Escape for 2 adults/3 kids

[airdrummer]

Hi there,

I've been looking at Escapes for a while now (before the big boom happened last year that sold out all of the slots for the next 1.5 yrs). One hurdle I've been trying to overcome is to figure out how to comfortably sleep my whole family, and to hopefully have enough room to still accommodate my kids as they grow. My goal isn't to carry the whole house with us, but rather to have easy access to a bathroom, shower, get out of the elements, eat inside when it's nasty outside, etc. When we are camping, the goal is for us is to still be outside A LOT. So with that said, I was originally looking at the 21NE with the cot over dinette option. But I don't want to rule out other escape trailers as well. What modifications could be made to a 19 or 21 to sleep 3 kiddos without putting one of them on the floor (and blocking the bathroom door)? I've been stuck on the idea of an Escape for the quality/price point. Appreciate any feedback given.

[JeffreyG]

I'm new to Escape, actually coming to it from a 3-bunk hybrid that we owned previously specifically because we have four children. When they were smaller, we really needed the hybrid with three full queen beds.

I think an almost any Escape will be pretty tight for five people, might be do-able when they are small in a 21.

For us, the move to an Escape 19 is fine as the older two kids have moved on and make their own arrangements when joining us. The younger two kids usually still come along, depending on other activities, but when they do one likes to sling a hammock and the other just likes his own tent.

[John in Santa Cruz]

if the three kids are OK sleeping on the same bed, the dinette on the classic 21 is a pretty big bed when converted. but that means they have to get up, put away their bedding, and restore the dinette table each day, and put the table down and pull out their bedding each night.

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

as far as sleeping the 21 NE will give you the biggest beds . on both sides.

[Ryanb-72]

We have only one daughter. When she was young we had a small pop up camper and then moved to a hybrid camper. The move to the hybrid camper was specifically for the convenience of the restroom. The dinette in the two campers were the same and when we had a guest stay it was always a pain to convert to the bed as it would be late at night or early in the morning.
We have come to the point where our daughter is moving on to college and will likely not be camping with us on a regular basis. We ordered our 21C a couple of months ago.
I guess what I'm getting at if you cannot find the perfect solution now maybe something else will work until the time is right.

[ericw]

We have 3 kids also. It is tough to fit 3 in our 21' Escape without using the floor if your kids are big enough you can't fit them all on the dinette. Our kids are 5'8, 6'3", and 6'4" and two is already tight on the dinette. Our standard configuration is to bring a tent. If two want to sleep inside (hot weather or...), they take the back board of the U dinette and put it between them. Our daughter has thoroughly warned her (much larger) brother that if she gets pushed out of bed, he is sleeping in the tent the next night .


This has worked well especially since we have had numerous international students stay with us over the years and the tent provides a plenty of room. As the kids got older they liked having their own space.



The problem is the occasional campground (~10% of places we stay) that doesn't allow a tent with a trailer. Our son usually chose to sleep in the truck rather than the floor of the camper (F-150 crew cab). However, he got a job out of state a couple of years ago and now only camps occasionally with us.


A homemade bunk above the dinette always seemed feasible to me, but the above situation always works well enough it never moved up the priority list.


I hope that helps a little. Enjoy the camping and all the great memories!