New 5.0 single axle owners

[Jim & Debbie]

Hi! We recently joined the Escape club and are so excited. I've been following the forum for years and thinking about buying a trailer for when I retire and we are able to start traveling. I am constantly impressed by how much forum members seem to ENJOY their rigs and how helpful they are with all sorts of questions. Being in Virginia, there isn't nearly the supply of used Escapes as out West. We were initially looking for an E19, E21C, or E21NE that we could tow with our Suburban. Debbie thought we should get a queen bed so either 19 or 21NE, but I wasn't convinced that the crawl over bed would be the best. We saw a 2009 Escape 5.0 SA advertised only about 1.5 hours from our house. We don't have a truck to tow it, but we figured it would at least be worth going to see inside, since we have not been in one. As we started looking at the layout, we thought this model was EXACTLY what we were looking for:
- a north/south queen bed
- a four person dinette that could sleep two kids or grandkids that we plan to take along as often as we can
- enough head room that I wasn't hitting my head (I'm 6'1")
- standard kitchen/bath amenities

Once we stepped inside, we were sold. We could hardly believe they fit all of this in a < 20' trailer with a dry weight of 2640 lbs! Sure the trailer had a few cosmetic issues from being well used for 15 years. But it felt SOLID and WELL BUILT. I could now understand how people talk about Escapes being an heirloom to pass down to future generations. The sweet couple we bought it from graciously agreed to tow it to our house since we did not have a truck yet. (Truck search will be a separate post.)

This is going to be the longest winter ever. We have the itch to get camping. Looking forward to sharing our experiences with this awesome community.

Jim & Debbie
2009 Escape 5.0 Single Axle

 

[sofmerc]

welcome to the club!

 

[iamunique127]

Welcome.

Seeing a 5.0SA is what sold us on Escapes, too. Although we ended up buying a new 5.0TA instead the single axle is a wonderful trailer.

 

[edlynnrich]

Congratulations on your find. I’m sure you will have many great adventures. If you are looking for a place to go (when you figure out your tow vehicle) for a shakedown trip Bell Isle State Park in Lancaster Co. is less than 2 hours from Hampton and only 10 miles from our house. We have a 21C as does a close neighbor so you would have nearby help to sort out any issues you may have. Have fun! Fun fact, I was in the first graduating class at the brand new Bethel HS 1970

 

[marsman]

Congratulations on your new trailer!! I remember when we first got ours we couldn't wait to go camping in it!!

 

[Jim & Debbie]

Thanks, all, for your warm welcome.

Ed, Bell Isle State Park (and Westmoreland SP not too far away) are definitely on our list of places to go. We were supposed to go to Westmoreland a couple of years ago but our neighbor's funeral preempted those plans. Haven't gotten a chance to reschedule that trip yet. Thanks for the offer to help with any issues. Hopefully we will have the issues worked out during a couple of trips in March and April with some friends who have a RV. We'd love to meet up when head that way.

Jim

 

[edlynnrich]

Sounds like a plan. Let us know when you are in the area.

 

[emers382]

Congratulations on joining the Escape family. We started with a single axle 5.0 as well. Our best story was camping at the military facility at Destin FL in a campground full of big trailers. When we and our daughter and her two girls stepped out one morning a couple passing by commented wondering how we could all fit in such a small trailer. As you'll find out it's easily done. Best of luck on your truck search.

 

[Jim & Debbie]

Adrian,
How old were the granddaughters when you camped with them and your daughter? Did the three of them share the dinette bed? We have 3 grandsons (5, almost 4, and almost 2) and granddaughter (3 months). We'll have to wait a bit to take the baby girl. I was thinking that we would probably have to just take two at a time, but I can imagine the odd boy out would be crushed if they didn't get to go. So I am encouraged by your comment that it is easily done.

 

[emers382]

They slept in the dinette bed when the girls were 4 and 1 in the 5.0 and a year later in the 5.0TA. We've also had three grandchildren together in the bed. When our own kids were growing up we slept the five of us in a 13 foot sticky so the Escapes have been very roomy in comparison!

 

[Donna D.]

I was thinking that we would probably have to just take two at a time, but I can imagine the odd boy out would be crushed if they didn't get to go. So I am encouraged by your comment that it is easily done.

Suggestion. Take just one grandchild at a time. That kid gets 100% of grand time! Talk about memory makers. Have the kids draw straws to decide who goes first. It works. You'd think it would be exhausting needing to entertain one kid all the time and if you take multiples they entertain one another. That's really not how it works, unfortunately. They're more likely to squabble! Good luck

 

[Jim & Debbie]

Donna,
I agree with the squabble part :-( We will probably try this sometimes, but I think their mom and dad would like for us to take the three at a time . I think back of the shared memories that we have from travels with our kids and my parents over the years. I can't count how many times we've recalled funny experiences that we all had together. I think we will just experiment with logistics and see how it goes.

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think there is any BAD way to go camping (with or without kids).

Take care,
Jim