DAY-20 of Utah trip, Cedar City UT to Fillmore UT with side-trip visit to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Great day.  We were originally planning to spend tonight and tomorrow night in Bryce Canyon City but those plans were revised because of snow and icy conditions at higher elevations.  The Bryce Canyon rim ranges from 8 to 9 thousand feet and the main rim road was actually closed this morning for a time due to ice.  Anyway, we decided to chance it and make a one-day visit up to Bryce Canyon and it couldn't have worked out better.  Although we encountered periods of snow, sleet and hail, most of the five hours we were at the canyon were bright and sunny, with temperatures ranging from the low 30s to mid 40s.  We had seen many pictures of Bryce Canyon but were still awed by its spectacular beauty, made even more jaw dropping by the bright white trim of freshly fallen snow.  The pictures will convey that better than any words I can come up with.  The Sunset and Natural Bridge overlooks were particularly special.  In fact, we found the natural bridge to be more impressive in color and form than most of the bridges and arches we saw in Arches and Natural Bridges National Parks!  Groups of deer stood near the roadside.  Bear problems forced the closure of one of the campgrounds.
At the suggestion of friend Glenn Kroh, we had a true feast of a buffet lunch at the restaurant of Ruby's Best Western Inn, an historic place on the edge of the Park.  The buffet was, in its own way. as spectacular as the canyon!  We arrived here in Fillmore at around 5 PM and tomorrow will head 150 or so miles north to Salt Lake City.