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Old 09-17-2019, 08:15 PM   #1
gbb
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Escape 21: Make dinette into bed questions

We camped our way home safely with our Escape 21 picked up on August 26. After a week or so to get caught up on the farm (and with fall like temps in the forecast) we are getting the urge to go camping! Our 3 year old grandson is very intrigued with the "Kampur" and is rearing to go with us. As Rv newbies this forum has been invaluable in helping us order, pick up and get started camping in our Escape. Now we are looking for any information, opinions, advice, pictures on easy ways to set up a comfortable bed for him while keeping it easy to change back to a table and store everything. Also, any advice on Rv camping with small children would be welcome. We tent camped with our two children until they were in college so we have experience camping with kids, just not in a Rv.
Thanks in advance for your help
Buddy, Suzanne, and Henry
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Old 09-17-2019, 08:44 PM   #2
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Hello Buddy, Suzanne and Henry:

We generally travel as a group of four and routinely use the dinette as a bed. Some sort of topper will make the bed even more comfortable. (There are many recommendations made about these on the forum if you make a quick search.) Although pricier, we found that the Duo-sized Exped mattress fits our second generation E21 dinette well. When not in use, we place it on the main bed. The degree of inflation can be altered to provide the desired firmness. It has a foam pad interior and is much more comfortable than the old fashioned air mattress design available in my youth. We leave it inflated when we move it to the main bed. You could probably roll and strap a topper for storage…

We find having some board games, books, and favorite foods along helpful with our kids. We permit but limit screen time when even available. Good music on the stereo is a plus. Having a bike along permits exploring. A travel guitar and comfortable footwear are also brought along.

Thanks,

Claude
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Old 09-18-2019, 12:06 AM   #3
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When the grandkids were a few years younger they loved camping in the 21. It was like their own private fort. No topper just their sleeping bags. Now they bring their tents (the 14 yo is six feet tall now!) Don't they grow up fast?!
Have fun!
Kathie
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Old 09-18-2019, 12:57 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gbb View Post
We camped our way home safely with our Escape 21 picked up on August 26. After a week or so to get caught up on the farm (and with fall like temps in the forecast) we are getting the urge to go camping! Our 3 year old grandson is very intrigued with the "Kampur" and is rearing to go with us. As Rv newbies this forum has been invaluable in helping us order, pick up and get started camping in our Escape. Now we are looking for any information, opinions, advice, pictures on easy ways to set up a comfortable bed for him while keeping it easy to change back to a table and store everything. Also, any advice on Rv camping with small children would be welcome. We tent camped with our two children until they were in college so we have experience camping with kids, just not in a Rv.
Thanks in advance for your help
Buddy, Suzanne, and Henry

We have done both Sleeping Bags & Topper.

When the kids were smaller ( we have 3) sleeping bags on the dinette bed worked well.

Now that they are a little older we have a Boys and a Girls bed ... The Boys sleep on the dinette bed and Daddy needs the Topper

In the morning the memory foam topper is folded in half ( along with the sheets) and rolled up. During the Day it lives on the 21's bed.

In a few years I'm going to need a bigger trailer or one of these...
https://www.popularmechanics.com/adv...-rooftop-tent/
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Old 09-20-2019, 04:00 PM   #5
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Thanks to everyone who replied. We "camped" at the barn Wednesday night and Henry did great! We still need to figure out a mattress pad that's at least semi waterproof (for accidents; he's not quite 3 yet) and a fitted sheet that is the same size as the cushions that will tie everything together. Would love to hear suggestions for sheet size and mattress pad. We are planning a one night trip to Julian Price Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway soon so we need to find something before then.
Thanks again
Buddy & Suzanne
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Old 09-23-2019, 03:45 AM   #6
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Hi, Buddy and Suzanne. We started trailering with our kiddos when our youngest was three. We’ve been at it for several years, and here are a few thoughts relevant to your query.

Regarding waterproofing, put down a waterproof layer to protect your cushions. You can use literally anything - a shower curtain, a piece of heavy duty painters tarp, etc, cut to size to fit the space. Put some sort of absorbent layer over this, eg a mattress pad, or even something like a blanket, throw, etc, for a more comfortable, and absorbent, surface. If you plan to leave your table-bed in bed mode for an extended period, a fitted sheet or mattress pad can hold this all in place, but if you disassemble every morning and reassemble each night, something that you can roll up would be easier.

Do not worry about supplementing the standard cushions for kids. Kids are lightweight and tough and can sleep on carpet in a sleeping bag without complaints. The stock cushions are plenty of padding as is.

As far as making the bed table bed table transitions faster and easier, I’d suggest looking into a Springfield Marine pedestal base for your table. Spendy but they make those transitions fast and easy.

As to bedding, a sleeping bag is simple, and when not in use you can roll it from foot to head then use as a bolster style pillow on your permanent bed.

Other kiddo thoughts: You don’t need a huge stash of things to keep kids entertained. Our kids thrive on a few good books and some art supplies, and a selection of other key gear - bug net and bug jar, magnifying glass, fishing gear, kite, cold and wet weather gear, s’more supplies, etc. Creativity is key. As our kids have gotten older we’ve introduced and trained new adventure tools, eg compasses and accompanying navigation skills, and whittling knives, which are both entertainment in and of themselves and the foundation for creating a whole ‘nother range of self-made outdoor tools and toys. Sorry, none of this is RV specific, and these are your grandkids, so I’ll stop trying to teach you how to suck eggs, so to speak. Have fun with your littles!
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Old 09-23-2019, 05:01 AM   #7
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Why not flip the cushions and use the vinyl sides for the kids, isn't that what they were made for, one dry, one side wet?
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Old 09-23-2019, 06:08 AM   #8
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Not going to say 100% of the reason we own an Escape is our grand kids but they are a big part of it. We now have two, we loved our Casita but decided when the younger starts joining us too then we will need more space. Now that we have our 21' we think we have the perfect home on wheels when needed .
Same reason with tow vehicle, I would be buying a crew cab truck but those few times two dogs and the two grand kids go has to be an SUV.

Did I say how much fun we have when our 8 year old grandson goes with us and can't wait until his t 2 1/2 year old brother says I wanna go too.

Enjoy the journey,

Steve
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:04 AM   #9
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3 year olds are fun!

When we traveled with our toddlers, we’d set them up in their own little tents inside of wherever we were.
Get a sheet and make an enclosure over one of the dinette seats so he has his own little cocoon. You can tuck it in on the bottom seat so he doesn’t roll off the dinette edge if you don’t want to set up the bed .

Have a little knapsack with his “kit”. Fill the kit up with toys & snacks, anything to go with the tent theme or camping.
We used to buy large doggie pee pads to keep any undersurface dry. Hope this helps and have fun!
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Old 09-24-2019, 09:27 AM   #10
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We just had our 3 and 6 year old grandkids and used the dinette table. I purchased a waterproof mattress cover, turned the cushions vinyl side up, laid a thin blanket over it all to cover the seams a bit. Took just a minute to add a fitted sheet. I did the top sheet/blanket route but kid size sleeping bags would work and be easy, too. The whole thing took about 5 minutes. Probably won’t do the blanket padding under the fitted sheet next time-they didn’t seem to need it.
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Old 09-24-2019, 11:14 AM   #11
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This product should do it. https://www.amazon.com/Priva-Waterpr...ateway&sr=8-15 When I have my grands, 6 and 4, I put one on top of the cushions for each, then a full sized fitted sheet. They each have a large mesh bag and in the morning, their sleeping bag, pjs, and stuffed animals all go in their bag and the bags are stowed under one side of the bench seat. the fitted sheet goes in the same compartment. I also wouldn't be without the springfield pedestal. I find having two kids sleep head to feet (heads at opposite ends) gives a little more shoulder room and mitigates somewhat the "she's on my side." edited to add that training a kid to do the corners of the fitted sheet is great. they are more nimble crawling on the bed and it really doesn't have to be perfect.
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Old 09-25-2019, 12:36 AM   #12
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Have you considered a toddler bed? There are lots of examples here: https://www.travelcribreviews.com/toddler-travel-beds/
We have the Guava Lotus Travel Crib and place it on top of the dinette- it has a side zipper closure for easy access and it's own waterproof mattress with sheets.

Happy camping!
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Old 09-25-2019, 06:24 AM   #13
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Thanks for all the replies. Lots of great ideas! We've got a couple of weeks to get ready before our first camping trip with Henry. We (and he) can't wait!!
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Old 10-03-2019, 04:44 PM   #14
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One more question. Henry and his "stuff" are going to take up a lot of my backseat space where I generally put all kind of camping supplies, (everything from my coleman camp stove to portable air compressor to toolbox, ect.) Does anyone have recommendations for a waterproof truck bed storage box. I don't want anything mounted but a pretty big, poly type storage box I can put in the back fill up with camping supplies and carry with us, and take out when we get home. I do have the Escape storage box and I have it pretty full but the 100 lb weight limit and size keeps me from getting everything I want to carry in there.
Thanks again for all the help
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Old 10-03-2019, 04:52 PM   #15
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Hello Buddy, Suzanne and Henry:


We’ve had good luck with the Rubbermaid “Action Packer” series which are available in several sizes, depending upon your needs…

Claude
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Old 10-03-2019, 11:43 PM   #16
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Hello Buddy, Suzanne and Henry:


We’ve had good luck with the Rubbermaid “Action Packer” series which are available in several sizes, depending upon your needs…

Claude
I'll Bump this.
we have all of our Tent/Car camping gear contained in several Action Packer 24 Gal. totes.

We have 3 more that are carried on the back of our Escape 21 that contain our Fire pit, fuel and other items that we don't want to carry inside
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Old 10-11-2019, 03:53 PM   #17
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Thanks to everyone who replied to our questions! We just got home from Henry's first camping trip and it was just about perfect. He didn't want to come home and after we got home he wanted to know when we are going again so we are pretty happy. Went to Linville Falls Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is now one of our favorites. Highly recommend it. Thanks again
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Old 10-11-2019, 05:43 PM   #18
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Thanks to everyone who replied to our questions! We just got home from Henry's first camping trip and it was just about perfect. He didn't want to come home and after we got home he wanted to know when we are going again so we are pretty happy. Went to Linville Falls Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is now one of our favorites. Highly recommend it. Thanks again
And thank you for the campground tip. We have decided to take a two-week trip to the mountains of North Carolina next June/July, and I've just started researching camping options. Linville Falls Campground will go at the top of the list. We generally like to camp in National/State/County parks but have also stayed at several very nice commercial parks. Glad to know of this one. (As an aside, I have a couple of action packers for my stuff, too. Very durable and handy.)

----
John
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Old 10-11-2019, 06:44 PM   #19
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Very glad to hear Henry’s first camping trip in the trailer went so well, and wishing you many more… [emoji847][emoji106]— Claude
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