COEUR d'ALENE - Business at Cosmic Cowboy Grill, like business all across North Idaho, isn’t what it used to be.

“Things have been slower, sure,” said Harley Jamison, general manager of the up-and-coming local favorite in Appleway Square. “It’s a lot slower than in previous years. But all things considered, it’s been pretty decent lately.”

The local dining spot has seen its share of hardships since coming to North Idaho in 2016. Cosmic Cowboy had to temporarily close in March before re-opening in April for curbside dining.

On prime restaurant real estate, its Haycraft Avenue location is an arm’s reach from U.S. 95 and only two blocks from Interstate 90’s off-ramps. Catering to travelers, Jamison emphasized, is the restaurant’s bread and butter.

“A decent percentage of our customers come from Washington,” she said. “And some will come over because our Spokane location had to close.”

The Spokane Cosmic Cowboy Grill temporarily closed Tuesday after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee tightened restrictions that include prohibiting indoor dining service. They were restrictions Cosmic Cowboy management said were simply too much to bear.

“We gave it a good fight in 2020,” a post on the Spokane restaurant’s Facebook page stated, “but with the new COVID shutdown, we are going to close this location until the State moves us to Phase Four. We look forward to reopening in 2021 when the world returns to normal.”

Cosmic Cowboy’s Idaho-versus-Washington dilemma is a microcosm of the conundrum between the states’ two economies and their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic: Finding a sense of normalcy is driving Washingtonians across the border to enjoy North Idaho, but that influx is driving concerns from some locals that Washingtonians looking to enjoy their freedoms might do so at Idahoans’ peril.

Social media posts denouncing Washingtonians coming to Kootenai County echo through the internet, some with concrete evidence such as WinCo’s parking lot nearly a quarter-filled Tuesday with Washington plates as lines spilled out through the store. Some posts contained unsubstantiated rumors of approximately 100 students from a Spokane high school coming to North Idaho for an impromptu dance that morphed into a super-spreader event. (Calls to both the school district office and the high school in question went unanswered.)

Those tensions were further enflamed as Inslee criticized Idaho’s response to the coronavirus, particularly noting Panhandle Health District board’s Oct. 23 decision to rescind a mask mandate on the same day the district reported steep surges in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations alike.

"I have urged the Idaho leaders to show some leadership,” Inslee said. “One of the reasons we have such jammed-up hospitals in Spokane is because Idaho frankly has not done some of the things that we have found successful.

"I was stunned that, in the same week where I heard that Idaho from Kootenai County had shipped patients here to Oregon, that they had abandoned their mask requirement. That's just irresponsible. I don't know what else to say about it.

"So we hope Idaho over time will be more aggressive and responsible frankly to reduce the burden on the Spokane medical system."

Idaho Gov. Brad Little replied by saying citizens in both states have a responsibility to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves.

"Idaho's health officials have been mindful of the challenges of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in border communities since the onset of the pandemic," Little said in a statement. "The positivity rate is mirrored on both sides of the border. We advise citizens to follow the laws and recommendations of their state."

Panhandle Health District staff say the virus that has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide doesn’t check license plates.

“Everyone should be practicing the same precautions, no matter where they are,” Katherine Hoyer, public information officer for Panhandle Health, told the Coeur d’Alene Press. “(Whether) going out of state or traveling within our state, the precautions remain the same. If you are visiting with those outside of your household, wearing a mask and keeping six feet between yourself and others are simple ways we can reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

Panhandle Health’s board implemented a new mask mandate Thursday, this one covering the five northern-most counties. Coeur d’Alene’s business community says stores and shops that rely on tourism are already leaning their shoulders into masks for employees and customers.

“Business owners talk to each other,” said Derrell Hartwick, CEO of the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber. “If we send our message out to one business in, for example, Spokane, that message will get passed to other businesses. Word-of-mouth is still our best selling point.

"When we can use our reach, we’re able to communicate to other communities outside North Idaho: ‘This is what we’re looking to do to stay open, and this is how we’re looking to achieve that.’ And we need to make sure that message is saying the right things, so that people know what our protocols are.”

Those protocols don’t end with masks. They include keeping ample supplies of hand sanitizer readily available in stores, practicing social distancing, and limiting group sizes to 10 and under, per Gov. Little’s Stage Two guidelines.

The latter was on display Friday afternoon as a wine event put on by the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association spread up and down the city’s downtown district. Emily Boyd said Downtown Association events usually have a much bigger draw, but COVID changed the way everyone goes about business.

“It’s hard, but it’s our option right now,” the newly installed manager of the Downtown Association said. “If we can have something and do it safely, that’s better than doing nothing.”

Boyd said the wine event — which continued Saturday — now requires pre-purchased times, one of the solutions to keep gatherings at that 10-person cap.

Boyd said many people from Washington and other states have been courteous and concerned as they’ve reached out to her office to ask about coming over to Idaho.

“A lot of people coming over have been extremely cautious,” she said. “I’ve personally spoken to people coming over here from out of state, and they’re asking what they can and can’t do when they’re here, what the protocols are, what kind of (personal protective equipment) they need to bring. It’s been encouraging.”

Whether or not restrictions tighten or loosen in Washington and Idaho depends on many factors, some unforeseen but some within our grasp, as Jamison said from Cosmic Cowboy.

“We’ve been doing the mask thing,” she said as the Friday afternoon crowd began to file into the Coeur d’Alene restaurant. “And I’ll tell you: It’s brought in some people. It’s brought in people to a lot of places in town. People want to know that, when they come here, they’ll be safe. That’s one thing that’s attracted visitors to us from out of state.”

Jamison added that adherence to protocols has actually enabled the restaurant to expand its menu, empowering management to open Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7 to 11 for an expanded breakfast menu.

“Through all this,” she said, “we’ve tried to get the word out on social media that we’re open. For a while, we were flying signs to let them know. But one of the things that has helped attract customers more than anything is that we’re wearing masks and practicing social distancing, that we’re keeping our customers safe.”