Our Grand Escape - A Tale of First Time Travel Trailer Campers

[Dave Miller]

We’re Margret and Dave Miller. Margret retired June 2022 from an elementary school and I just retired this July from software engineering.

Margret and I have done plenty of tent camping and love the outdoors. We plan to visit as many National Parks as we can during retirement. Our last major trip (Rocky Mountain NP, Black Hills and Teddy Rosevelt NP) was hot and it’s getting harder for us to get up off the ground. We followed that up with a fall trip to New River Gorge NP that featured cooler weather and a cot. But we’d prefer more comfort. Living out of Rubbermaid tubs gets old. And we’d like to bring our dog - Charlie the Golden Doodle - but can’t see keeping him in a tent or the car. So we debated easier ways to tour the country and visit remote places. The choices came down to:

Small trailer to tow
Class B Van
Giant RV with a towed car
Corvette and a Credit Card

We ruled out the Corvette. Too hard dragging everything in and out of hotels and eating all the meals in restaurants. I’m not sure I even fit in a Corvette. And Charlie wouldn’t fit.

Giant RVs don’t fit many of the places we like. (Teddy Rosevelt NP, New River Gorge NP). And they’re expensive. Need to pay to store it too.

Margret liked the Van idea but they’re crazy expensive and you need to break camp to go anywhere. On the other hand we could tow a boat or wave runner if we wanted. And we could get into smaller camp sites.

So, a trailer it is.

So we (mainly me) started looking for a trailer.

This tale is multiple parts:

Part 1 - Buying Our Escape 19 - Selecting the Escape and the purchase process
Part 2 - Picking Up Our Escape - The trip to Chilliwack and importing the trailer
Part 3 - Initial Impressions - Getting to know our Escape on the way home
Part 4 - Customization Plans
Additional Parts - Customizations As They Happen

 

[Dave Miller]

Our Grand Escape - Part 1: Buying Our Escape 19

Our Grand Escape - Part 1: Buying Our Escape 19

We’re tent campers that got old. Ready to get off the ground with a bed and bath.

My parents wintered in a fifth wheel for several years. My brother has owned pop-up trailers and my sister has a truck camper. We have friends with various campers including class A and class C.

We wanted something small, easy to tow, and suitable for forest service campgrounds.

We started with the following requirements:

Queen size bed - North/South preferred
Bath (wet bath okay)
Dining area suitable for bed for young grand kids
No slide outs
5000 pound or less GVWR. (Honda Pilot tow vehicle with 5000 pound max tow and 500 pound max tongue)

Friends had an Rpod. We toured theirs. It wasn’t what we wanted for configuration, but we liked it. I studied several makes online and found several in the 17-20 foot range that met most if not all requirements. Went and looked at some. Then our friends had to rebuild part of their Rpod due to leaks.

For fun, I looked at Airstream. Their traditional models are all small beds until you get over 20 feet. The Basecamp 16 was interesting as was the Nest. Both lacked a separate dining area that could sleep grand kids. But I was intrigued by the fiberglass Nest and started looking at fiberglass campers on-line. Casita was a top choice - super light and I could visit the factory when visiting my son in Dallas. But none of their models met our requirements. Discovered Scamp, Oliver, Bigfoot and Escape while researching. Scamp was too small, Bigfoot too big, as was the Oliver, so targeted the Escape!

I was nervous about no dealer network. Kind of like infomercial stuff not available in stores. So I read everything I could find. Reviews. Discussion forums, etc. Saw an Escape 21 parked down the street from us. But it was gone before I had a chance to stop by. I was able to talk to the owner by phone for over an hour. He sold me on Escape as a quality product and worth the money.

By this time, Airstream had a Basecamp 20. It met my requirements. But the tongue weight was a bit high for the Pilot. Looking at the specs, the Basecamp 20 has a single 3500 pound axle so it limits the GVWR to 4400 and must expect 900 on the tongue! Cross that one off my list.

So, it came down to Escape 21NE versus Escape 19. We’ll have to forgo the North South bed. Both are 5000 GVWR and well under the 500 pound tongue weight. I liked the extra width and the larger dinette in the 21NE but we decided to stay with the 19 - minimum size that met our requirements. Found plenty of 19 v 21 posts and videos online. Read and viewed all I could find.

We got the on-line personal tour from Alex at ETI. Margret and I were both impressed.

Put down a deposit via credit card.

Next up was configuration. Back to these forums and plenty of reading and videos to view.

• My wife selected the flooring, counter top and fabric from the standard choices. We ordered samples and we agreed on what we wanted.
• I wanted a compressor fridge - although the original option was discontinued, the Norcold N2175 was available in time for Escape to install it. I had decided on that model and would have installed myself if Escape didn’t have a choice. (Thanks much to John in Santa Cruz who posted here about the N2175!)
• I decided on my own solar. Battle Born batteries are too costly. And I wanted more capacity. I selected the prewire option and the default 12V Lead Acid battery.
• Deleted the range hood based on forum discussions.
• Really wanted the convection oven but did the under cooktop micro instead. Would lose too much storage with the convection oven and advice from my sister was a microwave gets lots of use but rarely use the oven. (Thanks to Linda at ETI who sent me pictures of E19 kitchens with no oven/micro under the cooktop, micro under the cooktop and the convection oven under the cooktop.)
• Steel wheels. I guess I’m cheap.
• Front storage bin and the extra outside hatch.
• Extra sewer hose tube.
• Passenger side hot/cold hose bib.
• E2 Hitch
• Wider overhead cabinet door opening over the bed
• Standard windows with the extra kitchen window and the tilt open rear option. No bath window based on a video - I think it was Angie and Ronda.
• Standard awning
• Marine Pedestal table
• Detachable power cord
• Two drawers under the hanging cabinet
• Two reading lamps at the head of the bed and one on each side of the dinette

We worked with Linda for configuration. It went quite well.

Our initial completion date was October 2023. That worked as my planned retirement was July 2023. Escape pulled the date forward to July 4 which worked great. They offered to pull it forward to May, but we declined.

Got several pictures during the build. Would have loved even more of partially assembled walls.

Sent a cashiers check via FEDEX to pay it off.

Got some of the paperwork - with the VIN. Insured it. Got Ohio temporary tags = good for 45 days - just before departure for Chilliwack.

Next Part - Pickup!

 

[Dave Miller]

Our Grand Escape - Part 2: Picking Up Our Escape

We live in Dayton Ohio. It was never an option to have Escape deliver the trailer. Pickup is post retirement! We set to work planning both the trip out to Chilliwack as well as the trip home. We planned to be in Chilliwack early afternoon on a Monday with a Tuesday early pickup in Sumas. However, Escape started allowing U.S. customers to pick up in Chilliwack. This eliminated a day from the trip out as we could arrive late on Monday in Chilliwack. We opted for Chilliwack pickup on July 25, 2023.

It was Memorial Day weekend and we were driving to Kentucky for the weekend when our 2018 Honda Pilot tow vehicle displayed “Transmission System Error” on the dash. Pulled off the road. Looked it up in the manual. Nothing. It was before 5 and we called our Honda dealer. “If it shifts fine, drive it. Bring it in next week. Probably a bad sensor.” Drove the rest of the trip with D4 (locked out overdrive - we were towing a wave runner) with no further errors. Took it into the dealer. Dealer said it needed a triple flush at $575, and if that didn’t work, a new torque converter at $3888, which was back ordered. Service rep said the flush rarely works. It was 1000 miles out of warrantee when the error occurred. I called Honda America (the dealer wouldn’t call them). They were polite and said they would work with the Ohio rep and get back to me. They got back to me August 21.

After week of debating options and waiting on a call from Honda, I fixed it myself. Traded the Pilot for a new Ford Expedition with the factory tow package. Dealer didn’t care about the error code on the trade. If we had the Ford when we purchased the Escape 19, would we have gone with the 21NE? Or maybe the Oliver Elite II? We will never know!

I emailed Escape with the difference in hitch height.

The trip out was amazing. We went through Badlands NP and Little Bighorn battle field. Stopped at Lake Coeur D’Alene, the Grand Coulee dam, and entered Canada at Osoyoos. The modern features on the Ford (cruise control that paces to the car in front of you, steering assist, etc.) made the drive far less stressful. It was also far quieter than the Pilot. At about 5 miles less per gallon. We had the Expedition so full of stuff (RV stuff, clothes, kitchen stuff, 2500W generator). No way we could have taken as much in the Pilot.

The drive from Osoyoos to Chilliwack is impressive. Chilliwack is not impressive. The Hampton Inn is expensive and didn’t have a laundry. The area is industrial and the traffic is very heavy. We did have dinner at Farmhouse Brewing Co and were at Escape bright and early Tuesday morning for our pickup.

We got a complete walk through and Trista answered all our questions. She even emailed a picture of the dead space above the fridge - something that will help with a future enhancement. We had to wait a few minutes for them to swap out the standard counter extension because their QA though it was too stiff to operate.

We hitched up and headed to the border. The E2 hitch was configured correct for the new car. The Ford recognizes a trailer, and you add in weight, length and brake type and the car configures the blind spot monitor and break controller for the trailer. It has a back-up assist feature I haven’t used, because it requires additional setup and I have plenty of experience backing up boats.

One plus for the 19 over the 21, the 19 is narrow enough the standard mirrors provide a good rearward view.

The border is only 30 minutes away. Went through the truck lane. The customs agent spent about 15 minutes with the paperwork, verifying the VIN, etc, and our passports. Gave it back and told us how to get to the main road out of town.

My advice... pick up your trailer in Chilliwack. Make it a vacation getting there as well as getting home afterwards!

Next - Part 3: Initial Impressions

 

[Dave Miller]

Our Grand Escape - Part 3: Initial Impressions

The first thing I noticed is that I didn’t notice we were pulling a trailer. The new Ford Expedition with the 3.5L Ecoboost and 10 speed is a beast. Acceleration is amazing. Breaking too. I do like overkill in a tow vehicle and am glad I replaced the Honda Pilot prior to this trip!

Our first stop after clearing customs in Sumas was the Gandy Creek KOA outside of North Cascades NP. It was a short drive on state highways. Much of our return trip was planned with friends Kate and Jim from San Diego who recently moved to Indio and have to leave town for a few months each summer. They have a 900 foot class A with 60 slide outs so we stayed in campgrounds with full hookups. We booked hotels for the trip out and the campgrounds well before our trailer entered production, hoping we had enough of a buffer between the July 4 completion date and the July 25 pickup date. It worked out.

We checked in and found our pull through site. We had some Camco lego blocks and quickly leveled the trailer, unhitched, and dropped the stabilizer legs. The E2 is cumbersome to hitch and unhitch. I probably don’t need it with the Ford Expedition, but it does tow exceptionally well so I plan to keep using it.

Jim supervised our hookup process. It was easy. I had the recommended RV stuff (drinking water hose, water filter, pressure regulator, surge protector, Camco drain hose with clear elbow and flange for the sewer connection. The sewer hookup would have required a second hose (which I had) but I waited until departure then backed up some to dump.

We opted for the detachable power cord. I love it. Easy to put it on and take it off and to coil the cord and put it in the front storage box. Can’t imagine pulling the cord out through an opening and putting it back that way. Get the detachable cord! The front storage box is essential for the RV stuff - leveling blocks, cords, hoses, etc. Well worth the money. My truck camper brother-in-law was jealous of the front storage box.

I had purchased a set of 4 Master locks keyed alike. Hefty ones. Too hefty to lock the front storage box. They need a 1/8 shackle. Found some at the local Ace. Not enough to discourage a hard core thief, but a hard core thief would be disappointed in the contents anyway.

Once we were leveled, unhitched, stabilized, and hooked up, Margret started unloading the numerous tubs from the car into the trailer.

Turned the fridge on - it chilled quickly and it holds an amazing amount of food. Love the separate freezer as well.

We each took a drawer under the hanging cabinet for our bathroom stuff. We were unimpressed with the medicine cabinet in the bath. We didn’t use it at all. Still not sure how we will utilize it. The two kitchen side drawers were filled with silverware and utensils. We loved the two drawers under the hanging cabinet. Another great option choice. As for the cabinet, we didn’t hang anything. Just loaded stuff into it. We also loved having drawers in the kitchen and are glad we went with the undercounted microwave and not the convection oven.

Our clothes fit in the overhead cabinets above the bed. We didn’t fill them. Food went above the sink and cooktop and pans went below the sink. The cabinet below the fridge is nice sized but not a simple access. We tried dishes and food but it seems to be a hassle to find what we wanted quickly.

The open bin over the dinette stored our jackets and the bins on the sides were toilet paper, toilet tablets, towels and table cloths. We didn’t fill them.

Two of our tubs from the car fit under the bed via the doors. This stored things like bottled water, extra sheets, etc.

The outside access under the bed was used for a chair, portable cook stove, portable table, and the outside rug. And our empty suitcases from the trip out. A nice big storage area. The passenger side dinette bench has a battery box and limited storage. We shoved our numerous pairs of shoes and boots in it and the outside hatch had marginal value.
Bottom line - plenty of storage, but need to work out optimal access.

Inside, the fit and finish is pretty good but the trim has some rough butt joints. I’m a hobby woodworker and notice such things. We also had some small piles of sawdust at various locations after each drive. They got smaller each time and I haven’t seen any lately.

I paid for solar prep and panicked when I didn’t see a Zamp port on the side. I did see the roof port so my pulse came back down. Side port will be easy to add and wire.

We’re extremely happy with the mattress. The wet bath has been great as well. After 3 nights we were just on the 2/3 black light and 1/3 gray. I had dumped a gallon of water in the black on advice from Jim. I suspect we have a 5 day off grid capacity on black. I filled the gray to 2/3 to make sure I had enough to flush the hose. 1/3 would have been fine.

We get some rocking even with the stabilizers down.

Torqued the lug nuts at Gandy Creek. One to two per rim needed 1/8 to 1/4 turn. Did them again at Packwood and all were tight. Checked a third and fourth time and none needed tightening. Air pressure was close to 60 in all tires rather than the recommended 50.

Margret purchased various size bins/baskets a few times and re-organized at every campground on the way home.

We added a little water to the fresh water tank on Jim’s advice so we could use the restroom on the road. We did several lunches at scenic overlooks and rest areas. Our trip home included full hookups at Gandy Creek (North Cascades NP), Packwood (Mt Rainier NP), Astoria KOA, Sun Outdoors (Coos Bay, OR), and Diamond Lake RV Park (Crater Lake NP). From there we did a night at a Hampton Inn in Boise. It was the first overnight without hookups and the standard battery kept the fridge on overnight and still had good power when we left in the morning. We won’t do a hotel again, as we found overnight campgrounds far cheaper and more comfortable.

We drove through Mt Rainier on the way to Packwood, including a long downgrade. When we pulled into a scenic lookout, I noticed some break smell. The Ford does an excellent job of downshifting an holding lower gears in Tow/Haul mode. Unfortunately, it resets to normal mode each time you shut off the car. Even though it knows it has a trailer connected. I remembered to use Tow/Haul in the future - at least when I hit the first downgrade!

From Boise, we went to Morley Nelson Birds of Prey Wildlife area. Awesome drive down a cliff to the Swan Falls dam. No way I would have done it with the Honda Pilot. I used the hill descent feature. It held a steady 5 MPH but used the breaks too much IMO. Next time I’ll just let Tow/Haul mode hold a lower gear or select it manually. From there, we went to Snowville UT for an overnight. Forty dollars, full hookups, in a field. A perfect overnight. Didn’t unhook, just dropped the stabilizers. We also filled the freshwater tank for the first time. Quick in and out and cheep. The next day we drove through Logan canyon in UT and to Ryan Park NFS campground in Medicine Bow NF, WY. Here we would spend four nights with no hookups.

The standard 12v battery isn’t enough for boon docking with a compressor fridge. I expected this. I ran my 2500W generator for 20-30 minutes each morning and each evening.

The water pump rarely wanted to shut off. I suspect it was air in the lines, and we never took the time to try and run all the faucets to clear any air - we were boon docking and wanted to conserve water and holding tank capacity. I’ll play with it here at home and hopefully won’t need to make the adjustment shown in the the ETI video.

The cooktop worked quickly the first time, took a few tries to ignite the second, and I gave up the third. I was shutting off the propane and suspect if the water heater would have kicked on, it may have worked. I tried the furnace, and it ran a few seconds and shut off on each of two tries. I suspect it’s the same issue with the propane. While boon docking and using propane for the hot water, the stove worked again. I tried it again at home and it works. I guess I shouldn’t shut the propane off each time I travel - or at least use propane for hot water when we set up, rather than electric when we have hookups.

The bathroom vent fan quick working. We always opened as per the ETI directions. Not sure if it is a fuse or a burned out fan. Doesn’t appear to have its own fuse so probably a bad fan. Will contact ETI.

We did more one night stops on the way home - St Vrain state park just north of Denver with full hookups, and gravel field in Kansas with electric, and a KOA with full hookups in Illinois. All were better than a hotel! Never had to unhitch.

Overall, we are extremely pleased with the trailer. We enjoyed great weather so never used the dinette. More than ample storage, comfortable bed, excellent air flow when sleeping. We made a good choice going with Escape and the 19.

Next Part - Planned Improvements

 

[GinoandLinda]

Great write up Dave. Really enjoyed reading that. Glad you are enjoying the trailer and welcome to the Escape family. I didn't realize ETI now allows US customers to pickup in Chilliwack. We could view the trailer at ETI, but had to pick up in Sumas at Bob's Burgers and Brews.

I liked Chilliwack. There is a wonderful river trail. When we went in January, eagles were as common as pigeons. Well maybe not that common but there were a lot of eagles at the river.

 

[Centex]

Great write up Dave. Really enjoyed reading that....

Ditto

Congrats Dave and Margret, wishing you many happy miles of travel with your new Escape!

 

[sofmerc]

very detailed write up...Good luck with your new trailer!

 

[EscapingDan]

We ruled out the Corvette. Too hard dragging everything in and out of hotels and eating all the meals in restaurants. I’m not sure I even fit in a Corvette. And Charlie wouldn’t fit.

Giant RVs don’t fit many of the places we like. (Teddy Rosevelt NP, New River Gorge NP). And they’re expensive. Need to pay to store it too.

Margret liked the Van idea but they’re crazy expensive and you need to break camp to go anywhere. On the other hand we could tow a boat or wave runner if we wanted. And we could get into smaller camp sites.

So, a trailer it is.

Similiar my reasoning. I traveled internationally a lot for work, sick of airplanes and hotels, sick of resturaunts, tired of other countries actally. So credit card travel was out. I’ll only drive an EV and now EV trucks make it possible to do that with a trailer, so there you go, plus the other reasons you mention.

 

[SteveSgt]

Welcome to the community!

It's refreshing to me, with part of my background being journalism, to see a nice written account. This is the kind of detailed account that makes me want to ask more questions.

For example, I suspect the class C vs. trailer decision was the hardest. What was that conversation or calculus like?

We made the decision pretty quickly. The hard choice for us was, "how small of a trailer could we stand for month-long trips?"

Margret and I have done plenty of tent camping and love the outdoors.

That's similar to my story. I guesstimated a few years ago that I had experienced at least 600 nights out of wilderness camping (backpacking, bike touring, ski touring).

Next up was configuration. Back to these forums and plenty of reading and videos to view.

I got a lot of configuration advice from the forum here. Were there things you wished you had asked someone about before you finalized your build sheet?

After week of debating options and waiting on a call from Honda, I fixed it myself. Traded the Pilot for a new Ford Expedition with the factory tow package.

After renting several trailers for 5-7 day test trips and narrowing down what we wanted, we determined that there was no way were were going to get by with our Tacoma. So a few weeks before we put down our deposit on the Escape, we traded it for an F150 with their Max Trailer Tow package.

Our first stop after clearing customs in Sumas was the Gandy Creek KOA outside of North Cascades NP. It was a short drive on state highways.

Did you stay there for a few days in case you had to head back to Chilliwack? We stayed in Linden for three nights for that reason, and stayed within a day's drive of Chilliwack for a full week before pushing-on farther away. From there, we meandered our way back taking almost three weeks to go 1,400 miles.

Margret started unloading the numerous tubs from the car into the trailer.

Move-in for us took almost the whole 3-day stay in Linden.

The bathroom vent fan quick working.

Our biggest problem was the non-functioning of the electric feature of the hot water heater. We also found a workmanship issue with the installation of the gas cooktop.

The first thing I noticed is that I didn’t notice we were pulling a trailer.

I keep reading people saying this. I wouldn't say the same. But then I had the experience pulling the 16' Airstream Caravel with the Tacoma, which made me hyper-vigilant. I can still feel the load and the additional power required to pull the Escape, but it is way more stable than pulling things with the Tacoma. The whole rig with the Andersen WDH is still bouncier than without the trailer.

Anyway, congratulations! And again, welcome.

 

[BritCanuck]

Nice write up!

We’ll be picking our 5.0 up in about 6 weeks, and we’re complete RV newbies. At least we’re ‘local’.

Had to laugh at your comment about your friends with their 600ft long class A with 60 slideouts. That’s my cousin (but a 5th wheel). It’s gonna be hilarious the first time we park next to them. We will literally be half their size.

 

[rubicon327]

No bath window based on a video - I think it was Angie and Ronda.

Great write-up. Best of luck with your Escape and enjoy your future travels. Just curious - what is the rationale for no bath window? I added a bath window myself (tricky DIY) but love having it. Provides light, ventilation and a view. Some even use it to feed a hose in to flush black tank.

 

[BritCanuck]

Great write-up. Best of luck with your Escape and enjoy your future travels. Just curious - what is the rationale for no bath window? I added a bath window myself (tricky DIY) but love having it. Provides light, ventilation and a view. Some even use it to feed a hose in to flush black tank.

We haven’t ordered a bath window either. Think it was the same video that swayed our decision. Basically having the window makes the bathroom the same temp as outdoors was the complaint. Also even though the window is frosted my wife still wanted total privacy.

 

[Donna D.]

We haven’t ordered a bath window either. Think it was the same video that swayed our decision. Basically having the window makes the bathroom the same temp as outdoors was the complaint. Also even though the window is frosted my wife still wanted total privacy.

You'll be sorry . There's all manner of methods that can be used to block the window if anyone needs 'total privacy.' As far as 'the same temp as outdoors was the complaint' I bet you'll camp in more warm days than cold and will really want the ventilation provided by being able to open the window.


I think what I'd miss the most without a window would be the 'light' provided. Without it, even during the day, you'd need to turn on a light. Otherwise it's gonna be dang dark in there with the door closed

 

[GinoandLinda]

I think what I'd miss the most without a window would be the 'light' provided. Without it, even during the day, you'd need to turn on a light. Otherwise it's gonna be dang dark in there with the door closed

We didn't have the bath window on our original build sheet but our "lottery" 5.0 came with one. Linda and I both agree now that it would have been a mistake not to have one in the build. Light and air are priceless in a small bathroom.

 

[Dave Miller]

Great write up Dave. Really enjoyed reading that. Glad you are enjoying the trailer and welcome to the Escape family. I didn't realize ETI now allows US customers to pickup in Chilliwack. We could view the trailer at ETI, but had to pick up in Sumas at Bob's Burgers and Brews.

I liked Chilliwack. There is a wonderful river trail. When we went in January, eagles were as common as pigeons. Well maybe not that common but there were a lot of eagles at the river.

We spent one night there and didn’t venture far from ETI so we didn’t experience much of Chilliwack.

 

[Dave Miller]

Great write-up. Best of luck with your Escape and enjoy your future travels. Just curious - what is the rationale for no bath window? I added a bath window myself (tricky DIY) but love having it. Provides light, ventilation and a view. Some even use it to feed a hose in to flush black tank.

If I was ordering now, I would order the bath window. Not sure I will bother to put one in myself though.

 

[Dave Miller]

Welcome to the community!

It's refreshing to me, with part of my background being journalism, to see a nice written account. This is the kind of detailed account that makes me want to ask more questions.

For example, I suspect the class C vs. trailer decision was the hardest. What was that conversation or calculus like?

We made the decision pretty quickly. The hard choice for us was, "how small of a trailer could we stand for month-long trips?"


That's similar to my story. I guesstimated a few years ago that I had experienced at least 600 nights out of wilderness camping (backpacking, bike touring, ski touring).



I got a lot of configuration advice from the forum here. Were there things you wished you had asked someone about before you finalized your build sheet?



After renting several trailers for 5-7 day test trips and narrowing down what we wanted, we determined that there was no way were were going to get by with our Tacoma. So a few weeks before we put down our deposit on the Escape, we traded it for an F150 with their Max Trailer Tow package.



Did you stay there for a few days in case you had to head back to Chilliwack? We stayed in Linden for three nights for that reason, and stayed within a day's drive of Chilliwack for a full week before pushing-on farther away. From there, we meandered our way back taking almost three weeks to go 1,400 miles.



Move-in for us took almost the whole 3-day stay in Linden.



Our biggest problem was the non-functioning of the electric feature of the hot water heater. We also found a workmanship issue with the installation of the gas cooktop.



I keep reading people saying this. I wouldn't say the same. But then I had the experience pulling the 16' Airstream Caravel with the Tacoma, which made me hyper-vigilant. I can still feel the load and the additional power required to pull the Escape, but it is way more stable than pulling things with the Tacoma. The whole rig with the Andersen WDH is still bouncier than without the trailer.

Anyway, congratulations! And again, welcome.

Thanks for the kind words. We never really considered a class C - another engine to maintain, the need to tow a car, etc. The trailer was really an easy choice. For size, we wanted the smallest that met requirements, which is why we went with the 19 vs the 21. We lived in it for 3 weeks on the way home and did fine - although the weather was great and we were never stuck inside for a day or even part of a day.

We stayed at North Cascades since we wanted to visit the NP and it was a short drive from Chilliwack. I never really considered being close to ETI in case of issues.

As for towing, the 19 behind the Expedition is comparable to a wave runner behind the Pilot. Except for mileage! The Ford gets about 22 MPG highway doing 70-75. In Montana, doing 80, it dropped to 19-20. With the trailer, I got 12-14 most of the time.