Exploring Southern Utah with an RV from Bryce Canyon National Park to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument for awesome views, Hiking & Boondocking adventures.
We kept our itinerary pretty loose for this trip, but our general plan was to head from Las Vegas, where we rented our motorhome, towards Bryce Canyon and Escalante in Utah. We ended up having no problem at all finding boondocking (free) options for all but our last day of RV camping.
Filming Date – Fall, Early October 2020
Day 0 (night before video starts)
Fly into Las Vegas Airport
Pick up the RV rental at the airport Walmart (we used RVshare.com)
Head west 2 hours to St George, Utah.
Do a quick boondock camp outside of town in the desert.
Exploring the Pacific Northwest with an RV for amazing views, hiking & boondocking adventures.
We kept our itinerary loose for this trip, but our general plan was to do an rough loop starting outside of Portland at Mount St Helens in Washington state, all the way down the Oregon coast to the Redwoods in northern California, back over to interior Oregon to Crater Lake and the Painted Hills, and ending at Mt Hood before returning our motorhome rental in Portland.
Filming Date – Summer, Mid July 2020
Day 1
Pick up the RV outside of Portland, Oregon
Head north 1.5 hours to Washington state
Mount St Helens Johnston Ridge Observatory
Boondock camp near Elk Rock Viewpoint (overnight parking is prohibited further up at the actual observatory parking area)
Hverir Geothermal Area (bubbling mud and steam vents)
Dettifoss waterfall in Vatnajökull National Park
Northern Lights sighting near the town of Vik on Iceland’s eastern coast.
Notable Locations Shown Day 2
Diamond Beach / Jökulsárlón Beach
Random, unnamed (from what we could tell) waterfall that we spotted from the road.
Hiking in the Skaftafell wilderness area, within Vatnajökull National Park.
Svartifoss waterfall.
Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon (or as Sara and Ashley call it, “Sweet-ass Mossy Canyon”)
Lasagna at Primo Ristorante
Downtown Reykjavik and Laugavegur street.
Lebowski Bar for a beer and the notorius Coco-puff cocktail.
Notable Locations Shown Day 3
Blue Lagoon Hot Spring
Some final hot dogs at a cool little hot dog and ice cream stand called Skýlið on the way back to Keflavik airport. It kind reminded me of a Dairy Queen back in the states.
It should be pointed out that this is certainly not the ideal way to do a Iceland Ring Road trip, or to see Iceland in general. But life is unpredictable, and this is the experience we had. This video should not be seen as an endorsement of trying to see such a vast and unique place in such a short time-frame.
Beyond the obvious sightseeing reasons for avoiding such a tight schedule, there is the even more important factor of SAFETY. The wrong combination of unfortunate weather, the wrong vehicle choice, and a simple mistake could make for a very uncomfortable or unsafe situation. Weather in Iceland can change on a dime, and winter conditions can make those changes even more extreme. In our case we had the right combination of events occur to allow us to safely complete our Ring Road experience. However, things could have gone completely differently. We were willing to keep an open mind and had several contingency plans.
There is a very real chance on a schedule this tight that you could end up missing your return flight home. While that would be terrible, it is a far better alternative than taking unacceptable risks and getting yourself or others hurt. Please be safe and realistic when planning your own adventures!
Handy Links and Resources for those planning their own Iceland camper van adventure
Grocery Store Locations – Great blog post on IHeartReykjavik.com about grocery stores in Iceland along with an awesome map of stores throughout the country.
Google Map I created to give an overview of the total mileage and route along Route 1 for an Iceland Ring Road trip. (we did it clockwise)
