Idaho Falls
October 2021
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(Scroll to the end to skip the details of my trip and just read my 10 tips for researching a new city to move to.)
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I just got back from my last morning walk around the neighborhood before we head back to Portland tonight. I don’t feel like I heard a definite “yes” from the Lord that this is where we are supposed to be, but I didn’t necessarily get a “no” either.
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This is the first time I’ve come to a city to give it an “interview” per se, since I was 21 and looking for somewhere to finish my bachelors degree. But back then, I wasn’t so much shopping the city itself, but the universities. I ultimately choose the University of Oregon in Eugene because they were well recognized in the psychology field and that is the degree I could get in the least amount of time. That was half a lifetime ago… literally! I’m 42 now and I’ve been in Oregon for 21 years. I love Oregon, but unfortunately it’s just become unaffordable and the political situation is taking its toll on my family.
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Back to my weekend here in Eastern Idaho, trying to decide if this might be a good area for us to move to. I had done a little research on the area before hand - mainly just talking to a few people that live here or have family here, and looking at houses and apartments on Zillow and Google maps. But I wanted to get a “feel” for the city so I booked an Airbnb in a neighborhood that was walking distance to the Greenbelt and downtown areas and convinced my friend Annette to get away with me for a girls weekend. (I’m not sure she knew what she was getting into 😉).
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The Greenbelt is a 5 mile bike and walking path that runs on both sides of the Snake River, right through the middle of town. I made it a point to get up every morning and go for a walk to explore different parts of the downtown area.
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The first morning, I walked the six blocks out to the Greenbelt, went South to W Broadway Street, passing the Saturday market being set up for the day on Memorial Drive. I crossed over the Broadway Street bridge and headed slightly south to the Japanese friendship Garden. According to the idahofallsidaho.gov website,
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The Japanese Friendship Garden is located on a rocky island in the Snake River in the heart of Idaho Falls. The island is historically important as the site of the first bridge to span the Snake River in Eastern Idaho. The garden was developed to celebrate thirty years of associating with our Japanese sister city, Tokai-Mura, and to encourage friendship with peoples throughout the world.
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After taking some quiet moments to explore the little island tucked in the middle of town, I continued south along the Greenbelt. It was mostly hotels and empty space waiting to be developed. A little ways down, bells started ringing to the tune of America the Beautiful. They sounded like church bells but I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. If anyone knows what the bells are for, I would love to know.
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At this point, I had walked so far south that I was only about 15 minutes from one of the apartment complexes that I had flagged in Google maps to look at, The Falls Apartments. One of the things I liked about these apartments was there proximity to the Greenbelt bike and walking path and the downtown area. I had to cut through a commercial area speckled with empty lots were things would certainly be built in the next few years, as the area continues to explode with new transplants trying to escape the political BS going on in their own home states.
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I wasn’t excited about the location of the apartments when I got there and they were about $100 more per month and the other ones I was hoping to tour out in Ammon later in the day, so I unchecked that from my Google maps places to see and enjoyed a nice 2 mile walk back along the river.
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When I got back to our Airbnb around 10:30 we Ubered over to Enterprise to pick up our rental car. Then we spent the next few hours exploring the city, doing drive-bys of some of the properties I had been viewing online. We were able to rule out one just based on the location alone. There’s only so much you can learn on goggle maps - sometimes you just have to get a feel for things in person.
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We stopped by a local Walmart to pick up some food and drinks, and then I was able to take a tour of The Residences at First Street, the apartments on the edge of Idaho Falls and Ammon that I was interested in, if we decided to move over and rent.
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However, more and more I’m feeling like that is not the wisest thing to do. If I rent, I have to sign a nine month lease that would be very expensive to break, and probably spend more than I would on a house payment to rent a much smaller space. A three bedroom, two bath apartment with no storage would cost around $1640 a month (plus $35 extra pet rent for Chloe the cat.) Granted this is one of the nicer apartment buildings in town, with a pool, year-round Jacuzzi, rec room and gym. You can definitely find things to rent for cheaper, but what was appealing to me about these apartments (besides all the amenities) was that they were partnered with a local builder and if you decided to build a new home with them after renting, they would credit $100 per month of your rent towards your closing costs. However, to build a new house here it’s currently close to 500,000 for a 4 or 5 bedroom house and that’s pretty similar to the prices here in Oregon.
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We did a drive-by of Waterspring School, a private Christian school that I had found and researched online, that seemed like a good option for the kids if we decided not to send them to public school. We ate our Walmart salads in the parking lot and while we were there we noticed that the Watersprings Church right next-door had a Saturday night service at 7 o’clock. I made a mental note to possibly come back for that.
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I think having a church we love wherever we end up is so important, so I wanted to visit at least one while I was here for the weekend. Going on Saturday night would free up Sunday for a road trip out of town if we wanted.
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At 2:30 we met with my realtor at a house out in Iona, which is basically the suburbs of Idaho Falls. It was actually located right behind the elementary school that Holli teaches at. I loved this house. It was clean and staged very nicely, which always helps. It had fresh paint and new carpet. It was a five bedrooms, two baths 2054 ft.² home. The backyard of this house was the true selling point. Deck, pergola, built-in fire pit, a place for a hot tub and trampoline, the start of a treehouse, and a bonus room with a fireplace and electricity that would be the perfect “she shed” or kids gaming room.〰️It was listed at $310,000 but my realtor was confident that we would need to offer at least 10,000 over asking price to even be considered. 〰️We would go on to see three other houses that afternoon, two of which were priced even higher and one was so disgusting we didn’t even want to stay in there for very long. The only one I was even considering making an offer on was the first one we looked at in Iona. But I just couldn’t bring myself to offer over asking when $310,000 was the max I had been approved for by my loan officer so far.〰️Well, technically he approved 250,000 in financing and I have about 60,000 to put down, while still leaving a little left over to cover closing costs. The reason I want to put 20% down on the purchase of my next home is to avoid PMI, or private mortgage insurance, which will intern make my payment quite a bit more expensive per month. 〰️The Iona house went pending that same evening at an above asking price offer. I won’t be able to know exactly how much it sold for until it records with the county but I’m going to keep my eye on it because I’m curious.〰️After looking at houses, we met up with Holli and Jon and Hunter and Oliver for dinner at Fuji sushi and hibachi.
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It was so fun to sit around the hibachi grill, elbow to elbow with strangers, and watch our food being cooked by the chef right in front of us. I’m kind of doubtful that Oregon is allowing this right now but I could be wrong.
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After dinner, we made it to church and listened to an inspiring message by Ty Orr, the lead pastor of Watersprings Church, about finding Joy in the presence of the Lord, and coming to the Word of God in order to cast out anxiety and depression. 〰️Proverbs 12:25 says “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.”
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Sunday morning‘s walk took me over to the snake river Greenbelt again, only this time I went north along the east bank of the river. I texted Holli to see if she wanted to meet up for coffee and ended up doing a big loop and meeting her back at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte.
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〰️She drove me around to see a couple houses on the west side of town, which I’ve heard from a few people now is safer and quieter than the east side. We looked at a house by the airport that was listed for sale at $299,000 but there were absolutely no pictures of the inside and the listing said you couldn’t even view the inside until you had an accepted offer. From the looks of the outside, the house had not been maintained well and probably needed a lot of work. ✔️ Checked that one off the list of potentials. The next one we drove by already went pending a few days ago but I wanted to see the neighborhood in case the deal fell through. It was on a quiet backstreet, walking distance to Fox Hollow Elementary, which I had heard from a couple people already was a good school in the area. Then we went by the zoo, Tautphaus Park, and a street with with some beautiful million dollar homes on it, before going back to my AirBnB.
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Then Annette and I packed up for a day trip over to Wyoming. Idaho Falls is only about 70 miles from the Wyoming border and a 2 hour drive from Jackson Hole. Neither of us had ever been to the town of Jackson, Wyoming. 〰️The town itself was full of life, crowded with people, restaurants and bars open, lots of little shops. They did require masks indoors but not outside. It was easy to find public parking so we stopped for lunch and a bathroom break before heading out to see the Tetons. I actually didn’t even realize we were entering Grand Teton National Park until we came to the welcome sign. We never had to show a national parks pass, but we only drove about 7 miles into the park. We stopped at a few of the scenic turnouts and admired the vast mountain range in front of us. It is truly one of the most beautiful and breathtaking mountain ranges that I have seen. 〰️
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We learned which peak was which and how much of the glaciers have melted in the last 20 years or so. Schwabacher Landing was by far the best view all day, and was totally worth the dirt road full of giant potholes and mud puddles that we had to drive on to get there.
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We turned around after this stop and headed back to Jackson because we were hoping to make it back to Idaho Falls before dark. Whatever is beyond that viewpoint will have to wait until another time but Grand Tetons, I will be back! 〰️There is actually a really cool loop you can take that goes all the way through Grand Teton National Park, then into Yellowstone and circles back through Idaho Falls. That is on my bucket list for next time. We were hoping to see a moose or an elk (from a safe distance of course) but the only large animals we saw were deer.
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〰️Back in Jackson, we shopped for some gifts, got a bite to eat, and then headed back over Teton Pass towards Idaho Falls.
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In case you haven’t noticed yet, I love using Google maps when I travel. While I was looking at the map of our route back home I noticed it would only add about 10 minutes to our trip if we detoured and went through Rigby, a small town north of Idaho Falls where I had been told all the bilingual immersion schools are located. Along the way to that detour I noticed that we were really close to Heisey Hot Springs, so we took a detour from our detour 😂 back towards the east to see it in person. It looks like they are doing some construction on parts of it, but the hot pool was open and lots of people were enjoying it. The cost was $10 for adults and $7 for kids for a day pass. Definitely somewhere I would come back to you. They also had a cold fresh water swimming pool that was open in the summer, lots of RV sites on the river, and even cute little cabins you could rent.
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When we got into Rigby I pulled up Zillow and found a house in my price range, so we drove to the address. It was right next to a development of new houses that were selling in the mid to upper 400s. The house appeared to be vacant so we pulled in the driveway to take a look. I got out of the car and peaked in some windows. It was definitely vacant. As I walked around the side of the house I heard someone yell “hey you get out of here.” I couldn’t see anyone and I’m not entirely sure he was even talking to me but nonetheless I got back in the car quickly and left. Don’t want to risk getting shot at out here in rural Idaho.
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We drove the 15 minutes back to Idaho Falls and settled into our cozy Airbnb for the night, with leftovers from last nights Hibachi and a well deserved bottle of wine.
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Monday morning. Our last day here. This morning my walk took me to the downtown part of Idaho Falls. I got a feel for the city on a Monday morning with people coming to work and traffic wasn’t bad at all. The streets were clean and felt safe. No tents, no drug needles, no humans defecating in plain sight (all things that are pretty regular occurances on the streets of Portland.)
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There were quite a few empty commercial spaces downtown, which could be a sign that businesses aren’t thriving, but it could also just be that the people moving there probably work remotely and aren’t necessarily starting brick and mortar type businesses.
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When I got to one particular corner in the middle of town, I noticed what looked like a juice bar or café of sorts. It had inviting tables that I could see through the window, a bar to sit at and I could see two women inside - one behind the counter and one sitting at the bar. I went in. As I walked up to the counter, the woman (who I would later learn was the owner) welcomed me with a warm smile and we exchanged some idle chitchat. I think she sensed some confusion on my face so she started explaining her menu to me that was written up on her blackboard. I should’ve taken a picture of it. It was so confusing and there were lots of choices and I don’t do well with too many choices, especially when I don’t recognize the names of anything that I’m reading.
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You see, I wasn’t at a juice bar or a café, I was in an Herbalife store. Every item that she offered was Herbalife. At that point I could see the bottles sitting behind the counter, but I didn’t see any dishes or blenders or other items you might use to actually make shakes and drinks. Good Lord, what did I get myself into? Is she going to try to sell me a bunch of products now? Is the menu even for premade drinks or am I just buying bottles of liquid or powder? I was so confused.
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I asked for clarification and she said she could make the drinks there. She recommended a combo, which came with a shake and some sort of iced beverage, I think she called it tea but it didn’t taste like tea. Now I was stuck there. I couldn’t walk home with a drink in each hand. It was really cold out and I didn’t have any gloves. So I sat with these ladies for 15 or 20 minutes while I drank my shake. I found out how long the owner had lived here, what she thought of the schools, what the weather was like in the winter.
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Whenever I ask a local about the schools they say they aren’t very good. Our first Uber driver said Idaho was 49th in the nation for education. (I have not fact checked that.) But the two transplants to the area that I’ve asked said that the schools were great. One said “way better than Oregon.” I don’t know education wise, but the kids here don’t have to wear masks to school and that’s already better than Oregon in my book.
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When I was about to leave the café or whatever it was, the owner gave me a very small sales pitch, but didn’t try to get me to buy any product or sign up for anything. Just politely invited me back next time I’m in town. So overall, the experience turned out to be a good one even though walking into it was incredibly uncomfortable. I don’t know why multi-level marketing makes me so uncomfortable, but it always has and I try to avoid it whenever possible.
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We met back up with my realtor at 10:30 to view a house that had come back on the market that morning due to financing falling through. They were asking $315,000 and Sara thought if I offered full price and didn’t ask for any contingencies I could probably get it.
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After seeing it, I didn’t want it though. It needed a new fence around the yard, new paint everywhere, new carpet, new appliances, new kitchen cabinets. The bathrooms were dirty and rusty and not updated at all and the basement was unfinished in some parts.
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We said goodbye to Sara and I thanked her for all her time. She promised to keep sending me properties that came up in my price range and offered to do virtual tours so we’ll see what happens in the next few months or so.
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I’ve read articles that predict demand may go down a bit in the winter months, allowing prices to settle, but I’ve also read articles that it’s just going to keep going up. I guess time will tell.
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My conclusion at this point is that even though I thought I could afford a four bedroom house in Idaho Falls, many are selling for tens of thousands above asking and the ones that don’t go pending in days need a lot of work. From new carpet, paint, gutters, appliances, fences falling down, kitchens needing updating, windows and doors in weird and creepy places, all seemed like some sort of fixer or another and I’m just not handy like that. I really need a house that is clean and move-in ready and Im not sure at this point if I can find that in Idaho Falls without upping my budget by at least $100,000.
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Annette and I didn’t have to be at the airport until four so I asked if maybe we could go check out a couple smaller towns south of Idaho Falls. She, of course, was on board because she’s the best travel buddy ever, super easy-going, laid-back, and up for anything. Thank you Annette! (She practically drove me everywhere this weekend because it would’ve cost us an extra $15 per day to add me as an afditional driver on the rental car.)
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We took the I 15 down to Blackfoot, 30 miles south of Idaho Falls. My friend Teresa recommended I check out this town while over here and I’m glad I did. It’s much smaller than Idaho Falls, population 11,907 as of 2019. (Idaho Falls was about 65,000 in 2019 within the city limits and about 130,000 in the entire metro area.)
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Since Blackfoot was smaller and a little more remote, house prices were lower. I found a four bedroom, two bath on Zillow that looked really nice. We drove by and I liked the location - walking distance from almost everything: the library, school, possible church, coffee, the potato museum.
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It had been on Zillow for 103 days. I sent the address to my realtor and asked for more details. She text me back a few minutes later saying it went pending yesterday. For some reason, that really felt to me like God was closing a door - maybe not forever, but for now. I don’t feel like that’s where I’m meant to be.
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We headed back into Idaho Falls, this time via Highway 91, going through the town of Shelley along the way (population 4372.) We had a delicious lunch at Jakers Bar and Grill, known for their prime rib and steaks. It did not disappoint! We shared a prime rib French dip and steak bites and I ate so much that that was my lunch and dinner, which actually worked out good since our flight was leaving at 6 PM.
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We stopped off to see the actual waterfalls of Idaho Falls one more time. They really are beautiful and they also produce power for the city. In fact, I learned that hydroelectric power produces about half the power in Idaho, contributing to the states low electric rates. We dropped off our rental car and ordered an Uber for the airport. While we waited it started pouring down rain. It was almost like Oregon was coming to greet us and take us home.🌨
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The Idaho Falls Regional Airport is small, so getting there two hours early left us with about an hour and a half to spare at the gate. Our flight left at 6 PM and got into PDX around 6:30 - it’s an hour and a half flight but with the time difference we gained an hour back.
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I got to see the most beautiful sunset views as we flew west and we went right by Mount Hood, with Mount Jefferson (I think) in the background. Who can tell me if I’m right, and possibly what the third mountain is that you can barely see in the distance?
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It’s good to be home. I missed my babies (I know they are not at all babies anymore.)
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Time away is good for me though. It’s good to miss them once in a while so I can appreciate them more when I am here (and maybe, just maybe they might appreciate me a little more to too.)
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To summarize, from my experience on this trip, here are my recommendations if you are considering a move to a new city or region:
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1. Do as much research as you can online. Search for real estate, research the schools, talk to people that live there or have in the past, join local Facebook community groups for the area, check local job listings if you will be needing to find employment there, look up what’s for rent in the area to get an idea of what housing will cost (and if there is even units available.) Idaho is the number one state in the country right now that people are moving to, and there is a shortage of housing in most major cities.
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2. Once you’ve done all the research that you can online, and it still seems like a place you might want to move to, go visit for a few days. I recommend being there during the weekend as well as a weekday since both can be drastically different, especially tourist type destinations.
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3. Book an Airbnb rather than a hotel to get a better feel for what it would be like to live in the area. Try to find one in a neighborhood you are already interested in, and if you’re comfortable, book one where you may have interaction with the owner/host. They might be a great resource for researching the area.
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4. Walk around the city, don’t just drive. You can get a much better feel for neighborhoods on foot then you can in a car. Biking or scooterring is also an option. I saw that Idaho Falls did have the scooters around the downtown area that you can rent with your smart phone.
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5. Meet with a local realtor and view some houses in your price range. Even if you’re not ready to make an offer yet, it will give you an idea of what’s available and what you can afford.
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6. Visit local schools. Take a tour or meet with teachers and staff if that is an important priority for you.
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7. Shop at Walmart or Costco. I don’t really have a good reason for this suggestion other than, if you’re staying in an Airbnb, you probably want to pick up a few groceries to save yourself some money on eating out for every meal. I also think the local Walmarts and Costco’s are a great place to get a feel for the general vibe of the community.
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8. Visit a local church. Get recommendations or do your own search online. Choose a church that seems similar to your beliefs and go experience what their services are like.
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9. Talk with the locals whenever you can. I visited with the rental car attendant, Uber driver, bartender, our Airbnb host, the Herbalife ladies, and some random stranger I met while out for one of my morning walks. All had great input and information about the city.
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10. I feel like I should have a #10, just to make a nice round number, so this is kind of a silly recommendation - and one that is only for you single folks out there, but it’s not a bad idea to get on a location based dating app and just check out what the area has to offer in that department. I was pleasantly surprised that none of the dating profiles I saw in Idaho mentioned anything about polyamory or fwb, both of which seem very common in the Portland Metro area (if you are unsure what either of those terms mean, a quick Google search will satisfy your curiosity.)
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Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below 👇🏼
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It was so fun to sit around the hibachi grill, elbow to elbow with strangers, and watch our food being cooked by the chef right in front of us. I’m kind of doubtful that Oregon is allowing this right now but I could be wrong.
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After dinner, we made it to church and listened to an inspiring message by Ty Orr, the lead pastor of Watersprings Church, about finding Joy in the presence of the Lord, and coming to the Word of God in order to cast out anxiety and depression. 〰️Proverbs 12:25 says “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.”
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Sunday morning‘s walk took me over to the snake river Greenbelt again, only this time I went north along the east bank of the river. I texted Holli to see if she wanted to meet up for coffee and ended up doing a big loop and meeting her back at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte.
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〰️She drove me around to see a couple houses on the west side of town, which I’ve heard from a few people now is safer and quieter than the east side. We looked at a house by the airport that was listed for sale at $299,000 but there were absolutely no pictures of the inside and the listing said you couldn’t even view the inside until you had an accepted offer. From the looks of the outside, the house had not been maintained well and probably needed a lot of work. ✔️ Checked that one off the list of potentials. The next one we drove by already went pending a few days ago but I wanted to see the neighborhood in case the deal fell through. It was on a quiet backstreet, walking distance to Fox Hollow Elementary, which I had heard from a couple people already was a good school in the area. Then we went by the zoo, Tautphaus Park, and a street with with some beautiful million dollar homes on it, before going back to my AirBnB.
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Then Annette and I packed up for a day trip over to Wyoming. Idaho Falls is only about 70 miles from the Wyoming border and a 2 hour drive from Jackson Hole. Neither of us had ever been to the town of Jackson, Wyoming. 〰️The town itself was full of life, crowded with people, restaurants and bars open, lots of little shops. They did require masks indoors but not outside. It was easy to find public parking so we stopped for lunch and a bathroom break before heading out to see the Tetons. I actually didn’t even realize we were entering Grand Teton National Park until we came to the welcome sign. We never had to show a national parks pass, but we only drove about 7 miles into the park. We stopped at a few of the scenic turnouts and admired the vast mountain range in front of us. It is truly one of the most beautiful and breathtaking mountain ranges that I have seen. 〰️
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We learned which peak was which and how much of the glaciers have melted in the last 20 years or so. Schwabacher Landing was by far the best view all day, and was totally worth the dirt road full of giant potholes and mud puddles that we had to drive on to get there.
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We turned around after this stop and headed back to Jackson because we were hoping to make it back to Idaho Falls before dark. Whatever is beyond that viewpoint will have to wait until another time but Grand Tetons, I will be back! 〰️There is actually a really cool loop you can take that goes all the way through Grand Teton National Park, then into Yellowstone and circles back through Idaho Falls. That is on my bucket list for next time. We were hoping to see a moose or an elk (from a safe distance of course) but the only large animals we saw were deer.
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〰️Back in Jackson, we shopped for some gifts, got a bite to eat, and then headed back over Teton Pass towards Idaho Falls.
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In case you haven’t noticed yet, I love using Google maps when I travel. While I was looking at the map of our route back home I noticed it would only add about 10 minutes to our trip if we detoured and went through Rigby, a small town north of Idaho Falls where I had been told all the bilingual immersion schools are located. Along the way to that detour I noticed that we were really close to Heisey Hot Springs, so we took a detour from our detour 😂 back towards the east to see it in person. It looks like they are doing some construction on parts of it, but the hot pool was open and lots of people were enjoying it. The cost was $10 for adults and $7 for kids for a day pass. Definitely somewhere I would come back to you. They also had a cold fresh water swimming pool that was open in the summer, lots of RV sites on the river, and even cute little cabins you could rent.
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When we got into Rigby I pulled up Zillow and found a house in my price range, so we drove to the address. It was right next to a development of new houses that were selling in the mid to upper 400s. The house appeared to be vacant so we pulled in the driveway to take a look. I got out of the car and peaked in some windows. It was definitely vacant. As I walked around the side of the house I heard someone yell “hey you get out of here.” I couldn’t see anyone and I’m not entirely sure he was even talking to me but nonetheless I got back in the car quickly and left. Don’t want to risk getting shot at out here in rural Idaho.
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We drove the 15 minutes back to Idaho Falls and settled into our cozy Airbnb for the night, with leftovers from last nights Hibachi and a well deserved bottle of wine.
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Monday morning. Our last day here. This morning my walk took me to the downtown part of Idaho Falls. I got a feel for the city on a Monday morning with people coming to work and traffic wasn’t bad at all. The streets were clean and felt safe. No tents, no drug needles, no humans defecating in plain sight (all things that are pretty regular occurances on the streets of Portland.)
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There were quite a few empty commercial spaces downtown, which could be a sign that businesses aren’t thriving, but it could also just be that the people moving there probably work remotely and aren’t necessarily starting brick and mortar type businesses.
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When I got to one particular corner in the middle of town, I noticed what looked like a juice bar or café of sorts. It had inviting tables that I could see through the window, a bar to sit at and I could see two women inside - one behind the counter and one sitting at the bar. I went in. As I walked up to the counter, the woman (who I would later learn was the owner) welcomed me with a warm smile and we exchanged some idle chitchat. I think she sensed some confusion on my face so she started explaining her menu to me that was written up on her blackboard. I should’ve taken a picture of it. It was so confusing and there were lots of choices and I don’t do well with too many choices, especially when I don’t recognize the names of anything that I’m reading.
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You see, I wasn’t at a juice bar or a café, I was in an Herbalife store. Every item that she offered was Herbalife. At that point I could see the bottles sitting behind the counter, but I didn’t see any dishes or blenders or other items you might use to actually make shakes and drinks. Good Lord, what did I get myself into? Is she going to try to sell me a bunch of products now? Is the menu even for premade drinks or am I just buying bottles of liquid or powder? I was so confused.
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I asked for clarification and she said she could make the drinks there. She recommended a combo, which came with a shake and some sort of iced beverage, I think she called it tea but it didn’t taste like tea. Now I was stuck there. I couldn’t walk home with a drink in each hand. It was really cold out and I didn’t have any gloves. So I sat with these ladies for 15 or 20 minutes while I drank my shake. I found out how long the owner had lived here, what she thought of the schools, what the weather was like in the winter.
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Whenever I ask a local about the schools they say they aren’t very good. Our first Uber driver said Idaho was 49th in the nation for education. (I have not fact checked that.) But the two transplants to the area that I’ve asked said that the schools were great. One said “way better than Oregon.” I don’t know education wise, but the kids here don’t have to wear masks to school and that’s already better than Oregon in my book.
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When I was about to leave the café or whatever it was, the owner gave me a very small sales pitch, but didn’t try to get me to buy any product or sign up for anything. Just politely invited me back next time I’m in town. So overall, the experience turned out to be a good one even though walking into it was incredibly uncomfortable. I don’t know why multi-level marketing makes me so uncomfortable, but it always has and I try to avoid it whenever possible.
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We met back up with my realtor at 10:30 to view a house that had come back on the market that morning due to financing falling through. They were asking $315,000 and Sara thought if I offered full price and didn’t ask for any contingencies I could probably get it.
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After seeing it, I didn’t want it though. It needed a new fence around the yard, new paint everywhere, new carpet, new appliances, new kitchen cabinets. The bathrooms were dirty and rusty and not updated at all and the basement was unfinished in some parts.
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We said goodbye to Sara and I thanked her for all her time. She promised to keep sending me properties that came up in my price range and offered to do virtual tours so we’ll see what happens in the next few months or so.
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I’ve read articles that predict demand may go down a bit in the winter months, allowing prices to settle, but I’ve also read articles that it’s just going to keep going up. I guess time will tell.
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My conclusion at this point is that even though I thought I could afford a four bedroom house in Idaho Falls, many are selling for tens of thousands above asking and the ones that don’t go pending in days need a lot of work. From new carpet, paint, gutters, appliances, fences falling down, kitchens needing updating, windows and doors in weird and creepy places, all seemed like some sort of fixer or another and I’m just not handy like that. I really need a house that is clean and move-in ready and Im not sure at this point if I can find that in Idaho Falls without upping my budget by at least $100,000.
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Annette and I didn’t have to be at the airport until four so I asked if maybe we could go check out a couple smaller towns south of Idaho Falls. She, of course, was on board because she’s the best travel buddy ever, super easy-going, laid-back, and up for anything. Thank you Annette! (She practically drove me everywhere this weekend because it would’ve cost us an extra $15 per day to add me as an afditional driver on the rental car.)
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We took the I 15 down to Blackfoot, 30 miles south of Idaho Falls. My friend Teresa recommended I check out this town while over here and I’m glad I did. It’s much smaller than Idaho Falls, population 11,907 as of 2019. (Idaho Falls was about 65,000 in 2019 within the city limits and about 130,000 in the entire metro area.)
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Since Blackfoot was smaller and a little more remote, house prices were lower. I found a four bedroom, two bath on Zillow that looked really nice. We drove by and I liked the location - walking distance from almost everything: the library, school, possible church, coffee, the potato museum.
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It had been on Zillow for 103 days. I sent the address to my realtor and asked for more details. She text me back a few minutes later saying it went pending yesterday. For some reason, that really felt to me like God was closing a door - maybe not forever, but for now. I don’t feel like that’s where I’m meant to be.
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We headed back into Idaho Falls, this time via Highway 91, going through the town of Shelley along the way (population 4372.) We had a delicious lunch at Jakers Bar and Grill, known for their prime rib and steaks. It did not disappoint! We shared a prime rib French dip and steak bites and I ate so much that that was my lunch and dinner, which actually worked out good since our flight was leaving at 6 PM.
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We stopped off to see the actual waterfalls of Idaho Falls one more time. They really are beautiful and they also produce power for the city. In fact, I learned that hydroelectric power produces about half the power in Idaho, contributing to the states low electric rates. We dropped off our rental car and ordered an Uber for the airport. While we waited it started pouring down rain. It was almost like Oregon was coming to greet us and take us home.🌨
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The Idaho Falls Regional Airport is small, so getting there two hours early left us with about an hour and a half to spare at the gate. Our flight left at 6 PM and got into PDX around 6:30 - it’s an hour and a half flight but with the time difference we gained an hour back.
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I got to see the most beautiful sunset views as we flew west and we went right by Mount Hood, with Mount Jefferson (I think) in the background. Who can tell me if I’m right, and possibly what the third mountain is that you can barely see in the distance?
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It’s good to be home. I missed my babies (I know they are not at all babies anymore.)
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Time away is good for me though. It’s good to miss them once in a while so I can appreciate them more when I am here (and maybe, just maybe they might appreciate me a little more to too.)
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To summarize, from my experience on this trip, here are my recommendations if you are considering a move to a new city or region:
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1. Do as much research as you can online. Search for real estate, research the schools, talk to people that live there or have in the past, join local Facebook community groups for the area, check local job listings if you will be needing to find employment there, look up what’s for rent in the area to get an idea of what housing will cost (and if there is even units available.) Idaho is the number one state in the country right now that people are moving to, and there is a shortage of housing in most major cities.
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2. Once you’ve done all the research that you can online, and it still seems like a place you might want to move to, go visit for a few days. I recommend being there during the weekend as well as a weekday since both can be drastically different, especially tourist type destinations.
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3. Book an Airbnb rather than a hotel to get a better feel for what it would be like to live in the area. Try to find one in a neighborhood you are already interested in, and if you’re comfortable, book one where you may have interaction with the owner/host. They might be a great resource for researching the area.
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4. Walk around the city, don’t just drive. You can get a much better feel for neighborhoods on foot then you can in a car. Biking or scooterring is also an option. I saw that Idaho Falls did have the scooters around the downtown area that you can rent with your smart phone.
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5. Meet with a local realtor and view some houses in your price range. Even if you’re not ready to make an offer yet, it will give you an idea of what’s available and what you can afford.
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6. Visit local schools. Take a tour or meet with teachers and staff if that is an important priority for you.
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7. Shop at Walmart or Costco. I don’t really have a good reason for this suggestion other than, if you’re staying in an Airbnb, you probably want to pick up a few groceries to save yourself some money on eating out for every meal. I also think the local Walmarts and Costco’s are a great place to get a feel for the general vibe of the community.
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8. Visit a local church. Get recommendations or do your own search online. Choose a church that seems similar to your beliefs and go experience what their services are like.
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9. Talk with the locals whenever you can. I visited with the rental car attendant, Uber driver, bartender, our Airbnb host, the Herbalife ladies, and some random stranger I met while out for one of my morning walks. All had great input and information about the city.
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10. I feel like I should have a #10, just to make a nice round number, so this is kind of a silly recommendation - and one that is only for you single folks out there, but it’s not a bad idea to get on a location based dating app and just check out what the area has to offer in that department. I was pleasantly surprised that none of the dating profiles I saw in Idaho mentioned anything about polyamory or fwb, both of which seem very common in the Portland Metro area (if you are unsure what either of those terms mean, a quick Google search will satisfy your curiosity.)
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Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below 👇🏼
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