Escape 19 Storage, Photos at the Dinette

Above the bench on the left side

Nice open shelf spanning the front of  the camper,
Kleenex, cups, and t.p. are shown just for scale.

Above the bench on the right side

This is the optional extra door going into the storage under the right bench

Same bench showing hinged plywood access panel on the top

Same bench opened up. Here we keep miscellaneous tools
and an electric space heater.

 

Confusing photo looking down inside the other dinette bench.
On the left, that's our portable propane stove sitting on top of the black water tank,
and on the right we have a little crockpot in a box.
The rest is converter and battery charger, so there's not too much storage space here.

Escape 19 Storage, Photos near the Refrigerator

Shallow cabinet under the refrigerator

Standard closet with rod, between refrigerator and bathroom

Escape 19 Storage, Photos of the Kitchen Cabinets

Upper cabinet

Drawers

Full-depth cabinet below the sink

Shallower cabinet near the floor

Homestead National Monument

Cabin of a Nebraska homesteader

For many months Great Husband has been telling me we would one day be going to the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska. Oh, yeah? You don’t say! Even though it’s only about two hours from home, I had never heard of the place. He sealed the deal by mentioning that at Homestead National Monument I could acquire another official cancellation in my National Parks Passport, and right here in Nebraska. Well, in that case, let’s go! But let's turn this visit into a camping getaway, not just a day trip.

Homestead National Monument of America
Heritage Center

Folk singer John McCutcheon

We timed our visit for the last three days of an incredible week-long special event at Homestead National Monument, marking the sesquicentennial of the Homestead Act of 1862. 

What a fabulous Escape escape! Just in our time there we were treated to

• chautauqua events with presentations by historical figures Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Twain, and Willa Cather
• workshops on such themes as harmonica playing, song-writing, and the rise and fall of the Wild West
• a spectacular outdoor concert by folk singer John McCutcheon, who is also a song writer, storyteller, humorist, guitarist, hammered dulcimer player, fiddler, and “seven-time Grammy loser”
• visits to the Homestead National Monument Heritage Center and Freeman (one-room) School

And all without charge. We even received free harmonicas.

While in Beatrice we enjoyed camping at Chautauqua Park (a city facility), which has concrete pads, full utilities, and no crowding even on Memorial Day Weekend.

A Little Quiz

1. When was the era of the Wild West (cowboys, cattle drives, and lawlessness), which has been so romanticized in movies and television?
2. What invention helped bring an end to the Wild West?
3. What percent of homesteaders “proved up” to gain ownership of the land they settled?
4. Where and when was the last homestead started?
5. Which President signed the Homestead Act?
6. Students at Freeman School studied orthography. What's that?

Willa Cather (Betty Jean Steinshouer) and Mark Twain (Warren Brown)

Quiz Answers

1. 1865-1895
2. barbed wire
3. 40%
4. Alaska, 1987
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. spelling and how letters are combined to make sounds and words

Pollyanna Comes Clean

Lest I give the wrong impression about our Escape 19 with my perhaps Pollyannaish enthusiasm for everything about it, it is only fair to mention that we have encountered some flaws during our first seven weeks with it. Reace is sending us a new valve for the black water tank to replace the original valve which leaked. And Great Husband will be re-gluing a crack which developed between the camper roof and the air conditioning shroud on one side.

The latest few problems were encountered by Great Husband during one of his migraine headaches, so even Pollyanna was feeling the effects. The bathroom door wouldn’t latch until Great Husband folded some paper to make a temporary spacer which moved the receiver slightly closer to the door. Then the caulk around the shower drain didn’t adhere worth beans and lifted off in a complete ring during a wipe-down of the bathroom. Duct tape to the rescue for the moment. And not totally diagnosed yet is leaking water from the kitchen sink drain. In the meantime, a pan is catching the drips in the cabinet below.

Unfortunately for Great Husband, Pollyanna has no fix-it skills. All Pollyanna can do is continue loving the Escape without reservation, so that’s what she does.  

Escape 19 Interior Photos, Part 4

For us, the over-bed storage handles plenty of clothes.
The black panel at upper left is where you monitor your tank levels
and turn the water pump on

The Escape 19 feels spacious inside

Escape 19 Interior Photos, Part 3

We had a custom mattress cover made of Sunbrella fabric 

Sleeping bags and lots of other stuff go into the under-bed storage

There is full-depth storage behind the upper two cabinet doors on the left,
and shallower storage behind the lower two doors on the left

Here is the furnace and shallow storage below the refrigerator