Our New 15B

[JimJ]

We picked up our new Escape 15B from the factory yesterday and made the trip down to Portland. Other than a 90 minute delay due to traffic in Seattle, the trip was (thankfully) uneventful. The border crossing went smoothly with no problems from the agents pertaining to the import paperwork.

As others have mentioned, the experience on pick-up day was very thorough. Dave talked us through each element of the Escape from front to rear, inside and outside. Now how will we remember it all? The Owner’s Manual should help. The workmanship on the construction is very high quality. We are impressed!

A big thank you goes to all forum posters. We learned a lot from your conversations and your suggestions. Now we have to wait until about mid-February or so here in Portland and then it’s off on our first overnighter.

See you at the June rally. Enjoy some photos.

Jim and Robin

 

[float5]

Congratulations, Jim and Robin! Very snazzy pillows!
Good cooking set-up.

 

[JohnB]

Congrats Jim and Robin on taking home your 15B.
We took home a new 15A in May and have had nothing but good camping experiences with it. We have enjoyed being up off the ground, out of our tent, more then we had expected.

 

[gabeck]

That's lovely ..... Congratulations ! Our tv is also a Liberty found it to be very easy .

 

[techfan]

Congrats on your 15B

Looks really nice. Can you tell us what you ordered with your 15B? Were your fabrics and counter tops special order in color? NIce choices with the stainless sink and stove. We live in Longview, WA and are seriously considering the 15B.

 

[JimJ]

Techfan:

We first chose the fabric that we wanted for the benches and the valances and then went to a counter top shop and chose a Formica sample that we liked that went well with the bench cloth material. We wanted to visit the factory, so we delivered the fabric and Formica sample to Tammy. We went with the standard floor vinyl.

In addition to the stainless sink and stove-top (w/range hood delete), other options included: equalizer hitch and brake controller; outside access hatch; dual 6-volt batteries; drawers instead of wardrobe; 15" chrome wheels; LED light package inside and out; exterior shower; window in the bath and over the chest of drawers; extra insulation and thermal windows; spray foam insulation underneath; and added reading lights over bed/dinette.

 

[Jim Bennett]

Lookin' good.

 

[Donna D.]

ooooh New Trailer, Santa must have thought you were very, very good!

Jim, think about joining other egg owners the last weekend of April at Champoeg State Park: http://www.casitaforum.com/invboard...28-2013-spring-nog-northern-oregon-gathering/

Love to see your shiny new trailer and meet you too!

 

[Karen H.]

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your pictures...it's beautiful!

 

[Dixhiccup]

Congratulations. A quick question, or two. Were you able to leave the spare mounted on the rear door and use an extension on the hitch, or not? Did you mount two propane tanks with the batteries on the tongue or did you consider this too much weight. We have just bought the 15 Custom and our present extended hitch is rated 3500 lbs and 350 lbs hitch weight, do we need to go higher or is this comparable with your setup?. Your views would be appreciated.

 

[JimJ]

We decided to use an equalizer hitch which meant we didn't have a need for a receiver extension. You're right, though, the swinging rear door on the Jeep Liberty with spare on it, doesn't open fully with the Escape attached. We'll probably do a lot of loading/unloading through the rear doors. We have only one propane tank with the two six volt batteries on the front hitch of the trailer and no storage bin. Reese and Dave did not think this was too much for us, but we haven't weighed it to get the exact hitch weight. Because of this, I don't have a recommendation for you.