Tuesday, September 20, 2016

DAY #18 - Mapleton to Cedar City, Utah by way of BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK....

We left Mapleton this morning and headed to Bryce Canyon National Park.  It was supposed to be able a 3 1/2 hour drive but we missed a turn and it ended up being about 4 1/2 hours.  Beautiful drive though.  As we left Mapleton, we could smell smoke pretty thick in the air.  Turns out, it was apparently a fire up on the canyon!!!  As we drove south through Spanish Fork and on down to Highway 15 we could see the smoke coming down the canyon pretty thick!  Hope the fire was quickly put out.

We drove through PAYSON, UTAH so we could see the beautiful temple there.  We were surprised at how busy it was for a weekday and in the fairly early morning hours!  Worth the stop to see this temple.

We continued on down the road toward Bryce.  After about 3 hours, and missing our turn and beginning to run LOW on gas, we found this ONE-PUMP-STOP in the middle of NOWHERE.  We are getting pretty good at finding things in the middle of NOWHERE!!  At least they had gas.  We didn't have to walk to a gas station in who-knows-where!!  $2.58 gallon!

We made it to BRYCE CANYON!!  We didn't expect it to be rainy and so cold.....48 degrees.

We found that if we stayed at a lookout long enough (usually not more than about 3 - 5 minutes) the scenery would change so we could see the gorgeous views!!  WOW...we were not disappointed at all.

LOVE these views.  I think the clouds enhanced the view for us and made it more dramatic.

There were plenty of people making the same trip we were.

Just gorgeous....

And a few selfies along the way....

More beauty.....

Last of the 'beauty' shots!!!  What a GREAT day here.

I even found a modern OUTHOUSE at the top of the mountain....a REAL outhouse....NO running water, no flushing but at least there was toilet paper!!

After leaving Bryce Canyon we drove 2 hours over to Cedar City, Utah where we spent the night.  As we drove in town we could see the brand new CEDAR CITY UTAH TEMPLE sitting high on a mountain top!!  Beautiful temple.

The view out our hotel room was beautiful....love the mountains.

And the SUNSET in Cedar City was gorgeous!!!

 Tomorrow.....off to ZIONS NATIONAL PARK!!