. For plentiful jobs you may need to stick close to a larger city such as Boise...although I do believe Sandpoint has good schools and medical, as least as far as I can tell from my own investigations. Best bet is to visit your three possible destinations and ask around first-hand.

[mgold]

I understand I am asking for for the "perfect" place for certain stuff. I am fine with snow (I am an avid skier) however for the past 9 years I have lived in 9 months of snow and that's if it doesn't snow in August! Right now there is still 2 feet of snow out my door (do you have that Mr. Benson out your door right now?) and spring doesn't come till June. We have winter, mud season, summer for 2 months and winter again. I work in the hotel industry and my husband works as a manager so we are very versatile when it comes to jobs. You couldn't pay me a 5 million dollars to live in Texas. Thanks for helping me esselcue!

[esselcue]

I am very little help, actually, but I've been investigating Idaho (for retirement) for almost a year now and have gotten pretty familiar with weather, jobs, schools, medical, etc simply from researching. I have also driven up there twice and will again in September to do my final scouting expedition. I know it is annoying to get sarcasm or criticism when you ask a simple question...sometimes our questions are dumb, or seem that way to others, but it never calls for a sarcastic reply, in my opinion. I wish you the best of luck, wherever you decide to "land"

[Hawkeye56]

Hello... I left Sandpoint after 30 years last November. I ended up in Nevada. I left after suffering depression because of all the grey sky's. It doesn't matter if it's 30 above or 30 below, you'll pretty much stick close to the wood stove. 10 miles north of Sandpoint it will be snowing in the winter, while in town it will be raining. Further north to Bonners Ferry, their rototilling their garden in March. There is a snow belt that runs thru there. The water here in Nevada will kill you.... So will a bear up north. I think I'll move back to the Sandpoint area and try to out run the wild life and live a clean, healthy life drinking pure ,clean water and also pure clean air.... I'll get a sun lamp!! Hawkeye~~~~~

[Sage of Sagle]

Here is a somewhat typical season cycle in Sandpoint (but it's rarely typical from what I've heard from folks who've lived here their whole lives)...so take this FWIW from our perspective:

June/July/August are gorgeous summer. Highs in the high 80's, and last year went into the 90's up near 100 which was a record. Stays hot into the night hours since it's sunny until 9PM or later, and since the sun came up at 4:45AM or so, it had a long time to heat the ground. Blue skies abound. Storms are violent but brief. This is summer thunderstorm season, but as long as it's just rain, we don't stop outdoor activites just because it's raining. And no joke...on the lake, you can go 1/2 mile from where it's raining, and you're in good weather. But it can change on you in 15 minutes.

September starts to get chillier. We still boat through most of early-mid September, but only on warmer days, and tubing is more fun that waterskiing as the lake gets colder. Nights start getting crisp, fall colors start showing. Skies start getting more grey. By end of September, we're all putting boats in storage and the lake level is being drawn down to winter level (natural lake, but level is managed by the Albeni Falls Dam they put on the river down by Newport/Oldtown).

October starts getting downright cold at night but days are iffy. Jacket weather. Skies are mostly cloud cover. May get some snow but nothing that's going to stick. Fall colors in full swing. One of my favorite times in town. More rain starts falling. Still some gorgeous days that show up where you wish your boat wasn't winterized...but it's gone the next day.

November is cold and grey. Freezing at night, more rainy days. Snow will start in more earnest but may or may not start to accumulate on the ground, depending on the year. This year was obviously a cold one.

December is full winter. Snow is starting to accumulate. Grey skies completely. Everything starts being white and quiet.

January/February are butt cold. Highs around 10-20'ish, lows around -5 to 5 degrees, nasty weather. You never look at the sky because that means getting your face frozen.
Toward the end of February (again, depending on the year) it may start to melt off. This year we still had 5' of snow.

March sees spring breakup. Lots of rain washing away snow, creeks overflow in big snow years (like now). Roads turn to garbage as the ground unfreezes. Frost heaves are everywhere on dirt roads, paved roads show the need for repair. Potholes are more common than good pavement. It's MUD SEASON. We have clay under the topsoil, and it means bad "sucking mud". Can be nearly axle deep on my 4wd lifted truck, no kidding, but only in placed REALLY torn up. Most of the time, my wife's sedan can get through the mud fine. Skies may start showing blue on nicer days. Highs around 40-50, lows will still be sub-32. End of March usually starts getting really nice. Highs may hit 60, lows around 35 or higher.

April is usually very nice. Ending mud season for the most part, but not always. Lots of rain, but it's lighter sprinkles and only 2-3 hours at a time. We play sports in it, jog in it, garden in it, etc. Blue skies come 1-2 days a week, maybe every for several days in a row. More common is to have blue skies show up for a couple hours each day as clouds blow over. Toward late April bugs start showing up in numbers. Mostly little flying guys. Gnats, etc.

May is nice. Starting to get warm, up into the 70's, nights in the 40's. Still light rain coming often, and 4-5 days a week we'll get a couple hours a day of rain, and more hours a day of blue sky, usually in the afternoon/evening. Bees, hornets, and wasps begin to abound. I hate getting stung, so we have a plethora of traps around the place and it works. Ants are in full swing, so we've already had the place sprayed in april usually, and every 6-8 weeks after that. Starting in late May, we're on the lake 3-4x a week. Since it's light so late, we like to go boating after dinner on weeknights, and at least one weekend day that we're not playing sports.

[ORexpat]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye56

Hello... I left Sandpoint after 30 years last November. I ended up in Nevada. I left after suffering depression because of all the grey sky's. It doesn't matter if it's 30 above or 30 below, you'll pretty much stick close to the wood stove. 10 miles north of Sandpoint it will be snowing in the winter, while in town it will be raining. Further north to Bonners Ferry, their rototilling their garden in March. There is a snow belt that runs thru there. The water here in Nevada will kill you.... So will a bear up north. I think I'll move back to the Sandpoint area and try to out run the wild life and live a clean, healthy life drinking pure ,clean water and also pure clean air.... I'll get a sun lamp!! Hawkeye~~~~~

Maybe your depression will be cured now that you've seen Nevada.

[Sage of Sagle]

Ayup....Nevada depresses me...I feel energized here...fresh air, trees, water, animals, beats sand and sagebrush...