Well, we finally bit the bullet and bought a new RV Fantastic Vent Fan for our small RV. Assuming that the old Fantastic Fan came with our RV, that makes it about 10 years old, and quite an eyesore. Not that it hasn’t provided wonderful moments of cool breezes when we needed it the most. But the indoor cover part is seemingly off-white (cream colored) and not at all our jam. Why go to all the trouble of painting your walls white so that you can just have an off-white, yellowy fan smack dab in the middle of your ceiling?! Other than color, our fan also makes a squeaking noise which can get under your skin, plus just normal 10-year-wear-and-tear. So, we decided to upgrade.
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Now, Fantastic Fans aren’t cheap. This is why we left this to one of the projects for later on down the road. 

1. We didn’t see the need to rush because we already had a working fan and 
   
2. There were other ways to spend that money. But, we are leaving Austin shortly, and decided that for the West Coast, a new fan would make all the difference.

We’ve been watching a few videos in regards to installation, and have not been put off by the process. (Not like our water heater, ugh). We decided to go with the newer model (go big or go home right?!) and opted to purchase all the necessary add-ons in one fell swoop. This is everything we bought:

You can click on the images above to take you right to the purchase point. 

1) Turn off power. Now, I get paranoid when I’m working with electrical and while some people might go with the flow, I like to avoid getting electrocuted at all costs. But hey, that might just be me.

2) Remove the old putty/sealant/glue/chewing gum that is holding your old fan down. You can use a knife, putty knife, spatula, magic wand—whatever floats your boat and does the job. Make sure not to cut into your actual roof while doing so. 

3) Unscrew everything holding your old fan in place. Pull the screen off, get the screws out.

4) Get that old fan outta there! This may take some extra elbow grease, especially if it’s been sealed down with glue. I definitely misjudged how tightly our fan was in place. 

5) Once that puppy is loose, disconnect the wires. Normally, white is negative and black is positive. Ours were yellow and white, so in that case the yellow was positive. We just snipped with wire cutters closer to the wires coming from the RV.

6) Clean the area well. Not only was there a lot of dirt, but also a lot of old sealant and just plain gunk. We cleaned around the area in order to get the new fan in place.

7) Put the putty all the way around the base of the new fan. This putty is clay putty that we bought from Amazon, and adhered very well.

8) Connect the new wiring on the new fan with the RV wiring. Crimp the connector in place and seal with electrical tape. TEST! Test it out before sealing it down! You want to make sure it works, right?

9) Take the putty wrapper off all pieces of putty and put the fan in place. (Note: if your fan requires new holes to be drilled in the roof, then so be it. We were lucky enough that all the holes that were previously in the roof for the old fan lined up perfectly with the new fan. Thank goodness).

10) Press the fan into place with the putty. 

11) Use the screws to screw the new fan into place within your roof.

12) Use the Dicor Lap Sealant around every screw, as well as along the base of the new fan. This is what will prevent any leakage or water issues down the road, so make sure you’re generous with your lap sealant. We decided to smooth it out a bit, despite being self-leveling, just to ensure that everything was properly covered.

13) Wash your hands because lap sealant is gross.

14) Head inside and add the vent fan phalange on the inside of the base. You may need to cut it down a bit to fit—we did. We used our circular saw to cut it down. Measurements from our old phalange were used to make the cuts.

15) Screw the phalange into place.

16) Click that bad boy on and get ready to enjoy a breeze.

​Everyone loves a good before and after shot, right?!

Feel free to shoot us any questions you have about the process. We aren’t professionals by any means, but we've done a lot in our small RV that took a lot of time, research, and good old fashioned learning! Truth be told, we knew nothing about RV Fantastic Fan Installation, but you find a few videos, read a few instruction manuals and then cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Happy Trails!

Bill & Kayla of The Wandering RV put together a pretty phenomenal resource for must-have RV accessories as told by full-time RVers. Not only is the guide completely thorough, but it covers all bases, from WiFi to RV kitchen gadgets, and of course those RV essentials. 
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We were asked to add some of our essential items and one of the top on out list was our Chemex. This isn't an exaggeration either, we genuinely use our Chemex every single day. Many mornings wouldn't be completely without freshly grinding and freshly roasting our coffee. It's a glorious thing.

For those of you who are starting out RVing, check out this thorough guide from The Wandering RV and find your own inspiration. Or even those who have been on the road for a while now can cross-reference their own must-have items. For us, full-time RVing means continuously learning, especially in areas we aren't familiar with or from other people who are kind enough to share their experiences and knowledge.. For example, we're still trying to sort out our RV internet as we hit the road again, and the above-mentioned guide provides some pretty stellar insight.

To read the article in entirety, click: 30+ Must-Have RV Accessories By The Wandering RV

Thank you to Bill & Kayla for providing such a great resource, and also letting us add our two cents. :)

First, it's worth noting that we did not receive any free meals from Beer Plant, or any discounts regarding their food. With that said, we visited twice in one week because it was that darn delicious. Okay, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start with our first visit to Beer Plant in Austin.

One afternoon, Vanessa and I were trying to fit in two things--a decent cardio workout and a fulfilling vegan meal. We were about to walk to this new vegan gastropub in Austin (only 3-4 miles away) when we decided that we probably should take the scooter. It was muggy out, and we were reeeally hungry. It was a good thing that we decided to forgo walking because Beer Plant is a bit more upscale than we were expecting. So showing up for a vegan lunch as two hot and sweaty messes would've probably been extremely embarrassing. With that said...let's talk food.

Beer Plant has one insanely awesome motto: Drink beer. Eat plants. Be happy. I mean truly, what more could you want from life? With over 40 taps to choose from and a 100% plant-based menu, this stuff is what dreams are made of. Beer Plant is somewhat of a hidden gem in Austin, compared to other more notorious Austin vegan restaurants. But we're happy to share what an awesomely delicious meal we ate there.
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The Drinks
As a beer drinker, I (Marisa) was pretty head-over-heels for the craft brew selection at beer Plant. It was thorough, unusual, and offered a big variety compared to most other vegan places. I opted for an Alaskan Amber, which was lightly sweet, not over-the-top aromatic, with a refreshing finish. Vanessa ordered a drink called The Reishi Rescue Elixir, which.....was $10. BUT, well-worth it. Besides being insanely delicious, it also had quite the nutritious value to it, which was much-appreciated. Between the reishi, cacao, and MCT oil, we were pretty jazzed about this one.

​The Apps
We normally can't pass up appetizers. It's really hard. Especially in new places. With that said, we ended up ordering two. The first was a special, a hand-made German pretzel with smoked cheddar vegan cheese sauce. The second was a pickle flight. Now, I have to admit, I thought the pickle flight would be different. I thought it would be...well, pickles. So, suffice it to say I was a bit skeptical when a pickle board arrived with no sight of those famed cucumber shapes. However, I did learn that Beer Plant is known for their in-house fermentation techniques, which includes pickling and culturing vegan cheeses and butter. So, we weren't that disappointed after trying a few of the pickled veggies on the plate. The pretzel cheese, by far, was the winner of everything. Smooth, smoky, and entirely resembling dairy cheese. We may have hoarded our ramekin to use later on in the meal, too.

The Main Event
We had difficulty ordering our entrees, primarily because there were so many unusual and unique vegan options to choose from. It's so hard when you visit a new vegan restaurant and they offer things you've never seen or heard of before. YOU JUST WANT TO ORDER IT ALL. Sigh, however, we did in fact narrow it down to two choices. The Gyro and The Big Bend. The Gyro consisted of: garlic rosemary seitan, shredded romaine, red cabbage, cucumber, red onion, tomato, tzatziki, and parsley on pita. Served up with a batch of hand-cut fries. The Big Bend consisted of: smoked seitan, red onions, bbq sauce, smoked cheddar cheese sauce, mayo, grilled whole wheat bun, cabbage slaw, and house-made pickles. Fries, too. The winner of this round had to be The Big Bend. Their smoked seitan is thinly sliced and perfectly seasoned. Soft to the palate without any hardness or dryness. It was one of the best vegan BBQ sandwiches I have ever eaten. 

The Desserts
Now, before you decide to judge us, we proudly note that we can eat. We love food...vegan food...and will order up course after course in order to truly revel in a good meal or a new restaurant. So, yes, we ordered two desserts at Beer Plant and yes, they were phenomenal. We ordered the Carrot Cake and the Sticky Toffee Pudding. The Carrot Cake was huge...just this huge chunk of delicious cake. The vegan frosting was delectable, and it wasn't overly sweet or unbearably sugary. There was a nice balance of spice and carrot with every bite. The Sticky Toffee Pudding though, was out-of-this-world. Served on a warm skillet, we tore this dessert apart. Imagine a gooey, sweet pudding cake, easily sliced through with a spoon, topped wth coconut whipped cream and a housemate coconut toffee sauce. It was heaven in a skillet.

After that we decided to order...


Hahahahaha no, just kidding. After that we were BEYOND full. But it was a truly delicious meal from Beer Plant in Austin. We loved their carefully crafted vegan food so much, we went back for brunch the next week. Needless to say, the brunch was even better. 

Thank you Beer Plant, for being an awesome representation of how to level-up vegan fare.
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Until next time...

As many of you know already, coffee is an integral part of our day. Not only does it give us that extra boost when we need some energy for long hauls on the road (we're talking 6-8 hours), but morning coffee has also become something of a ritual in our small RV. There is something about waking up, the silence of the nighttime fading away, grinding our beans, and putting on the water to boil. Our mornings just aren't complete without our coffee ritual.
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But lately, we've been busy. Super busy. Which means that our 15-20 minute coffee making process has taken a backseat to what we have going on for that day. Sometimes our forearms can't take the continued grinding of the beans, you know? Thus brings me to our new favorite coffee obsession: Caveman Coffee Cold Brew Concentrate.

What started with a slight fixation with Juiceland's Percolator drink, soon turned into our need to recreate this delicious morning elixir. This is where Caveman Coffee comes into play. We had tried a few cold brew concentrates prior to Caveman Coffee and were unimpressed. They weren't offering the kind of kick, nor the flavor that we were looking for. But Caveman Cold Brew was different. It came in a large 22 oz bottle, sleek and slim, with only one set of directions: mix with water. Now, you have to know that this is music to our ears--the girls who grind beans, boil water, and wait for the Chemex to do it's thing every morning. All we needed to do was add water and voila.

​The perfect way to drink our coffee on the road.

We genuinely loved this cold brew concentrate so much that we started to play around with a few recipes. Most mornings for us include a vegan protein shake and a cup of coffee--quick and easy, while also providing necessary nutrients and amino acids. So we started thinking, what if we combined our two morning drinks into one?! Introducing...

Ingredients

1.5-2 ounces Caveman Cold Brew Concentrate
Half a Banana
2-3 Pitted Dates
1 tsp Cacao Powder
Dash of Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp MCT Coconut Oil
1-2 TBSP Califia Farms Better Half Coconut Cream & Almond Milk
6-8 ounces Water
Add Ice (for desired thickness)
**Optional Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein Powder Chocolate

The instructions for this one are quite simple: add everything together and blend. We use a NutriBullet to get everything blended just right, but you could also use a blender, too. Whatever works in your kitchen.

​The MCT Coconut Oil is an added bonus (also made by Caveman Coffee), which  provides an unbelievable all-natural energy kick. MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides, which when added to your diet regularly may increase energy, stamina, improve digestion, boost metabolism and more. Adding it to our morning shakes has made a huge difference in how we feel throughout the day.

Besides the morning shake routine, we've also been using Caveman Cold Brew Concentrate as an easy way to make vegan iced coffee before taking Spike and Penny on their walk. Within 5 minutes, both of us have an iced coffee ready to go, no waiting, no brewing. It's pretty darn glorious. Just follow the Caveman Cold Brew instructions on the bottle, add your desired MCT oil amount (1 TBSP recommended) and splash with your favorite vegan creamer. 

If there is one thing I have missed about being on the road, it's not having constant access to a grill. I used to LOVE grilling outdoors. There is something so relaxing about putting on some music, lighting up the grill, and having a couple beers with friends and enjoying the great outdoors. While Vanessa and I still utilize cooking outside whenever we can, especially in campsites with grills built in-ground, we haven't done much grilling in Austin since being here...

​Until now...

It all started on Memorial Day, when we wanted to step outside the culinary box and fulfill our holiday obligations of BBQing by grilling up some goods. The only problem was that where we are staying there isn't a grill. So, we hit up the local Whole Foods and found...
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A disposable eco-grill that burns coshell coconut charcoal. Not only was this disposable grill less than $4, BUT it was also eco-friendly with less carbon emissions, so easy to light, and burned continuously for two+ hours. This little thing was darn glorious and we couldn't have been happier. But what made this disposable grill even cooler was the fact that we had the easiest way to keep this puppy burning and red hot. Another trick of the trade...
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The HomeRight ElectroLight Fire Starter is hands-down one of the coolest travel gadgets we've ever used in the great outdoors.  By just plugging this baby into our small RV Maude, we were able to produce 1300 degree F air to keep our charcoals red hot throughout the entire cooking process. This is how easy it was...

Let me just say, the Electro-Light Fire Starter was so darn cool, we decided to adventure further into culinary creation. Now, this isn't to negate the ACTUAL point of this fire starter which is obviously to light fires. Vanessa and I have had many a'difficulty lighting campfires and charcoal grills, continuously burning through paper, matches and the like, just trying to get a flame. (It's worth noting that neither of us were Girl Scouts for too long and if there was a fire starter badge, then we clearly didn't earn it). But, with the ElectroLight, there is no waste. There is no frustration. The fire starter burns and it lights things up quick. Just make sure you're extra careful with how hot it gets!

So, we decided to keep going with our ElectroLight and used it to char more eggplant as well as char a plate of campfire vegan nachos....

All in all, our tiny eco-friendly grill worked wonders and we can certain vouch it as a success. We roasted two whole eggplants to peel and make into a cold aubergine salad, plus a few SmartLink veggie dogs and a red onion. The ElectroLight is one of our new RV must-have items and we can't wait to make lighting fires a snap once we get back on the road.