Just ordered our first Escape Trailer (the 21)

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Bea,
Thanks for this informative thread. We have recently ordered out 21 and have read and reread this thread for build sheet information. Love the photos, what a great looking trailer inside and out. Suzanne is already making a list of the many nice touches you have added on the inside. Looking at your trailer and hearing about your trip to get it is making us impatient for August to get here.
Buddy and Suzanne
 
So, Buddy and Suzanne, you will have to fill us in on what you decide on...oak or maple? Stock or custom upholstery, flooring and Formica? What options? And then, of course, we will be expecting pictures of the build and the finished product! We won't be ordering until sometime after the first of the year, which gives us the opportunity to learn from all the experienced Escapees!
 
gbb said:
Bea,
Thanks for this informative thread. We have recently ordered out 21 and have read and reread this thread for build sheet information. Love the photos, what a great looking trailer inside and out. Suzanne is already making a list of the many nice touches you have added on the inside. Looking at your trailer and hearing about your trip to get it is making us impatient for August to get here.
Buddy and Suzanne
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Hi Buddy & Suzanne,

Big congratulations on your order! Glad to hear this thread has been useful.

We have been very happy with our trailer, ETI, and this forum.

Wishing you the very best

Bea
 
Completion Date?

gbb said:
Bea,
Thanks for this informative thread. We have recently ordered out 21 and have read and reread this thread for build sheet information. Love the photos, what a great looking trailer inside and out. Suzanne is already making a list of the many nice touches you have added on the inside. Looking at your trailer and hearing about your trip to get it is making us impatient for August to get here.
Buddy and Suzanne
Click to expand...
Hey Buddy and Suzanne, when in August. Our completion date is Aug 6.
 
Hey Bill and Brenda,
Our completion date is Aug 21 and we hope to pick it up soon after that. Would love to hear about your pickup experience and about the route you follow back to Ga. as we could potentially follow most of it back to NC. Maybe we will run into you at one of the rally's close to us.
BTW we lived in Ga for years, the last 25 or so in Cleveland, Ga before moving to NC, Lots of tent camping and hiking in the NE Ga mountains but it's time to move up from the tent!
Good luck with your trip to pick up your camper.
Buddy and Suzanne
 
Route Home

I'll let you know what we do, we're pretty unsettled at this time. We plan to spend several days in Salem and have reservations through Aug 15. Then maybe Santa Barbara, Albuquerque, then Texas cities of Dallas, Rockport, and Port Neches. Would love to go to Big Bend one more time, but not in the summer. We have never spent this much time away from home, so this journey will be interesting and challenging.


I looked up Sunshine on the map and it is surrounded by so many places I've visited, most of them on motorcycles. Must be a great place to live.
 
Maybe some of the so cal folks can weigh in on santa barbara suggestions. i used to go to carpenteria (state park--and other st pks in the area) all the time. but now i wouldn't go. it's expensive...i think $70 last i checked, and you get literally a wide parking space. last time i was there i barely had enough space to park my aframe and my car side by side. sites soooo close together, and last but not least, ant infestations.
 
Bea said:
If you want a campground a little north of Santa Barbara near San Luis Obispo, we have had good luck at the El Chorro Regional Park Campground (https://slocountyparks.com/camp/el-chorro/)
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Another vote for El Chorro. We have camped there quite often. The park has a great dog park and there’s a good hike up the mountain. They also have a neat botanical gardens. It’s a good place for kids too—open area to play and a nice playground. Beware though, if you cancel, they do not refund your money. You receive a credit for the whole amount and I think there’s a fee on top of it. Ask me how I know this! �� Actually it’s in the fine print; it’s just that you don’t think it will apply to you—and then other people change your plans and suddenly it does apply to you!
 
Looking back on the purchase and our build sheet:

After several trips and 7 different campgrounds, we took a look back at our build sheet choices. Here are our initial conclusions after using our new 21 for a couple months:

Some key build sheet items we have used a lot and really, really like:
• Front Storage Bin – could not live without this.
• We use our exterior hatches A LOT to access storage areas from the outside (in front driver side to access under the bed and two hatches to access under the dinette).
• Insulation & Thermal Windows – it keeps things quieter and the temperature is easier to control.
• Our custom double sink – could not live without it (see original post in this thread for details, sink is https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Sinks/Pa...77-000127.html)
• High lift axel – we don’t scrape anymore!
• The oven is perfect for cooking the 14 inch “Papa Murphy” pizzas
• Power awning – we tend to use the awning with just a small portion deployed (about 3 feet). It has worked well in the rain.
• We use the microwave more than we expected. The freezer in the 21 is so much bigger than our tent trailer. It is very nice to have something in the freezer, and then after a few minutes in the microwave, the meal is ready.
• The extra AC & 12v outlets are great – we are a family of gadget-philes.
• Surge Protector – we did not fully realize how this protects the trailer until our orientation. The surge protector protects us from many more things than just an electrical surge. It does a lot to make sure the camp site’s wiring is correct before it allows the connection to be made.

The one thing we did not order, but probably should have is the inverter and transfer switch. When we had a tent trailer, it really wasn’t feasible to pull into a rest area, open up the trailer and have a quick meal. However, this is easy to do with a travel trailer. We find ourselves going into the trailer, asking ourselves what we can eat, and then wishing we could use the microwave for a few minutes to warm something up. The inverter would allow us to use the entire kitchen for such events.
 
Bea said:
After several trips and 7 different campgrounds, we took a look back at our build sheet choices. Here are our initial conclusions after using our new 21 for a couple months:

Some key build sheet items we have used a lot and really, really like:
• Front Storage Bin – could not live without this.
• We use our exterior hatches A LOT to access storage areas from the outside (in front driver side to access under the bed and two hatches to access under the dinette).
• Insulation & Thermal Windows – it keeps things quieter and the temperature is easier to control.
• Our custom double sink – could not live without it (see original post in this thread for details, sink is https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Sinks/Pa...77-000127.html)
• High lift axel – we don’t scrape anymore!
• The oven is perfect for cooking the 14 inch “Papa Murphy” pizzas
• Power awning – we tend to use the awning with just a small portion deployed (about 3 feet). It has worked well in the rain.
• We use the microwave more than we expected. The freezer in the 21 is so much bigger than our tent trailer. It is very nice to have something in the freezer, and then after a few minutes in the microwave, the meal is ready.
• The extra AC & 12v outlets are great – we are a family of gadget-philes.
• Surge Protector – we did not fully realize how this protects the trailer until our orientation. The surge protector protects us from many more things than just an electrical surge. It does a lot to make sure the camp site’s wiring is correct before it allows the connection to be made.

The one thing we did not order, but probably should have is the inverter and transfer switch. When we had a tent trailer, it really wasn’t feasible to pull into a rest area, open up the trailer and have a quick meal. However, this is easy to do with a travel trailer. We find ourselves going into the trailer, asking ourselves what we can eat, and then wishing we could use the microwave for a few minutes to warm something up. The inverter would allow us to use the entire kitchen for such events.
Click to expand...

Your sink link isn't working on my end. Care to share the model info?

Gori
 
I wish our 21 did NOT have the front window, I nearly never open it, you can't close the hatch from inside, and the window doesn't open for air, and having the front window means you can't have the front shelf to put your glasses, book, or water bottle on at bedtime.

those rear hatches for dinette access sound awesome, as getting under there is a pain with my wife's nesting (piles of pillows and blankets on the back of the U dinette).

i wish we had the outdoor shower, I would want it on the street side rather than the curb side. I probably will install one myself.

we have not yet used the microwave for anything, but we use the propane oven for almost every meal. we transfer a frozen dinner to the fridge, and its usually thawed by dinner time. most of these frozen dinners are things my wife baked at home, and put in seal-a-meal bags... casseroles, meatballs, curries, etc.
 
Boy with that sink and oven, your counter is like a 19, something I wanted more of was counter space, bigger sink means more water use. If you are hooked up 100%, it would be fine, like being at home, all the water and power you need. But try that without hookups.
 
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