Loon Lake Cabin

As a final trip before school started we went to a rental lake house near Duschene Utah for a week long relaxing vacation.  We were able to invite many family members to come visit throughout the week and it made for a very memorable time.  The property was unique with 7 small man made lakes stocked with canoes and rowboats, complete with lifejackets, to enjoy.  It was really nice that we could let the kids take out a canoe or rowboat and not worry that they were too far away from the dock.  Vicky and the girls were up the first day to enjoy the warm sunny day and smores before they had to head back for the start of school.

 The kids were able to canoe around, race each other, and some were brave enough to do some swimming when the sun was out...the water was pretty cold, but very refreshing on the hot days.

 Mid-week we took off for a day trip to Vernal and Dinosaur National Monument.  We enjoyed a museum in Vernal and then headed out to the Quarry to see the massive display of fossils that have been preserved there in the hillside.  I had never seen anything like it before.  Apparently, that area was the edge of a riverbank and so many bones were washed down river during flooding and deposited on the banks.  Those banks are what are now excavated with thousands of bones and fossils there.  They have built a building around three sides of the hill and exposed the hillside to where you can see the bones there... It was really amazing to see.

Grandpa Dick was able to spend this day out and about with us.  He enjoyed the drive and the shuttle up to the quarry where he pointed out a hug bone in the hillside.

We also explored the area around the cabin.  We hiked around to each of the 7 lakes and explored the other rental properties there.  Nana joined us on one of our hikes and was part mountain goat with us as we went offtrail and up the rocks!

 Since we were so close to Roosevelt, the Davenports came over on Friday afternoon to play with us.  It was warm out that day and so the lake was appealing.  We rowed over to a swimming spot and did some jumping in!  Then Jeremy and the kids tried in vain to catch some frogs.  We finished up with dinner and smores and really enjoyed the evening with them!

 And I got to row Nana about in the canoe before she left to go home.  We paddled around and watched everyone enjoy the lake.  It was a lot of fun!