Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to the forum and really helped inform build-sheets and other key Escape details.
Here’s the rest of the story for us. Our first entry: Orientation
Our orientation was scheduled for 11:30am. We arrived fairly early (the border crossing only took a few minutes), so we had an early lunch at the Tim Horton's near ETI.
We really liked the orientation. They started in a special room where they have all the various options installed on a wall (oven, AC, inverters, etc.). The demonstrations were well done and they answered all our questions. Viewing the orientation video on youtube (
) before our trip to ETI was also useful - it allowed us to concentrate on some of the finer details during orientation.
After going to the display room, they took us to a big garage area where we see our new trailer for the first time. Given that it was raining that day, we were glad to be indoors. They make sure your hitch works with the trailer, and that the brake & turn signals work as well. They have one person that give you the tour of the inside. Another person did the tour of the outside.
The last part of the orientation was signing a few papers. We had brought a cashier's check in US currency, and that worked out very well (it was also cheaper than the wire transfer given that ETI's exchange rate was more favorable than the US financial institutions we checked).
After about 3 hours, we were done and headed to the US border. For import/export and tax reasons, an ETI driver takes your trailer from ETI to across the border. At the "Bob's Burger and Brew" in Sumas, Washington we then met the driver and officially took possession of our new 21 and an official customs form. (Hint – do not lose this customs form. You will need it to register the trailer at the DMV.)
Our Escape adventure begins….