We are so fortunate to have Magnum Energy sponsor us for our inverter needs. Even before we had a sponsorship with them, we had decided on the msh3012m Hybrid Inverter from Magnum. We were thrilled when they decided to sponsor and support us in our journey.

This inverter does three things:

1. Inverts 12v DC to 120v AC. That means our wall plugs will now pull power from the battery bank
2. Charges our battery bank when we're using a generator or plugged into shore power
3. It offers load-assist. When your generator or shore power isn't giving you enough power, this inverter is smart enough to be able to assist that load with your battery bank (provided your battery bank is big/powerful enough). That means we can plug into a friend's 15 amp hookup and let the inverter "borrow" another 15 amps from our battery bank, allowing us to run the air conditioner.

We haven't seen many inverter installs in Airstreams, so we wanted to share our process. Hopefully this helps someone else in the future. If you're considering adding an inverter to your RV, or upgrading your small inverter, definitely give Magnum Energy a look. They're used in government, military, and the private sector. They're overbuilt and one of the greatest inverters on the market today.

And this email wouldn't be complete without a big shoutout to our buddy Corban who helped us install this. Steve is a DIY guy, but he also knows when he's in over his head. While this was a great learning experience, there's no way we could have done it without Corban and Scott from Magnum. Thanks guys!

The most common question we get about our full-time RV plans is "Where will you go first?" It's a fair question that we'd also love the answer to. At the moment, it's looking like either Oregon or Colorado. But we also want to know where you would go first. When we posted this video on YouTube a couple days ago, the comments erupted with dozens and dozens of great destinations and the list is still growing. These comments are quickly becoming one of our best resources. If you're considering an RV adventure of your own or a cross country road trip, we highly recommend you check out the YouTube comments for this video. And don't forget to chime in with your recommendations! 

​In my search for the right tire covers, I eventually decided to take matters into my own hands and sew them myself. I found this helpful video from Sailrite that I used as my guide. I also purchased the supplies for this project from Sailrite including my Sunbrella marine grade fabric. My tire covers block UV, they have a great fastening system, they aren't vinyl so I don't have to worry about cracking and I used a light color so they won't attract extra heat. Check out my video to see how the project went and for full details on how to sew your own tire covers take a look at the turorial by Sailrite

Here's a list of the supplies I used for this project:

Sunbrella Marine Grade Fabric 60" in the Color Silver
Matching Thread
2" Hook and Loop
Sunbrella 1" Binding

You'll also need a size 20 needle for this project. They didn't have needles that big at my local yardage store so if you do this project I recommend buying your needles online.

Don't miss part 2 and the conclusion of my tire cover project:

There are a lot of great trailers out there. Just because we like AIrstreams doesn't mean they're right for you. In this episode we chat about all the OTHER trailers we like.

Even though we've owned the Airstream for 4 months, the only time we have slept/lived in it was when we brought it back from Arizona. We figure that we ought to get used to living in it if we're going to be leaving in less than 3 weeks.

So this Father's Day Weekend we took the Airstream up a local canyon to practice using our systems and just to unplug and get away from it all. It was a great weekend.

My new company is amazing, and the team I'll be working with is incredible too. I couldn't be happier about where I work.

This work-from-home thing is going to take a little bit of adjustment. It's definitely different! I have a ton of time to work on things, but that could be more due to the fact that I'm a new employee and I don't have a million projects assigned to me yet.

Regardless, I'm super excited. When I told my team about my dream to live in an Airstream and travel, they loved the idea. Whew!

Sorry for the gruesome video, but we thought it would be best to illustrate the importance of being prepared in the outdoors. What a fantastic trip with fantastic people.

"I can't believe it's finally time to ride Kokopelli" Tess said as we loaded the van. We'd been spending the past months preparing for life on the road that we had forgotten to set some time aside for ourselves.

This week was full of anticipation. We had never ridden this trail, but we knew we had a solid plan, a fantastic group of friends joining us, and remarkable weather.

Moab is a special place for us; and this trip would take us right throught he heart of some of our favorite places. We had never been to Fruita, which kept excitement high as we pulled in at 11PM to set up camp.

We had a fantastic first day on the trail with great food, great riding, and great people. Day two had even more in store for us...

We'll be releasing these videos every day in sequence. Stay tuned to our YouTube channel to watch the story unfold.

With Teressa's parents coming to join us for our Kokopelli trip, I wanted to make sure getting in and out of the van wasn't more of a chore than it needed to be. I bought these steps from Chris at Ujoint Offroad. The steps are Aluminess (aluminum, duh) steps. They're super light. They are NOT sliders/bumpers. They can't be used to lift the vehicle, and they can't be used on rocks. They're just steps to make it easier to get in the van.

The install instructions were horrid. It wasn't an overly complex task, but having some pictures would have really helped. Anyway, this is the story of me installig the nerf bars before our big Moab trip.

It may seem like it, but we haven't forgotten to keep telling Fred's story. Sorry for the blast to the past from 7 months ago, but we know a lot of you love watching this series, and we love telling the story.

We have no excuses, other than these take forever to edit, and we're trying to keep the more current stuff... well... current.

Enjoy, as we remove the old front suspension from Fred in preparation to receive his new Ujoint offroad parts.

​Out with the old and in with the new. 35 days 'till launch. It was a lot tougher leaving my old job than I thought it would be. I'm going to miss the great people I've been working with, and I'll miss the great projects I've been able to work on.

Onward and upward though, I'm excited for my new job and my new life.

We knew that buying a used trailer would mean replacing a few things. When we did our research about how to buy an RV, someone suggested turning on every single switch and system to verify it worked. GREAT ADVICE!

There were only 2 issues we found: the shower fan motor was dying, and the tv antenna crank snapped off. Denny, our amazing sales guy, told us he'd send us the new parts to replace those. Sure enough, 2 weeks later our package arrived with our spare parts.

Aside from some little trim pieces here and there, this was my first big project on the Airstream. I've always been hesitant to work on anything that could potentially leak, but this project helped me get over my fear and realize it's really no big deal. The install went great, and the new fan is STRONG.

Next step... installing a Magnum MSH3000 hybrid inverter. That will be a little more complex, so I'll rely on my friend Corban.

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