Digging up the desert

We hurt.  A lot.  All over, but especially our legs, arms, backs, shoulders, feet, hands.... you get the picture.  Well, maybe not.  Here's the source of our pain: 

We changed this:

 

Into this:

 

Just Husband, Wife, 2 shovels, a rake and a pickaxe. 

 

It took about 3.5 hours to clear 75 feet of length to about 10 feet wide.  Unlike the original driveway that started out as an overgrown dirt track, we had to create this one from scratch through sagebrush, cacti, and these weird, green, pokey bushes.  Backbreaking work in the hot sun.  We're impressed and very proud of ourselves, if we may say so.

The reason for all this work was to provide a visual break between the us and the road.  In a word: Privacy.  Diverting the road was necessary for us to build a wall that will attract less attention to what's going on inside of the domestead.  There isn't much traffic on our road, but there's not much to see as you're driving on it and any activity out in the desert gets immediate and intense interest.  It's like the nosy neighbors and HOA people only with cowboy hats and rifles.  Everyone out there values privacy, but putting yourself out on display will get you attention nevertheless.

After a brief rest to eat some lunch, re-hydrate and put on some more sunscreen we started this:
 

Using tires to block the old driveway by connecting the courtyard to the dome.

We filled in the spaces between the tires with bottles, and then put a row of bottles across the top to lock it all in.  Next time we won't have to dig and get all tired out right off the bat, so we can spend the entire time getting this new wall up to about 5' tall. 

From the outside:

 

 And from the inside:

 

 

 

With any remaining time, energy, and / or materials, we'll finish putting the outer skin on the dome before moving on to other infrastructure projects like starting the wall that will encircle the entire domestead, digging the fire dome down about 4', finishing the bathroom, and building the shower!

Stay Tuned!