Pondering Casita 17SD to Escape 21

[GeorgiaBill]

Purchased a 2012 Casita 17SD this past August and am already thinking about an Escape. I'll lurk for a while and have been following Jon Vermilye's journeys starting last year when he upgraded from an Escape 17 to a 21.


I travel with my friend Brenda and our friends and family are surprised at her enthusiasm. I picked up our Casita just south of Cleveland, Ohio at a KOA and stopped at Little River Gorge and 2 Blue Ridge campgrounds on the way home - on tires that were 7 years old.


After getting the lien release, licensing the Casita, and replacing the tires and wheels, Brenda and I have enjoyed 4 short stays: Mt. Pisgah on the Blue Ridge Parkway; Bolding Mill on Lake Lanier in Georgia; McFarland campground on the Tennessee River in Alabama; Gulf Shores State Campground in Alabama.


We had reservations at Fort Pickens Campground on Jan 20 which were cancelled due to the shutdown. We have reservations there later this month plus the Green Eggs rally in March, Gulf Shores in April and Thanksgiving plus Fort Pickens again in July.


Jim and Kim graciously gave me a tour of their Escape 19 during Thanksgiving week in Gulf Shores. We're going to our first rally next month - Green Eggs and Ham - and expect to see more Escapes there. Might see Jim and Kim again at Green Eggs.



It really does not make much sense to even consider a change so quickly, so perhaps I'll just lurk.

 

[steve dunham]

We own a 2013 17 ft Casita SD and last August we purchased a 2018 Escape 21 .

 

[stratos175]

Hello,
We are in Johns Creek GA so not far from you, we loved our Matilda (17 Casita SD) but since we got our Grover (21' 2014 Escape) in September of last year no way we would ever go back. We love all the extra room the Escape gives us and towing the two because of the tandem axle trailer can't tell the difference. Matilda and Grover are stored side by side in my warehouse in Duluth should you ever want to see them next to each other.
I would say you would be VERY HAPPY.

Enjoy the journey.

Steve

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Hi, Steve,


Brenda and I appreciate your offer. I'll send you a private message and we'll get together.


I found it very difficult to find a used Casita at a reasonable price and was planning to order a new one when I found this one in very good condition with lots of upgrades.


Looks like you located a used Escape and I'll look to you for guidance there.


-Bill

 

[vermilye]

While I'd never try to talk anyone out of an Escape, I would suggest making enough trips with both dry camping & with hookups to determine what you really want/need in a trailer. Since reselling a fiberglass trailer is easy, and the value doesn't decline the way a stick built trailer does, there is nothing wrong with a quick turnaround, but it takes awhile to decide what is missing or not needed.

 

[rubicon327]

GeorgiaBill you may enjoy this thread if you haven't seen it

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/why-escape-and-not-casita-or-scamp-or-something-else-1767.html

 

[rubicon327]

GeorgiaBill you may enjoy this thread if you haven't seen it

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/why-escape-and-not-casita-or-scamp-or-something-else-1767.html

Bear in mind that this thread I posted above started in 2012 so the references to almost unlimited owner requested modifications by Escape need to be clarified. As they have grown and production increased they won't do as many as they once did, but they still do more than probably any manufacturer is willing.

 

[Mary F]

Good advice already given, so I'm mostly just saying "howdy" and welcome. And, lol, we had our Casita 16 years before we threw her over for our 21 ft. Escape, so you have 15.5 years to go!

There are things we miss about the Casita, but more things we love about the Escape.

If you're looking to buy "pre-owned," just enjoy your Casita while you look for the Escape of your dreams.

 

[buellfire]

I agree with Mary. Buying the first Molded Fiberglass Rv is the hard part. Once you have a unit you can enjoy your time together and wait for the next "right one" to show up. Selling your previous unit will not be a problem if well cared for.

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Good point, Jon. I considered what may be missing, and come up with more room, stabilizers on the front, and a bed in which we can exit without crawling over one another. Perhaps as we travel more, we might discover more missing extras.


-Bill

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Rubicon327 - I've begun reading your link which is very informative. Looks like I'm on page 3 of 13, and I'll get it all read today.


Thanks
-Bill

 

[steve dunham]

Good point, Jon. I considered what may be missing, and come up with more room, stabilizers on the front, and a bed in which we can exit without crawling over one another. Perhaps as we travel more, we might discover more missing extras.


-Bill

We added stabilizers to the front of our Casita , a fairly easy DIY project .

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Mary F and buellfire - 'howdy' back to each of you. We sure have enjoyed our Casita so far.


Buellfire, is your name derived from the Buell motorcycle?


-Bill

 

[a602pmcc]

Former Casita 17 SD Owner

Hi Bill,

We too, made the move from a (2010) Casita Spirit Deluxe to an Escape 21 (2015). We loved the Casita. It got us back in to camping (wife had grown weary of tent camping) and reminded us how much we love it. We loved its coziness, the interior light, and its ability to fit into small spots. But, since we are hoping to do much more camping beginning this year, including considerably longer trips, it was just too small, and then there's the crawl-over.

We started thinking about whether we might want to move to something bigger, and eventually discovered the Escape 21, the smallest fiberglass (bumper pull) trailer we found with a bed that does not require the crawl-over. As you may have already discovered there are far fewer Escapes in the Southeast than Casitas. After we decided that we were truly interested in making the move, we missed an opportunity for one on the West Coast because we couldn't arrange travel and logistics in a timely manner. Then one came available in Louisiana, and we were ready to jump.

The Escape does everything we wanted to improve -- more space for people and dogs, lots more storage space, and the improved bed orientation. We love it, and though the wife occasionally waxes nostalgic about the Casita, we don't regret the move at all.

Incidentally, we sold our Casita within two days of posting it. It did not have solar, and that was an upgrade we were planning to do, but didn't before the sale. The Escape came with a solar panel and two 6V batteries. Works great and highly recommended if you like to camp off the grid.

Welcome to the forum,

Paul

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Thanks, Paul, the no-crawl-over bed seems to a very desirable feature. You're right, we haven't seen many Escapes in the southeast.



-Bill

 

[GeorgiaBill]

Front Stabilizers

We added stabilizers to the front of our Casita , a fairly easy DIY project .

I've looked at the BAL rear stabilizers the previous owner added and I should have added them to the front in December or January. There's always tomorrow.


-Bill

 

[gbaglo]

The crawl over is my favourite part of camping.

 

[stratos175]

I would also agree 100% with what Paul said. We bought our 2004 Casita in Feb. 2014 and it was in immaculate condition, sold it 5 years later for $500.00 less then what I paid for it and that was to my business partners girlfriend so why both the trailers sit side by side in our warehouse.

As as finding a used one yes not many here in the SE but what I would suggest is place an add on the forum that you are looking for a ......, thats how I found mine, it found us.
It does not have two options I wish it had, solar which I plan on adding when we can use it more and outside shower, other then that WE LOVE IT!!!!!!!
I would say only family member we have that does not like it is our Dee, our 50lb bulldog, she could jump in the Casita bed but not the Escape so she has to wait for me to pick her up .

Enjoy the journey,

Steve

 

[emers382]

Bill you'll certainly see quite a few Escapes at Green Eggs and Ham. We'll be there with our Escape 5.0 with blue graphics. We tow with white F150. Please come by and say hello. Ours is the older "classic" model with curved sides and door and manual awning (and screen room).

Dale (War Eagle) will be there, he has a 21 Escape.

 

[NCBill-ESC]

For us, we never liked the floorplan on our Casita 17LD. We would have gone with an Escape 21, but due to limited storage space, went with the Escape 19 instead. The things we like the best about the Escape is a much larger dinette and a wider aisle way.

Storage in the Escape seems to be huge compared to the Casita. One problem on the Casita storage is much of the lower cabinets are not for storage, they already have stuff in them, like the hot water heater, water pump, battery, water tank. On the Escape, the water tank is below the floor and our battery is in the front storage container (optional, must have IMHO). There is a lot of storage under the bed on our Escape, and a lot in the dinette benches too.