New 19 in February - What's best campground near Sumas for shakedown?

[Bea]

Lynden KOA - a nice "rookie rally"

We spent our first few nights at the Lynden KOA. It worked well for us.

We were in site 11, a full hookup, pull through site. There was another Escape trailer there the first night, and two other Escape trailers the second night. It was an unofficial "Escape Rookie Rally" at the KOA. This turned out to be really helpful as we all exchanged hints and insights.

There were some sites down by the lake at the KOA that were very scenic. However, they only had water and electric, no sewer. We were wimps and wanted the full hookups.... and all the other Escape trailer owners made similar decisions.

 

[Edgefiddle]

Thanks to all who replied to this post. Looks like for us the Lynden KOA will work for the first couple nights. Our plan is to drive our Nissan Frontier across the country pulling a small U-Haul trailer with our camping gear, park the U-Haul at the KOA (understand need to touch base with them on that), pick up the trailer and move in.

We'll have a lot of stuff as we're taking 6 weeks to get back home, spending some time in Arizona and New Mexico. Lots of different climates and environments. We can also stock the fridge and pantry at Walmart at that time. This of course is "Plan A", we'll see how long that holds up <grin>. Weather and other surprises always bring "course corrections". Again, thanks to all!

 

[h2owmn]

sounds like a good plan.

 

[brightday]

Safe travels!

 

[Sailingmiker]

Welcome to the forum Edward. Most people stay at the KOA in Lynden, Wa- contact them for their winter hours and Escape has been known to deliver parts there in the past....I just checked, they are open year round https://koa.com/campgrounds/lynden/

A bit further south just outside Bellingham is Larrabee State Park. A little further on is Bayview State Park. Both are near the water and can be warmer than Lynden in February when we can get northerly cold winds.

 

[Sailingmiker]

A bit further south just outside Bellingham is Larrabee State Park. A little further on is Bayview State Park. Both are near the water and can be warmer than Lynden in February when we can get northerly cold winds.

Snow in February is not uncommon in the northwest. Coupled with the possibility of the Chinook winds that come down out of the Fraser River valley in BC The Lynden area can be quite uncomfortable in February. I would definitely have a plan “B” that would get me south of Bellingham and as close to Puget Sound or the ocean as possible.k
If you choose to avoid the legendary Seattle traffic consider taking the ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend and down either the east or west side of the Olympic Penninsula. If I-5 is your desired route you can get back on I-5 south of Olympica.
Another thing to consider along I-5 is the area from Eugene Oregon to Redding Calif. Along that portion you have to go over a half dozen lesser passes and then the Siskiyou Pass at the OR/CA border all of which suggest that at the least you should be carrying chains. FYI, I-5 was closed around Mt. Shasta just before Thanksgiving this year. While unusual to be closed the stretch from Eugene to Redding can be quite challenging in the winter.
My preference for heading south on the west coast that time of year would be to stick to the coast. Head out to the coast at Eugene and then go south on Highway 101 until you get to Paso Robles then go east to Bakersfield and the desert.
While we will be towing our new to us 19 south in January the winter journey is not new to us as we have done it almost yearly in a variety of vehicles over the past 30 years.
Good luck and travel safe.

 

[Edgefiddle]

I totally understand the wisdom of staying near the coast... But we'll be making a beeline to Tucson AZ, so Plan A will be to head down to I-90 then out towards Boise and points South. As we always have a "Plan B" and a "Plan C", we'll be also crafting a path down I-5 if Idaho is inhospitable. Being from the North, I'm familiar with snow, but "been there done that" so nowadays I look for dry pavement. Cold doesn't scare me, unless it's freezing and I have to drain tanks till I hit California or Nevada. But right now the super long range weather projections are hinting towards a dry February in the North West. And we all know how accurate these forecasts are <grin>. Olympia Peninsula will have to be for a future trip! - Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Hancock]

also highly recommend Lynden KOA> nice folks! I stayed there after pickup for what ended up being 5 nights before the 2018 rally. I hadn't factored in the holiday and hadn't made advance reservations anywhere else...they were kind enough to find me a spot to stay longer than planned. The above recommended spots are truly wonderful but I wanted to be near supplies...home depot, target, etc. The upside for me was that I put my elfa drawers in the wardrobe and got some things for various simple mods.

Do you have a photo of the Elfa drawers? I am thinking of doing the same thing when we pick up our 21 in June

 

[cpaharley2008]

I installed 2 under the kitchen area. Great for heavy items underneath. But you will need to secure the slides for transit, they may open the cabinet doors.

 

[mnewman]

Enjoy!

We're also from NC. We picked up our 19 foot escape trailer this past July. There is no correct answer to what's the "best" campground. We stayed one night in a commercial RV campground about 15 minutes from Sumas. I believe there is a commercial RV campground in Sumas. You can find these through Google. The advantage to such campgrounds is that they have full hookups. This allows you to use and check everything. However, the campground we stayed in was crowded with little (no) privacy. The other campers were very friendly and helpful. I'm sure we provided entertainment. We must have looked like the Keystone cops trying to set up the first night. There are also a variety of state and national forest campgrounds within an hour's drive of Sumas (again, check Google). During the summer you'll need to reserve these further in advance. Also, many of these do not have full hookups. They will, however, provide much more privacy and scenery.

We're from North Carolina. We sold our Prolite and are moving into something with fewer leaks. Trips in 2019 were a 2 month Winter loop in the South West, and a 3 month grand Yukon / Alaska loop. But for such trips the Prolite is just not heavy duty enough.

We'll be picking up our 19 in February, and ultimately be using it mostly for music festivals and dry camping on long travel excursions. Many thanks to this forum for helping to guide us through the ordering process!

The question is: where/which is the best campground near Sumas to spend several days shaking out the trailer (within a short drive of ETI)? We'll be leaving Washington for a month is Southern AZ, and want all the gremlins identified before we head south.

Thanks

Ed

 

[h2owmn]

they were purchased from the container store. they have a brochure with all the drawer sizes and rack sizes. i had to raise mine about 3 inches to clear the bottom lip in my wardrobe area. hint: they usually have a big sale at the beginning of the year...a very good deal. The drawer sizes pictured are the shallowest and next shallowest. there is one deeper available.

 

[cpaharley2008]

You can also get something similar from Walmart, cheaper and a lot lighter that may still allow some room on side for hanging clothes. I did this in my first E21...

 

[Ksambor]

Cottonwood Meadows is just across the highway from ETI. You’d be right there w any questions, supplied or services needed.

 

[DenverRTC]

We've stayed twice at the Bellingham RV Park for both of our Escapes (19 and 21). It's full service. Not so much for aesthetics but it's just off the I5 and very close to a Costco and Fred Meyer grocery for stocking up.

 

[Jan Nentrup]

We stayed at the KOA in Lyndon as well. Glad we did because we did have a significant leak under our sink that my hubby couldn’t fix due to lack of tools. We had to return to ETI the next day and all was taken care of. BTW the KOA has winter pricing that helped a lot and we then took off on our trek back to Indiana!

 

[IMJ in FLA]

A bit further south just outside Bellingham is Larrabee State Park. A little further on is Bayview State Park. Both are near the water and can be warmer than Lynden in February when we can get northerly cold winds.

Thanks for the park info. We're doing this same trip (but from FLA and then on to QZ, AZ) in late January. I was looking to stay at Deception Pass, but I think I like BVSP a little better - plus it's a little more convenient.

 

[SHolderfield]

We're from North Carolina. We sold our Prolite and are moving into something with fewer leaks. Trips in 2019 were a 2 month Winter loop in the South West, and a 3 month grand Yukon / Alaska loop. But for such trips the Prolite is just not heavy duty enough.

We'll be picking up our 19 in February, and ultimately be using it mostly for music festivals and dry camping on long travel excursions. Many thanks to this forum for helping to guide us through the ordering process!

The question is: where/which is the best campground near Sumas to spend several days shaking out the trailer (within a short drive of ETI)? We'll be leaving Washington for a month is Southern AZ, and want all the gremlins identified before we head south.

Thanks

Ed

We are also staying at the KOA in Lynden, WA when we pick up our 19 next March, 2020. So excited!

 

[SHolderfield]

Never had any smells in Escape #1, #2,#3, nor #4.

Why in the world have you purchased so many Escapes? There has to be a story here that would be helpful to some of us? Thanks.

 

[gbaglo]

Why in the world have you purchased so many Escapes? There has to be a story here that would be helpful to some of us? Thanks.

He runs out of propane. :ermm:

 

[cpaharley2008]

After owning an Eggcamper and realized it was not cold weather prepared I found Escape and ordered a 2012 E19 for delivery in Summer, 2012. I was a caretaker then for my mom and could not be gone long periods of time. We attended rallies as far west as Nebraska and north as Niagara Falls, Ont. Maine and Acadia NP was our eastern trip. Sometime in 2013 Reace unveiled the E21 and the first 10 customers got it for same price as the E19. I sold my E19 quickly and ordered the new E21 model which was delivered in December 2013. Escape BlackJack was the name as a play on the "21" word. Everything was fine, my mom was no longer with us then so we were able to attend Osoyoos in 2014 as well as 2015. Then in 2016 Escape made some more improvements with the 2nd G models with the better refrigerator and frameless windows. I sold my E21 classic quickly and ordered a 2016 E19. Prairie Schooner was hatched in September 2016 and we drove out to Chilliwack for that model. But we realized quickly that the E19 was too small for us and the 2 dogs and 2 years later in late 2018 sold the E19 and ordered a new E21 for pickup this May, Deja View was picked up in May in Chilliwack and we drove over to Osoyoos for our 4th time in our 4th Escape.
I have yet to fill up both of my propane tanks in any of my Escapes!