Visited Casita Showroom, Now I'm worried. My experience, questions and concerns.

[Fred762]

WE did not opt for modifying the Casita's power cord/mount in any way..so we had the std "captive" cord..wh had to be rolled back into the driver-side rear storage compartment. On the first day while on a 2 week stay near relatives in a VT SP(no elec /no water at campsites) we found the WH wd not fire up...fuses ok, switches ok, propane ok , battery ok etc etc...just no hot water. Grrr. Ok ok hike to far-distant bath house for a shower. Got home and went by my local RV shoppe to have 'the man' check it out. Turned out that the power wire to the top of dang WH igniter was loose..still ON, but loose. His best guess was that a loop of the heavy 30 amp line had coiled up over the WH by accident and knocked off that jam-fit wire.
Very hard to get to area unless we took off the whole of the Driver-side dinette cushions/doors, which was why I had missed it at the campsite.
WE opined that a wood panel glued into the rear of that cord storage area to protect the WH wd be nice. Oh well..The other solution wd be the option of a detachable cord, wh cud be rolled up carefully and stored in the front storage box..[both 2nd options were ordered on our new E-21].

[stevebaz]

Get the escape, get the generator, get the pickup to tow it all and hold the generator. Good thing you got the forerunner as its resale is extremely high. Its so easy to spend your money. Enjoy your life cutting corners for us that have to is ok but why if you dont have to. Its not like you can take your toys with you when your gone.

[Dennis Sigut]

You might try Outdoorsy.com and rvshare.com. Most won;t allow pets, but I saw a few in Dallas and Houston that do. There are a couple of Crickets, teardrops and an Airstream Basecamp that say 'pet'friendly'. Won't be exactly the same as a Casita or Escape, but you could at least get a feel for how much space you might need.

I'm with you on Leaving Texas. I plan to retire in about 18 months and can't wait to get out ot here!

[KatyTexas]

I have pretty much spent my entire morning reading this thread and links out from it.

I'm also in N. Texas, was considering going to see the Casita showroom, and I'm about 5'7 too.

I was born in Fort Worth. I don't hate Texas, but it has changed so much in my lifetime from what it was. For one thing just the property tax and insurance on my modest house (about 1400 sq. ft.) cost $6,000 a year with the homestead exemption. That's a lot of "money for nothing" out of my budget.

I'm not sure if I am cut out for being a full-timer. The again I'm at a point in my life where I need to figure out "what's next?"

I don't have a tow vehicle or rig yet and was leaning toward fiberglass if anything.

So far the other appealing camper I was looking at was the Little Guy Max which I haven't found a lot of user experiences about yet. From my reading here it seem that I have to give Escape some serious consideration.

Hope you don't mind me glomming on to your thread, but if anyone happens along here with feedback on the Little Guy campers I would appreciate it.

[West Texan]

Toferj,
If you are a backpacker and want to go off the grid, you should look into the off-road camper trailers. There are all different layouts that I am sure you could find something close to what you want. They have pop up tents for sleeping and side shelters for your two companions. There is lots of storage for whatever you want to add. There is also no carpet on the walls and wide open aisles. LOL