Recreation

Here in north Idaho, we could afford to be not only homeowners, but also landowners. We paid half of the cost of the median-priced, cookie-cutter house, on a postage-sized lot in northern California and got 7 acres, 3000 sq ft house and a hangar with 7 acres on an airstrip.

We live 8 miles from Lake Pondereille, the largest lake in Idaho (pictured). There are lots of lakes in this area, fishing, hunting, bird-watching, kayaking and hiking. The pace is slow.

Summers are great. I love summer weather, especially the afternoon electrical storms that frequent the northern Rockies.

On the other hand, winter just sucks. It is really dark and fairly cold and, at many times, icy. Last January the sun was only seen for 25 hrs. in the entire month.

People in this area are really addicted to guns and noisy gas-guzzling ATV’s and have this attitude that it is their god given right to pollute. I never considered myself to a liberal until living here. The climate, being the people, has pushed me into becoming more of a radical thinker. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the belly of the beast.

This is a very “white” place. The Aryan league that used to be here have gone, but the population is still very homogenous. I miss the cultural mix that one would encounter in the Bay area San Francisco. No good Asian food.

However, things are changing very quickly, some good changes and other not so good. We expatriate-Californian-economic-refugees are invading in droves and are bringing our tastes for the eclectic with us.