Shakedown cruise

[Ellentob]

We are just back from a 50 day, 9,000 mile epic camping road trip with our new Escape 19. It took a week to get to Chilliwack. We stayed two nights at the Riverside B&B. It was a good experience especially after a week of La Quintas.

Our trailer was ready and waiting. Even so, Tammy and Reace went over it one last time and made a few corrections. We got oriented but we already had a lot of experience with small fiberglass trailers thanks to our 17 foot Casita.

We followed our trailer to Sumas, WA, where we took possession and our adventure began. We stayed in WA a couple of days at Deception Pass just in case we had to zip back to Escape for repairs, but that wasn't necessary. Everything worked great and continued to work flawlessly throughout the entire trip. We tested all the systems repeatedly and everything exceeded expectations.

Here are some of the options we were happiest with:

A drawer under the closet. This held make up, hair brushes and other essentials.
Foot treadle toilet. Easier to step on the treadle than have to grope for the manual lever.
Outside storage box. Held all the outside pieces in one handy place--chocks, mat, cranks, small table, etc.
Insulation and thermal windows. This kept everything quiet and warm.
U shaped dinette. This made the table smaller and made it feel more like a separate room.
Custom fabric. This makes our trailer special.
Raising the dinette floor 4". This brought the front window to the correct level so we could see what the neighbors were doing.
LED lights. Bright interior lighting without using much battery.
Two way water heater. Saved propane when we could plug in.
Better battery. Don't know if I needed it but can't see how it could hurt.
Bike rack ready. Again can't hurt.
Window in bathroom and over galley. Can't have too many windows.
Flip down shelf at foot of bed. This has been great for watching movies before bed.
External 12 volt outlet. Will use this to plug in a solar panel to keep the battery charged.

Some options we didn't need:
Air conditioner heat strip. We had this in our Casita but the insulated Escape stays warm with a tiny space heater.
Surge protector. I guess if it saves me once it will be worth it but so far it hasn't been useful.

That is my report. The trailer was comfortable and trouble free. We are happy with our Escape. We only saw one other Escape on the way home. Saw lots of them in BC. Many people admired our trailer and well they should.

[cpaharley2008]

Glad you enjoyed your first of many memories. Please post your travels as you make you way home.

ps..
The surge is for protection and you will not see it working until something fails, then it becomes useful.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Ellentob

We are just back from a 50 day, 9,000 mile epic camping road trip with our new Escape 19. It took a week to get to Chilliwack. We stayed two nights at the Riverside B&B. It was a good experience especially after a week of La Quintas.

Our trailer was ready and waiting. Even so, Tammy and Reace went over it one last time and made a few corrections. We got oriented but we already had a lot of experience with small fiberglass trailers thanks to our 17 foot Casita.

We followed our trailer to Sumas, WA, where we took possession and our adventure began. We stayed in WA a couple of days at Deception Pass just in case we had to zip back to Escape for repairs, but that wasn't necessary. Everything worked great and continued to work flawlessly throughout the entire trip. We tested all the systems repeatedly and everything exceeded expectations.

Here are some of the options we were happiest with:

A drawer under the closet. This held make up, hair brushes and other essentials.
Foot treadle toilet. Easier to step on the treadle than have to grope for the manual lever.
Outside storage box. Held all the outside pieces in one handy place--chocks, mat, cranks, small table, etc.
Insulation and thermal windows. This kept everything quiet and warm.
U shaped dinette. This made the table smaller and made it feel more like a separate room.
Custom fabric. This makes our trailer special.
Raising the dinette floor 4". This brought the front window to the correct level so we could see what the neighbors were doing.
LED lights. Bright interior lighting without using much battery.
Two way water heater. Saved propane when we could plug in.
Better battery. Don't know if I needed it but can't see how it could hurt.
Bike rack ready. Again can't hurt.
Window in bathroom and over galley. Can't have too many windows.
Flip down shelf at foot of bed. This has been great for watching movies before bed.
External 12 volt outlet. Will use this to plug in a solar panel to keep the battery charged.

Some options we didn't need:
Air conditioner heat strip. We had this in our Casita but the insulated Escape stays warm with a tiny space heater.
Surge protector. I guess if it saves me once it will be worth it but so far it hasn't been useful.

That is my report. The trailer was comfortable and trouble free. We are happy with our Escape. We only saw one other Escape on the way home. Saw lots of them in BC. Many people admired our trailer and well they should.

Thank you for the list of options you found useful. Good post.