Visit to factory on 1/18/16

[NW Cat Owner]

I'll post a full report tomorrow, as I'm tired. I didn't get much sleep last night due to excitement about heading up to the factory today to go over our build sheet and the display trailer in detail. I took photos - it was pretty nippy in that trailer with the winds and all, so we didn't hang out there too long. Photos and some measurements will be posted tomorrow as well.

Spent just over 1.5 hours with Sarah, showing print outs of accessories I'm interested in adding and discussing the options we do want in more detail. She'll check with Reace (he was out of the office) to see if the ones she's not sure of are do-able.

Got the build sheet pretty much finalized, except for getting answers from Reace. YAY! What a relief that will be to get it done. And those prices will be locked in once we sign off on it. YAY!

Wrote them a personal check and got an exchange rate of 1.4386 from their local bank. Their bookkeeper called the bank and got that quote even though the check hadn't been deposited, so it was nice to know exactly how much it came to in Canadian dollars.

However!!!!

What I can't hold back on posting about is this:

We talked briefly about their expansion and she said they plan to double their production rate. Which means that the trailer we had a completion date of Dec 28th will (hopefully!!! fingers crossed) be bumped up by 3 whole months!!!! Yes, that is what she said!!!

We're quite excited over that. Winter Whale Migration along the Oregon Coast, here I come! And maybe the Fall NOG (making that reservation tomorrow!).

[Marry]

Awesome news!!! Really interested in your accessories and options!! Working on our build sheet for "Wallnut" scheduled for July.

[SpokanEscape]

That is exciting news Laura! I am hopeful that our completion date of 9/13 will get moved up too. Like you we are just about finished with the build sheet and have taken advantage of the current exchange rate! Who knows maybe we will be able to make our annual July 4th trip up to Kokanee Creek after all! ������

[stephen99]

Cool, thanks for the news Laura. Maybe we will actually get one when they open orders again. Just hope they don't raise the price too much.

[Mary F]

Your exchange rate is $0.10 better than what we got in August. For U.S. buyers, that offsets the price increase(s) - and is prolly the reason for some of them. It's a double-whammy for Canadians who want to get in line, though.

[Playdog]

Wow Laura that date move is very exciting! Thanks for sharing. Our hatch date is December 13 and we are really wanting to pick up our Escape before winter weather sets in. We will have a long trip home and would like to travel around some before heading southeast. I assume they will be moving all the completion dates up by about three months! Maybe we'll get to meet you at pick up. I envy your ability to hop in a car and drive your optional things to the factory.

Good luck with your Eascape
Mitzi

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by Playdog

Wow Laura that date move is very exciting! Thanks for sharing. Our hatch date is December 13 and we are really wanting to pick up our Escape before winter weather sets in. We will have a long trip home and would like to travel around some before heading southeast. I assume they will be moving all the completion dates up by about three months! Maybe we'll get to meet you at pick up. I envy your ability to hop in a car and drive your optional things to the factory.

Good luck with your Escape
Mitzi

My assumption is that if my date gets moved up by 3 months once their new building is ready to go, then everyone else's will move up as well. Of course, nothing will be absolutely certain until the buyers get notification from ETI themselves. But we can certainly hope, can't we?

Yeah, maybe I should start a trailer accessory delivery service and periodically haul stuff up there for other customers (for a fee, of course). However, after a while I'm sure customs would wonder why the heck I was adding so much stuff to my trailer and just when it was gonna be delivered.

Yes, I'm very fortunate in that ability. I also want to go up when our trailer is actually in production and take another factory tour so I can take tons of photos of it in production. That might require some timing so the photos are half way interesting.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by Marry

Awesome news!!! Really interested in your accessories and options!! Working on our build sheet for "Wallnut" scheduled for July.

I'll probably post it when it's completed. I had posted about my preliminary one a little while ago. I greatly enjoy looking at what others are getting, even if it's stuff I would not be interested in.

Have fun getting yours completed!

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by stephen99

Cool, thanks for the news Laura. Maybe we will actually get one when they open orders again. Just hope they don't raise the price too much.

I'm sure you will, Stephen. I got an email a week or so ago about some price increases, which affected two items I had on our build sheet. Fingers crossed for you! And a bottle of wine if we ever meet due to your post about those 21' slots that opened up about a month ago.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by SpokanEscape

That is exciting news Laura! I am hopeful that our completion date of 9/13 will get moved up too. Like you we are just about finished with the build sheet and have taken advantage of the current exchange rate! Who knows maybe we will be able to make our annual July 4th trip up to Kokanee Creek after all!

I think we'll all be on pins and needles waiting to hear what's going on once they get their new building up and going.

Sarah said the current tenants will be moving out soon. They had a huge pile of processed wood posts and/or panels or whatever stacked outside that need moving. She said the building really needs a good cleaning and then they can start getting their stuff in there. We did not discuss permits or time frame though.

I had really hoped that once that building is theirs and being used, that all trailers would be moved up but I never expected 3 months! Dirk says we need to celebrate with a bottle of champagne, but I suggested wine as that stuff has never appealed to me.