New Member to the forum wanting to buy a 21' Escape

[The Quilting Lady]

Hello forum, I am currently a 2015 Casita owner who has just gone inside a 21 foot Escape and love it. For starters I am a tall lady and I don't bump my head on the doorways and I can stand straight up in the bathroom. I wouldn't need to crawl over my husband in the middle of the night... and the list goes on. Looks like I need to sell my Casita. I love it but it is not really for tall people. I live in Texas and know I need to get my order in soon, because I have heard the wait is long. Any advice from current Escape owners?

Nancy

[Loren & Cathy]

Hi Nancy. We too almost bought a Casita as we were at their plant in Rice, Texas in February 2013. Yes, headroom is a little lacking in the Casita. Then we discovered Escape on line and went to their plant and came away with an order for a 21. I'm over 6' and headroom is not a problem for me.

You will love the 21 so get your order in and you have time to work on your build sheet. Plus everyone here helps out with questions you might have. We ended up with the perfect trailer for us thanks to all of the help from members on this forum. Loren

[rbryan4]

Welcome fellow Texan. My advice is to put a deposit on an Escape as soon as you can. Once you have a build date, the time goes faster than you think. My other advice is to frequent this forum. There's a wealth of info.


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[floorpanel]

Welcome,
We are previously Casita owners and you will find that there is no comparison. Personally I feel that the quality of the Escape is much better and the extra room is wonderful. I don't think you will have any regrets if you make the change.

[paulw]

Hi Nancy,
I was leaning a 19 to replace our 17, but as soon as my Quilting Lady stepped into the first 21 Reace and Tammy brought to the Oregon Gathering it was all over - something about that BIG standard table & sewing
My advice is:
1) put down a deposit
2) start on the build sheet
3) If you are going to choose non standard formica & fabric, get going on that.
4) make a trip to Chillawack or a fiberglass gathering where you can see and discuss what other Escape owners have done.
Have fun!

[Ray N]

I wanted a Casita or Scamp for many years but, being tall, I didn't want a camper in which I had to hunch over so much. Plus, my wife is a bit claustrophobic and couldn't stand the tightness of the passageway and small kitchen area. We tried an EggCamper, and it was nice in all ways except it lacked a big enough fridge and storage space. We looked at the Escape 19' but it also was "tight" in the central area. When the new, wider, Escape 21' came out we jumped on it sight unseen. We have been very happy with it although it still leaves a little to be desired in the headroom area. They advertise 6' 5" but I'm not quite that tall and have to hunch over a little bit even when I'm not wearing shoes. It isn't enough to make us regret the purchase, but I do wish it was an inch higher inside. All in all, it meets all of our other needs and we have been very happy with it - we haven't seen any other egg that we would rather have.

[The Quilting Lady]

Thanks for all your responses. I am wondering which months are the best to drive to British Columbia to avoid the dangerous winter weather. I am not used to driving in snow, sleet or freezy weather.
Nancy

[The Quilting Lady]

Thanks!

[gbaglo]

You need to worry about the passes in Northern California and Oregon. The rest is all rain.

[LarryandLiz]

And if you come into the Lower Mainland if we happen to have snow, realize that at the first sight of the white stuff every driver goes into complete panic mode. None of us know how to drive in the snow. We are good with the rain, but completely lose our minds in snow.

[Bobbito]

I got a set of Nokian all-weather tires for our Camry this past winter and never got a chance to try them on snow. The up side to this is I was able to golf more through the winter. I'm wondering how many mild winters in a row can there be in the Lower Mainland?

However, all most mountain passes to the States and other provinces aren't snow free and warrant caution at times.

Bob K


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[The Quilting Lady]

My husband and I will be coming from Texas. He used to drive in the snow and slush in Michigan, but has no desire to do so with a new trailer. So maybe we should wait for our pick up in the summer.

:

[The Quilting Lady]

Mountain passes, oh my! I guess I really don't know the terrain in the north.. I grew up in Florida where everything is flat. Hope there is a not so mountainous route from BC to Texas. Now I am getting a bit scared.

[Ray N]

Returning to Florida two years ago after picking up our Escape 21'. Pictures taken in Yellowstone on June 18.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by The Quilting Lady

Mountain passes, oh my! I guess I really don't know the terrain in the north.. I grew up in Florida where everything is flat. Hope there is a not so mountainous route from BC to Texas. Now I am getting a bit scared.

Nothing to be scared about at all. There are lots of routes with big highways. However, seeing you are a few mountain ranges over from the eastern side, there is not way of avoiding passing through them. Besides, you could make it a journey of a lifetime, and see lots of beautiful country.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by The Quilting Lady

Mountain passes, oh my! I guess I really don't know the terrain in the north.. I grew up in Florida where everything is flat. Hope there is a not so mountainous route from BC to Texas. Now I am getting a bit scared.

I think some caution and planning are called for, but there's no need for fear. As others have mentioned, for many areas and most of the year only the highest-elevation parts of mountain highways, through passes, are a weather concern. Assuming you head south from Chilliwack, even in mid-winter the roads down in the valleys are not in snow; it would be different if you headed east through British Columbia and Alberta, so you would only want to do that from late spring to early fall.

One good thing about this snow-in-the-passes effect is that it means that you can just check the weather each day, and if necessary take a break for a day (down in the mild valley) to wait for a bad day up in the pass to be over.

We drove Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at Christmas many years ago (rental car, no trailer) and most of the trip was desert driving in the sun... but the one mountain pass (perhaps Cajon Pass - I don't recall exactly) had snow. We just drove through, but many clueless people stopped at the side of the road to wait it out. It was funny seeing these cars sitting in the snow for who knows how long, when it only took a few minutes for us to descend back into the warmth. If they were that unable to drive in a bit of snow, all they had to do was check the weather before they left and pick another day.

One November we drove an RV from Alberta to the Vancouver area. The most direct route includes the Coquihalla Highway, which gets mentioned in this forum occasionally. It is a newer high-elevation road that bypasses the slower route of the older Trans-Canada highway down in the Fraser valley. The forecast was for rain, so we took the Trans-Canada, and sure enough while we stopped overnight in rain near Boston Bar, it snowed up on the Coquihalla only 30 kilometres (20 miles) away - we never saw a snowflake. Pick your route sensibly, pause when appropriate, and there's no problem.

[KarenH]

The OP is from Texas so could simply drive down I-5 all the way and then cut over on I-10 to get back home without going over much of anything. If there happened to be snow in the Siskiyous in the winter, one could even cut over to the coast to bypass them. No problem.

[rbryan4]

Nancy, the default route that's generated from Abilene to Chilliwack in Google Maps (New Mexico/southwest corner of Colorado/Utah/Idaho/Oregon/Washington) will work out fine for you any time from about mid March through the fall. If your pickup is in late November through February however, you will encounter the frozen stuff at least somewhere. There's a continental divide that you have to cross somewhere.

I'd just plan on a pickup from around late March or later. There are other advantages too - like campgrounds being open for the most part on your way back to Texas.

We picked up in late March, and although we saw a few flurries on our way home in the higher areas, it was a non issue. You'll have a ball.


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[The Quilting Lady]

I put our order in this morning!

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by The Quilting Lady

I put our order in this morning!

Congrats! What's your delivery date?