Halfway Home

[DonF]

We left our Mississippi home on December 29 for the 2,700 mile journey to Chilliwack to pick up our Escape 19 on January 10. On the way, we had an amazing three day stay in Yellowstone National Park; what an experience. The orientation at ETI was very well done; while Dave was telling us all about our Escape, Dennis was installing the Anderson hitch. In no time at all, we were on the way to meet Dennis at Bob’s Burgers in Sumas to officially take possession.







Like many, this is our 1st experience towing a travel trailer although certainly not the 1st time around camping. Since January 10, we have been meandering down Highway 101 from Port Townsend, WA to San Luis Obispo, CA where we turned east towards home. All of our stays have been in public campgrounds, some with hookups, and some without.

Other than a rainy and stormy 1st weekend in Bay Springs State Park, we have been blessed with great weather. We had fully expected gray skies, rain, and wind until we got below San Francisco. Instead we had mostly sunshine and warm days all through Washington, Oregon and most of Northern California.

Some observations so far:
EMS - The unit shut off power to the trailer in one of the State Park campgrounds due to a low voltage condition that happened one of the several days we were there; good to know it works.

Overloaded circuit - Tripped a circuit breaker located on the inverter circuit box when our cube heater was running on high one chilly morning and our electric kettle was boiling away; both plugged into the same outlet. No more problems since using the outlet under the dinette for the cube heater.

MaxxFan motor noise on low speed - Worked great (silently) for the 1st week but has developed an annoying whine on the low speeds; it’s irritating enough that we no longer use the fan at night. The recommended fix from Maxxair is to run the fan on high for 24 consecutive hours to “set” the bearings and get rid of the noise. Kind of hard to do that and still stay in the trailer so that won’t happen until we get home.

Refrigerator - We have the standard model and it has worked well for the two of us. On 2-3 hour tows, we just shut it off and everything stays cold enough. On longer tow days, we have left it on propane and monitored the temperature with an Acu-Rite remote gauge. No problems at all so far.

Anderson hitch - Not having towed before, it’s hard for me to judge how it is working. I do know the Pilot and trailer seem to act as one unit and are very stable, even in the cross winds we have experienced. I did have a lot of squeaking, groaning noise the 1st few days towing that got progressively worse each time we towed. I finally put a small amount of lithium grease on the hitch ball and haven’t had any more problems with noise. The hitch is very easy to use and I am glad we have it.

Prodigy P2 brake controller has worked great, no adjustments have been needed to the way Dennis set it up at ETI. Grand Aero tow mirrors have proven indispensable for seeing who’s sneaking up into the blind spot right behind the trailer.

We’ll be on the road for another 4 weeks or so; a report on the rest of our 1st journey in our Escape will happen once we get home. Lots of photos of what we’ve seen so far can be found in the galleries section at www.corinthrose.com

By the way, we really like our trailer, are enjoying every day of our journey, and are glad we chose an Escape!

[JohnB]

Wow, what a great experience you had picking up your trailer and driving it home. You certainly lucked out on the weather for a winter trip. The photos in the album you linked to were truly a pleasure to view. You have had an incredible start to your camping experience with the new trailer and hopefully it will only get better.

Thanks for posting your experience and photos.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by DonF

The orientation at ETI was very well done; while Dave was telling us all about our Escape, Dennis was installing the Anderson hitch. In no time at all, we were on the way to meet Dennis at Bob’s Burgers in Sumas to officially take possession.

[/SIZE]

Thanks for the pickup routine. As our date in April gets closer, it's nice to know how the pickup situation goes. And I've never met a burger joint that I didn't like.

Good to hear your experiences and that you had some good weather on the West coast.

Ron

[trailseeker]

Thanks for the info. We pick up our 21 ft. on March 12. We are planning our trip back to Texas and would love to go down the coast, but it seems winter has finally arrived on the West coast. We need to be back in 2 weeks from pick up and will probably go down 5 and cut across at some point. We have towed our 17ft casita, but good to hear observations about your 19ft. We are heading up thru West Texas, Colorado, Wyoming down to Salt Lake(visiting relatives) up thru Idaho and on into Washington and Chilliwack. Hope to have a more scenic route back depending on weather!

[Ruthe]

Where did you stop the first night with the trailer? And when you left the burger joint was the road an easy one to be on with a trailer? I'm thinking we may be a little shaky when we first set off.

[barry]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Thanks for the pickup routine. As our date in April gets closer, it's nice to know how the pickup situation goes. And I've never met a burger joint that I didn't like.

Good to hear your experiences and that you had some good weather on the West coast.

Ron

Um, the pickup at Bobs Burgers is for US customers only; ETI imports the trailer to the US through the Sumas border crossing and meets you at Bobs which is a couple of minutes south of the crossing. Looks like you are from BC so you would pick your trailer up at the Escape factory.

Barry

[DonF]

Our 1st few nights were at Bay View State Park, Mt. Vernon, WA, less than 60 miles from ETI. We stayed there for several nights as there's lots of places nearby (Camping World, Home Depot, Walmart, etc.) to purchase any items you may need. And, in the rare case where you have a problem with your new purchase, it's a short drive back to ETI to have it addressed.

[mvassallo]

Very nice pictures. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera are you using?

[MyronL]

Great report... you got me wishing to get back there. We did nearly the same route 101 tour in September when we got our 19. After seeing your wonderful pictures I know we absolutely rushed it.

[Donna D.]

Wonderful photography. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to taking part, vicarously, in your travel home. Be safe!

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by barry

Um, the pickup at Bobs Burgers is for US customers only; ETI imports the trailer to the US through the Sumas border crossing and meets you at Bobs which is a couple of minutes south of the crossing. Looks like you are from BC so you would pick your trailer up at the Escape factory.

Barry

Well I'm not crushed that I don't get to go to Bob's burgers because then I'll be going to the Abbotsford airport cafe for the best burger and pie around.

But seriously, you cleared up something I was wondering about. Most posts about US buyers picking up and heading off don't seem to mention coming to Vancouver and doing some sightseeing. Since the Vancouver area isn't too shabby in tourist things to see I was wondering why almost everyone headed South immediately.

Ron

[DonF]

Originally Posted by mvassallo

Very nice pictures. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera are you using?

Most of the photos were taken with a Canon SX-50.

[Ruthe]

So Ron, where would you recommend going in the Vancouver area?

[gabeck]

What a wonderful trip ,fantastic photos ! Enjoyed seeing them , thank you ! Hope the other half of your trip home is as great .

[barry]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Well I'm not crushed that I don't get to go to Bob's burgers because then I'll be going to the Abbotsford airport cafe for the best burger and pie around.

Ron

Well then, you need to try the pies at the Chilliwack airport ............. usually a queue to get in but well worth it.

Barry

[daveandsandyclink]

Ron you bring up a very good point about heading back south. A had a brief visit in Vancouver before boarding a cruise ship. It's a beautiful city that I hope to one day return to.
My reason for not spending time in Canada...
We picked up our trailer at ETI and beat it back across to Burlington, WA. to get provisions and the items we needed to camp and travel our way back home for a month. Why? Truthfully food, fuel, and RV items are much more expensive in Canada. And if something is defective or un-useful, I can likely exchange it or get a refund anywhere in the US. And the third reason; Because I left my travel companion Mr. Ruger waiting for me back in Washington state.

[MyronL]

We were charmed by our brief visit to Victoria. Must also mention the lovely facilities at Bramberton.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by trailseeker

We are planning our trip back to Texas and would love to go down the coast, but it seems winter has finally arrived on the West coast.

That's not stopping me and is one reason I went with a cozy little (fiberglass) Escape. I'm taking Egbert out of storage this week and heading to Fort Casey for several days--don't care about wind or rain, bring it on...

BTW, that's a beautiful trailer, Don & Cheryl!

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by Ruthe

So Ron, where would you recommend going in the Vancouver area?

I'm not Ron, but I lived in Vancouver for 6 years and have been back many times since. Personal favourites: Granville Island, walking the sea wall (walk as far as you like, then take a sea taxi back to where you started), Stanley Park.

A little further afield, you've got Lynn Canyon and Capilano suspension bridges, Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain.

[Tonny LR]

Hi Don and Cheryl,
You have a becutiful travel trailer. Thanks for the pictures. I can see how the Andersen WDH was installed. We will definitley stop at Bob's Burger and plan to camp at the Bayview State Park when we pick up our trailer in May.
Tonny LR