RVs you had before your Escape

[yardsale]

We had a 2011 Class B Chinook. Took just one trip creeping down Little Cottonwood Canyon into Salt Lake City, brakes smoking, trailing drivers smoking, for us to say enough of that and move to a trailer we keep at the bottom of canyon drives like that. Our 17 B is also going by the wayside as we move towards an Oliver trailer. Absurd amount of money but it is the winter worthy trailer we seek.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by yardsale

We had a 2011 Class B Chinook. Took just one trip creeping down Little Cottonwood Canyon into Salt Lake City, brakes smoking, trailing drivers smoking, for us to say enough of that and move to a trailer we keep at the bottom of canyon drives like that. Our 17 B is also going by the wayside as we move towards an Oliver trailer. Absurd amount of money but it is the winter worthy trailer we seek.

Great choice for a well made trailer and 4 season to boot . Good for you . Pat

[LarryandLiz]

We had a 24' Layton which we kept up at Sunnyside Campground, Cultus Lake BC for 6 months during the summer and then stored over the winter. We had a large tarp built to extend our outside living area. We were up at Sunnyside for 12 seasons. Lots of great family memories. The Layton leaked and we moved into the world of Escape fiberglass trailers.

It was nice having a vacation spot within an hour of the city for weekends and summer vacation. But my oh, my do we ever enjoy traveling in our Escape.

[maurerl]

1) '72 Westfalia from '76-'82 (never made it outside of BC)
2) car camping out of an Audi Fox station wagon up & down the Pacific coast from Vancouver to San Diego four long trips 1-4 months each in winter & countless shorter trips '79-'85
3) '72 Terry 23 stickie '78-'83 -- this was my home away from home while working on civil construction jobs all over BC, but my family (4 of us) lived in it summers & many weekends
4) Cannondale T1000 touring bike '86-'99
5) '83 Westfalia from '86-'03
6) Marinoni Turismo touring bike '99-present. Retrofitted with BionX electric '16
7) Cannondale T700 touring bike (warranty replacement for broken T1000!!) '99-present
8) '79 Boler from '05-'15
9) '12 Escape 17B '15-forever!
10) Surly Pugsley fatbike -- next week if all goes as planned!

Keep on campin'!

[Jimrules]

Katrina and I started camping together in this tent. For our honeymoon we camped off of my old motorcycle, a '95 Harley Dynaglide. I know it doesn't have wheels, but I couldn't resist posting this picture of it with two of the best camping buddies a person could ever ask for (R.I.P. Emma and Wendy).



We continued to tent camp off my 2003 Electraglide until I admitted that my back couldn't take sleeping on the ground and riding all day. So we bought a Bunkhouse LX motorcycle camper. They were made in Chicago at the time. It was snowing in Illinois so we brought it home in the back of my truck.



We've put at least 30k mikes on it with the bike and several thousand more with the car/truck. I had to mount one of those orange bicycle flags on it when pulling with my truck or the Jeep. Otherwise I couldn't tell if it was still there. It was so small that I couldn't feel it or even see it in the mirrors.



I learned a lot about weight distribution pulling it. When you're pulling a 400lbs (loaded) trailer even adding or subtracting a few beers in the tongue mounted cooler has a big effect. Let me tell you, you REALLY don't want sway or porpoising when pulling with a bike. Pulls straight as an arrow when you've got it loaded right. If it's not loaded right you either stop right away and fix it or you'll stop very abruptly, and painfully.



It's kind of hard to see but there is a handy zipper on the tent so that you can reach the cooler from the bed.



Kinda funny we'll actually be going from a king sized bed to a queen in our 19. Im sure the real mattress and a bathroom will more than make up for it.

[thoer]

Jim and Katrina, seeing it at last year's Mississippi Rally, I was amazed that all of that could fit into the compact little trailer. Do you have your orientation/pickup day for the 19 all setup?

[davescape]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Tom, you and myself maybe the only repeat 19' owners here?

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Nope, Jenny and Ian Eddy too.

Me too! ...though not by choice, but some sort of FG providence. Really like the new features. I was tempted to look at the 5.0 TA last year but wanted flexibility in tow vehicles.

[Jimrules]

Originally Posted by thoer

Jim and Katrina, seeing it at last year's Mississippi Rally, I was amazed that all of that could fit into the compact little trailer. Do you have your orientation/pickup day for the 19 all setup?

Yeah Eric, It still feels like we haul a ton of stuff in that little trailer. I'm sure it will seem like a lot less when we move into our 19. We're planning to camp with what we already have and see how we really use the 19 before we upgrade or buy anything new.

Our orientation and pick up are scheduled for Friday March 24th and the wait is killing me. We'll be bringing it back during Katrina's spring break so it's going to be a whirlwind trip. The plan is for me to drive out alone the week before. Kat will fly to Seattle right after school on Thursday. I'll pick her up at the airport around midnight and we'll head to straight to Chilliwack. Hopefully we get a couple hours of sleep at the hotel before our 8am appointment. Then we have 8 days to get home before we have to go back to work.

We're really excited to be able to be part of the open house at next years Mississippi River Rally!

[grantpallen]

1.Tent
2.Stick Camper
3.13 Ft Boler
4.21 Ft Sticky Trailer
5.21 Big Foot
6.17 Escape
7.13 Ft Boler
8.!7 Escape

Molded fiberglass has been the most reliable for me, the oldest being an 1979 Boler which I had to pay double of what I paid for my first one. It was 39 years old and still going strong. Would like to try a Escape 5th wheel, someday. All my molded trailers held their value the best as well, some where sold for more than I paid for them.

[SCS]

I'll play. I just sold my 2004 Trailmanor. It was very roomy. I will miss that but the ability to use the 19' for overnights while in transit and for lunches and bathroom breaks on the road without having to level and open it will make up for the room I lose.
Steve

[War Eagle]

How about RV's I wish I had before (and if so, wish I still had)? I saw one of these, I think (Revell RouteMaster?; example photo from the web) a week or so back headed South on I-85 going toward Montgomery, AL (I was going the opposite direction). Aluminum cabin with fiberglass end caps. Sweet!

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

How about RV's I wish I had before (and if so, wish I still had)? I saw one of these, I think (Revell RouteMaster?; example photo from the web) a week or so back headed South on I-85 going toward Montgomery, AL (I was going the opposite direction). Aluminum cabin with fiberglass end caps. Sweet!

so retro cool...the spare tire nose and those headlamps ....looks like a design influenced by the Jetsons show...

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

How about RV's I wish I had before (and if so, wish I still had)? I saw one of these, I think (Revell RouteMaster?; example photo from the web) a week or so back headed South on I-85 going toward Montgomery, AL (I was going the opposite direction). Aluminum cabin with fiberglass end caps. Sweet!

Hi: War Eagle... Here's a "No name" but patriotic one we snapped in a Florida driveway. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Dave Walter]

My pre-Escape camping accommodations typically used these:

Hey, we still use them nearly as much as the Escape.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

How about RV's I wish I had before (and if so, wish I still had)? I saw one of these, I think (Revell RouteMaster?; example photo from the web)...

That's an Ultra Van, the Corvair-powered motorhome of the 1960's. That photo is featured on the Ultra Van Motor Coach Club website. To me, this is in the same category of innovative RVs as the GMC Motorhome.

The Routemaster is a classic British double-decker bus (and Revell is a company that makes a scale model of it). That would make a cool two-storey RV

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's an Ultra Van, the Corvair-powered motorhome of the 1960's. That photo is featured on the Ultra Van Motor Coach Club website. To me, this is in the same category of innovative
RVs as the GMC Motorhome.

The Routemaster is a classic British double-decker bus (and Revell is a company that makes a scale model of it). That would make a cool two-storey RV

I always enjoy reading up of these past exploits. Those Corvairs had pretty small engines if I remember right. I saw one at the racetrack here in Calgary in the mid 70's that had a 327 mounted in it. I can't recall how it was cooled, if it was at all. He just used it for the 1/4 mile drag race, then shut it down immediately as it would overhead fast.

[cpaharley2008]

I watched an episode of Gas Monkey Garage yesterday where they restored an old volkswagen and replaced the 40 HP stock engine with a 200 HP Porshe engine. It was a nice touch.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

... Those Corvairs had pretty small engines if I remember right.

When I was in college back in the mid '70's, I went out several times with a girl who drove a convertible Corvair. She always wanted to take her car, and I was more than happy to ride shotgun with her. Nice girl. Great car. Fun times. Hard telling where either of them are nowadays.

[skiman]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's an Ultra Van, the Corvair-powered motorhome of the 1960's. That photo is featured on the Ultra Van Motor Coach Club website. To me, this is in the same category of innovative RVs as the GMC Motorhome.

The Routemaster is a classic British double-decker bus (and Revell is a company that makes a scale model of it). That would make a cool two-storey RV

Ultravan, So cool!

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

That's an Ultra Van, the Corvair-powered motorhome of the 1960's. That photo is featured on the Ultra Van Motor Coach Club website. To me, this is in the same category of innovative RVs as the GMC Motorhome.

The Routemaster is a classic British double-decker bus (and Revell is a company that makes a scale model of it). That would make a cool two-storey RV

Thanks for the correction Brian. I didn't know what it was and was just going by a photo of it I found on the web and what it was labelled (mistakenly) as. I wish I would have had the time to turn around and follow them to wherever they were going and see If they would give me a tour. But I had other obligations, and who knows how far they were headed. A double-decker RV would be twice the fun! I can envision the infield at Talladega Superspeedway filled with them on race day!