Marilyn and Del worked hard in Los Alamos. The mountains of northern New Mexico became their getaway retreat. They spent all their weekends there anyway. So, in 1976, they purchased a cabin near El Vado Lake and began to renovate it. The wood-burning kitchen stove made for a rustic weekend. The outhouse made it an adventure.
The cabin grew in size and gained indoor plumbing and extra bedrooms. When Todd's friends weren't helping to drywall the cabin, they were waterskiing or sailing on the lake. Marilyn made curtains and decorated it to make it a 2nd home.
Once Todd moved on to begin his family, Marilyn and Del set their sights on a new chapter. Both retired from their jobs—Del with over 30 years with the Bell System and 10 years for Marilyn at Clement & Benner. At 50 years old, they purchased the Stone House Lodge.
Nestled between El Vado Lake State Park and Lake Heron State Park, the location was a perfect fishing and camping destination. Built in the 1930s by the Roosevelt administration to support the construction of El Vado Dam, there were now cabins, camper hookups, a general store and a lot of mud.
With her trademark zeal, Marilyn worked hard with Del to grow the business and make it their own. It became a retreat for the whole family. It wasn't long before most of Marilyn's siblings were living nearby. She had made it back to her roots.
In 1996, Del passed away. Marilyn continued to book campers, sell the best lures to catch Kokanee Salmon, host reunions and clean cabins after the fishermen left a mess until 2010. She returned in 2015 and though she wanted to stay, she suffered a stroke in 2019.
