Plans for pickup in Sumas, WA on Memorial Day

[Mike G]

Backing up is a matter of experience. You'll gain experience in time, I assure you, if you continue to use your trailer. I would advise letting go of the math while hiking so you can immerse yourself in the wonderful sights, smells, and other sensations of the forest. (Also to avoid tripping.) Perhaps when you get home you can buy a scale model or build a mock-up of a 5th wheel rig, manipulate and observe, take measurements of angles, etc.


The thread cleanup was good. My sense of humor was a bit off, and I never was much of a hand with Photoshop anyway...

 

[Perry Butler]

For me, any display would be better at eye level.

On our build we asked for the GoPower controller NOT to be cut into the dinette bench, and zip-tied to the inside of the bench. For the first few months we just used a 12 plug-in voltage meter. It worked just fine.

However, after a battery failure we installed a Victron BMV-712 battery monitor. I located the monitor at eye level on the passenger side in the upper dinette cabinet next the stovetop.

I used Velcro to attach the shunt to the top of the battery box. It hasn't moved in over 30,000 miles, but is easily moved to look at the batteries.

Last summer our GoPower controller was replaced by a Victron 100/30 smart controller, and we have a Victron 100/20 smart controller for our emergency portable 100 watt panel.

Since I mainly use Victron's phone app to read the BMV-712 I should have just purchased their Victron's Smart Shunt. We can read our Victron controllers and BMV-712 while driving down the road, if needed.

Our GoPower controller was replaced by a Victron 100/30 smart controller, and we have a Victron 100/20 smart controller for our emergency portable 100 watt panel.

Enjoy,

Perry

 

[Perry Butler]

[*]My wife and I made plans for an easier hitch up process with Andersen hitch. I will share if they prove helpful.

Do either of you crochet? Been using my wife's "Ball Cozy" to hook up after we purchased our quad cab F150 and I could no longer see the top of the ball. It works great!

Enjoy,

Perry

 

[JimW]

You might know this, but there is an App for the Go-power inverter. Very convenient to see all the info on your phone and you can turn the inverter on/off from it.

 

[MichaelS78]

Do either of you crochet? Been using my wife's "Ball Cozy" to hook up after we purchased our quad cab F150 and I could no longer see the top of the ball. It works great!

Enjoy,

Perry

That ball cozy is brilliant! Escape could include them with the 5.0. could have a little Escape logo crocheted on the side!

 

[kavm]

Backing up is a matter of experience. You'll gain experience in time, I assure you, if you continue to use your trailer. I would advise letting go of the math while hiking so you can immerse yourself in the wonderful sights, smells, and other sensations of the forest. (Also to avoid tripping.) Perhaps when you get home you can buy a scale model or build a mock-up of a 5th wheel rig, manipulate and observe, take measurements of angles, etc.


The thread cleanup was good. My sense of humor was a bit off, and I never was much of a hand with Photoshop anyway...

You are, of course, right. It is more reflective of the fact that backing in is the most significant challenge we have. The rest of the things are working out nicely,.

I did manage to back into a slot 90 degrees from the road. It wasn’t smooth or pretty but we are in a back in site. Not sure how much confidence it buys me but practice nonetheless. There are now more variables in the differential equation but more strategies too!

Nothing wrong with your sense of humor. That said, I welcome the clean up as well.

 

[kavm]

Do either of you crochet? Been using my wife's "Ball Cozy" to hook up after we purchased our quad cab F150 and I could no longer see the top of the ball. It works great!

Enjoy,

Perry

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it on my wife and she wasn’t amused

I will look for different ideas. To be honest, aligning the Andersen ball and coupler has not proven all that difficult. So my thoughts are focused on backing in. If and when I get comfortable with that, the stress involved with Handling Escape will go down by a lot. Given the size, it will retain a certain level of stress for a long time but that’s normal.

 

[Bobbie54]

I like the ball cozy but I just need something to make them visible in the truck's backup camera. Thinking a sock over the ball itself and maybe a reflective dot on the top of the coupler.

 

[kavm]

You might know this, but there is an App for the Go-power inverter. Very convenient to see all the info on your phone and you can turn the inverter on/off from it.

Thank you very much! I do have the app. It works well. I have not experimented with it. Interested in seeing if one can turn the inverter on and off from it. But have no need for the inverter, so it will have to wait.

 

[rubicon327]

As we see and experience these wonderful things (drive on 101, Hoh rainforest, Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington and so on, it affirms our decision to acquire our Escape. In the recent months, there was some doubt creeping in as we came to terms with the size of the undertaking and the learning curve. It has taken just 3-4 days to remove them.

Glad to hear things are progressing smoothly! Many said you would shake the jitters quickly and would be teaching others soon. Seems like that is already starting but we’ve got your back if you need us.

 

[azjack]

backing up the 5.0

Our Son says to not blind side back if we can avoid it. That helps, but instead of me stepping in and out of the Ram, I'll have Nancy drive and I direct her. When we had to back rear engine cars onto a trailer, she would drive and I would direct, worked well.
AZjack

 

[kavm]

Glad to hear things are progressing smoothly! Many said you would shake the jitters quickly and would be teaching others soon. Seems like that is already starting but we’ve got your back if you need us.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate the support and backing. It goes a very long way!

Things are indeed starting to ease up a little bit. We had to switch sites.could have avoided it but chose not to. It allowed us to use the dump and fill in fresh water. One more back in, still stressful but less so. More revisions to the strategy and more practice.

Only two things are off:

1. The SeeLevel II, a new and improved option, is looking like a dud. The Fresh water indicator has never worked. Don’t think it was ever tested at ETI. Also, after emptying the gray water tank, by dumping from a level camper, the tank shows 17% full. I don’t know if it is a poor system, poor installation, specific problem with our unit or our expectation. Sent email to ETI on Friday but have not heard back. Will try to call on Monday.

2. This is our own fault- we don’t remember the code for the lock. We think we do but it doesn’t seem to work. There is no documentation about the key pad. But, this is just the matter of finding out the right information.

Other than that, things are going well. The Pacific Beach state park campground is nice and relaxing. The internet access is almost nonexistent, but that’s not the end of the world. We spent some time in the Griffiths-Priday ocean state park near Copalis beach. Magnificent! Highly recommended!

Tomorrow we head to Cannon beach!

 

[Bobbie54]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate the support and backing. It goes a very long way!

Things are indeed starting to ease up a little bit. We had to switch sites.could have avoided it but chose not to. It allowed us to use the dump and fill in fresh water. One more back in, still stressful but less so. More revisions to the strategy and more practice.

Only two things are off:

1. The SeeLevel II, a new and improved option, is looking like a dud. The Fresh water indicator has never worked. Don’t think it was ever tested at ETI. Also, after emptying the gray water tank, by dumping from a level camper, the tank shows 17% full. I don’t know if it is a poor system, poor installation, specific problem with our unit or our expectation. Sent email to ETI on Friday but have not heard back. Will try to call on Monday.

2. This is our own fault- we don’t remember the code for the lock. We think we do but it doesn’t seem to work. There is no documentation about the key pad. But, this is just the matter of finding out the right information.

Other than that, things are going well. The Pacific Beach state park campground is nice and relaxing. The internet access is almost nonexistent, but that’s not the end of the world. We spent some time in the Griffiths-Priday ocean state park near Copalis beach. Magnificent! Highly recommended!

Tomorrow we head to Cannon beach!

I've got the Keypad manual. I'll see if I can find it and copy the page you need to reset the code.

 

[kavm]

Thank you very much Bobbie! We got the information you sent. We will try it out when we get back.

We have been enjoying the oyehut wild life refuge and area around that in ocean shores. Beautiful!

 

[ghosthunter]

Thank you very much Bobbie! We got the information you sent. We will try it out when we get back.

We have been enjoying the oyehut wild life refuge and area around that in ocean shores. Beautiful!

You are just around the corner from where my wife and I are staying at Snugglers Cove.
Our son got us a long weekend here as a gift.

We just bought a used 15 B little over a week ago. We are out and about today we will keep a eye for you.
If you see two oldies waving in a White Nissan Rouge with a Ghost decal in back window that’s us.

Good luck with your new Escape.

 

[kavm]

Thank you very much Bobbie! We got the information you sent. We will try it out when we get back.

We have been enjoying the oyehut wild life refuge and area around that in ocean shores. Beautiful!

Hello Bobbie!

Many thanks for that. The factory default combination worked for us. We weren’t able to change it but did not try very hard. In any case, since it only locks the door (and does not unlock it), there doesn’t seem to be much urgency to change the code…

PS: Progress! We were able to set the new code! Now, we can lock and unlock with our code.

This problem is now resolved, thank to you!

 

[kavm]

You are just around the corner from where my wife and I are staying at Snugglers Cove.
Our son got us a long weekend here as a gift.

We just bought a used 15 B little over a week ago. We are out and about today we will keep a eye for you.
If you see two oldies waving in a White Nissan Rouge with a Ghost decal in back window that’s us.

Good luck with your new Escape.

I looked up Smuggler’s Cove, WA. It seems to be in Whidbey Island. Looks like we missed you!

We are now much further along. Just reached Cannon Beach, OR today. The plan is to stay here for 2 nights and then head to Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.

 

[kavm]

Latest Update:

• A lot of rain last night and all day so far today. We had to hitch up in pouring rain, but not a big problem. Made us appreciate how much nicer staying in a camper is in bad weather compared with tent.
• We drove from the Pacific Beach State Park to the Cannon Beach RV Resort. We chose a commercial campground for better WiFi (as I have a couple of conference calls tomorrow) and laundry, etc. Decent campground, and we have a site away from the road. Very quiet. The WIFI seems good as well.
• The drive was uneventful. The stress while driving forward is down a lot. The 101 bridge from WA to OR near Astoria is beautiful. I am glad I wasn’t trying to do it on Day 1 of driving.
• The same cannot be said of backing in, but we made into another spot somehow. We are now fairly comfortable with the systems of the camper. Still have issues with SeeLevel II. We hope that Escape will respond to our email sent on Friday. If not, we will call them.
• A couple of Escape sightings - An Escape 5.0 was traveling in the opposite direction on 101 as we were heading towards Oregon. A couple of days back, an Escape 21 was pulling into Kalaloch when we are exiting. Neither situation allowed the possibility of saying hello.

A couple of basic questions:

• Does one apply the X-Chocks (we are using One-Step chocks as a replacement) before you unhitch or after? Conversely, does one remove them before hitching or after? We are clear about the application chocks (before unhitching and after hitching) but not the x-chock/one-step chocks. [PS: We ended up opting for One-Step chocks, as suggested by Tom, among others. They work very well and are convenient.]
• Which of the roof vents are OK to be open while raining (or with a possibility of rain):
  • Max fan vent - This is the main possibility that we want to check. Also, if OK, can max fan itself be on when raining?
  • Bathroom vent - Also, whether it is OK for the fan to be on.
  • Roof vent near the stove / wash basin. Likely not.
  • Over the bed. The answer here is no, as we found out when it rained while we were asleep. Including it here in case someone else reads it later.

Many thanks!

 

[UncleTim]

I only tighten the x-chocks when I have leveled out the trailer and there is no more movement expected. This way they do not rub the tires or cause strain on the tire.

They are the first to be taken off.

 

[kavm]

I only tighten the x-chocks when I have leveled out the trailer and there is no more movement expected. This way they do not rub the tires or cause strain on the tire.

They are the first to be taken off.

Thank you very much, UncleTim! This clears up one confusion!

Hope you are enjoying your time in Jedediah Smith Redwood SP! We are headed there on Tuesday!