Oh, Sandpoint. Where do I even begin? Sandpoint, Idaho was our third Workamping experience. By May of 2017, we had been Workampers in Tallahassee and Miami, Florida. Both were on goat farms. When Jon told me we could spend our summer Workamping in northern Idaho, I was hesitant. I knew I loved the Pacific Northwest (PNW), but I didn’t know much about Idaho at all.
We arrived in early May; just in time for mud season. It was raining several times a week. The mosquitoes were out in full force, and it hadn’t quite warmed up yet. Apparently, they had a long winter that year. Spring came a bit late for them, so we were making the best of it all. We were promised it wouldn’t last long…and it didn’t. Two weeks later, spring was in full force. We were there to help our hosts, Keith and Monique, set up their gardens for the year and take care of their small farm. They had two miniature horses named Rosemary and Spice, and a small flock of hens.
From the very beginning, Keith and Monique made us feel right at home. Our daily tasks were not very labor-intensive, and we were free to use our afternoons as we pleased. Monique even insisted that we take a couple long weekends to ourselves to go camping and explore the surrounding areas. Glacier National Park was at the top of our list.
Jon and I quickly got connected with a church less than 24 hours after arriving in Sandpoint. And by quickly, I mean the Pastor chatted us up before the service and then invited us to his house for a small group Bible study he was starting that very night. We went home after church that morning and looked at each other like, “What just happened?” Little did we know that it was just what we needed.
Jon ended up carrying a larger portion of the chores. Spring is typically very busy for my business since I work with mainly wedding photographers. He helped set up the greenhouse, run automatic watering systems, and fix various issues around the property. I was mostly in charge of watering and weeding the gardens, and taking care of the animals.
During our time in Sandpoint, Jon ended up picking up an old hobby of mountain biking. In Idaho, mountain biking is a way of life for most. For the sake of doing things together, I decided to give it a go, myself. I’m not really one for biking. But much to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed it.
We broke away from Sandpoint a couple times to explore bike trails elsewhere. Farragut State Park and the Hiawatha Rail Trail were a couple of our favorites. The Hiawatha was a Rails to Trails ride that has been named the most scenic stretch of railroad in the country. It’s 13 miles up, and 13 miles back down. But if you’re not up for that, they have a shuttle service to take you back to the top if all you’re up for is the downhill portion. They even have bikes to rent! No excuse not to do it! Jon and I tackled the entire trail, and the views were absolutely stunning around every turn.
(left) Farragut State Park, (right) Hiawatha Rail Trail
And instead of dragging our camper with us everywhere, we ended up buying some tenting gear that got put to some pretty good use during our short time in Sandpoint, Idaho. Sandpoint is literally just a couple hours from Glacier National Park. We would have been crazy not to explore one of our top Bucket List items while we were there. So that’s just what we did! Glacier was amazing and beautiful, and I will probably dedicate an entire post just to our experience there. So keep an eye out for that!
West Glacier campground
Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park
Sandpoint is a quaint little ski resort town of 10,000. Every Wednesday and Saturday, they have an amazing Farmer’s Market with dozens of vendors and several food trucks. We loved it. Every Saturday, we would head to town, grab ourselves some food from the Thai food truck called Ohn’s, eat, and then walk ourselves to City Beach. Yes, Sandpoint even has a public beach. The town is situated alongside the beautiful Pend Oreille River (pronounced pond er-ay). During the summer months, City Beach is packed with families and tourists soaking up the PNW sun.
(left) Sandpoint Farmers Market, (right) Lake Pend Oreille
Aside from the biking, there are many hiking trails to explore as well! This was probably my favorite. I LOVED being able to take the girls with us. Most trails didn’t even require you to have your animals on a leash. We checked out about a half dozen different trails around the area during our time in Sandpoint. The girls loved it. We loved it, and there was almost always a body of water for them to swim in and cool off.
(left) Snow Creek Falls, (right) Lake Pend Oreille
We are incredibly grateful that our Workamping hosts were so flexible. They allowed us so much time to explore Sandpoint for all it was worth (and then some). We made so many friends, found an amazing church, and had the time of our lives while we were there. Who knew that Sandpoint would become one our favorite places in the U.S.?