This is Dan at Mount Robson,British Columbia with our new Escape 19' Trailer.
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| Add captionHere's the finished trailer. On roof you see one solar panel, air conditioner, TV antenna. On the driver's side are fresh water fill, electric plug in. Vent for refrigerator and water heater, in front of dual wheels is the dumping system and on the rear is a holding frame that fits a 2" receiver to hold the storage box for hoses, grill and other lightweight things. We pull this lightweight 19' Escape with our Toyota 4-Runner. |
A year ago September Dan and I, Kathy went through a process of thinking about a small trailer for camping. If you have read my previous blogs, we enjoyed our Nova Scotia - Newfoundland camping trip and our Western Parks motorcycle camping trip. We thought trailering would be a more comfortable way to camp, as long as we kept the size of the unit down so we could fit the National Park and BLM campgrounds easily. Dan began researching.
If we had a trailer, could we use our current vehicle, a Subaru Forester, to pull it? Probably not so what would? We drove a few different pickup trucks which I didn't like while Dan did. When a new 2014 Toyota 4-Runner appeared for good price online and it was a 4x4 trail model we went to Orlando to test drive it. The 4-Runner seemed perfect with a 5000lb towing capacity. The order for a fully fiberglass 19' pull-behind trailer from a company named Escape Trailer Industries in British Columbia soon followed.
Once we decided on and ordered the Escape 19, the next decision was where to travel. Well shoot, we thought, we will be heading North and so we might as well go to Alaska. Chilliwack, BC, where we would pick up the trailer is a long way north already. A plan was forming.
There were so many decisions and choices to attend to that we were quite busy. Build sheets with basic planning information were expected at Escape Trailer Industries, ETI, almost immediately, but the finalized sheet complete with change order penalty was to be in by April. This seemed like a long time until, like an ocean wave, the date sneaked up on us and splashed.
ETI offers many choices and options such as insulation packages, window choice, appliance choice, layout choice and then a buyer could select some of their own colors for flooring and formica or fabric. Which should we invest in?
New to RVing had to decide what systems were useful or absolutely necessary for where we wanted to drive and where we were going to camp. Additionally we had to decide what to pack of the gear we already have and what we wanted to wait to see the trailer before providing. Calls to the company for information were welcomed, changes and options written and emailed to us in a good time to change if needed..great company just as the forum participants had said to expect. Every option offered was considered in great detail, price and usefulness and the finalized sheet went to ETI. Some of our changes and thinking appear in the captions of this first set of photos. What company not only builds the product but gives the owner photos of the process so all will be as expected!
Enjoy our build pictures!
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| This photo of the build shows the frame with 2" receiver, extra lights in rear, dual axile. We selected the insulated options for windows and underside. One more option to follow wwas color of the graphics. |
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| This is underneath the queen sized bed storage, larger refrigerator, and shows thescreen to the push-out safety window on right. |
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| Further in the build we have blue graphics, you are able to see access to under bed from outside and sun awning supports. Note all the build instructions on wall. |
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| Hard to see photo of ceiling construction, I think. |
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| Shows front storage box and rock guard. Front winow with rock guard down is at front of trailer where eating area nook. Inside door to left is two burner kitchen and sink. Across is bath/shower. |
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| Cabinets around upper bed area and shelves, propane heater across from sink. Three way fridge. |
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| Electrical panel, and eating nook with lots of storage under seating. |
We drove from Florida to Chilliwack, BC and took possession of the trailer on June 26, 2015. We had not seen this type of unit previous to our ordering it, but we had visited a Casita brand and read everything about the trailer on the ETI website and owners' forum. Both websites are here.
escapetrailer.com
escapeforum.org
When we arrived on our appointed date and time for the pick-up, all was in readiness for us! We had a two hour walk through time with one person who explained all the systems and answered our basic questions- I took notes hoping to remember even half of the inportant things. We were given a set of warrenties and product information to refer to. We then spoke with Reese who with his wife Tammy and a few employees make this all come together in about a three week period. Reese, was personally installing our solar controller. Another employee was installing some hooks we wanted and TV antenna. Now came the fun part. We watched Dennis hitch us up, Dan did the unhitch and re -hitch and Dennis adjusted the brake controller. We waited a little while and then an employee set off for the Sumas Washington border crossing while we followed. In Sumas we took posession and crossed the border to the US with no problems.
ETI had imported our trailer and we had arrived with our Florida license plates. ALL went smoothly and we set off for Bayside Campground in Washington for two days to try everything we could ourselves. After that short time with no qualms about our trailer's ability and systems, brand new, just off the floor and demonstrated-- to move on and take it to Alaska and more. We knew we ourselves would be on a sharp learning curve.
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| trailer Escape pictures |
Next blog entry will have some scenery!
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