What we did on our summer vacation

Went to the lake, celebrated our 20th anniversary, and built a retaining wall! All of these, with our own 4 hands! (okay when we went to the lake we had extra hands, and some hands helped us move the 70-pound blocks as well...) Here's a snapshot of project work:

Leveling the base course took forever. Laying the first course took almost as long. Behind each course, we added road gravel to level all the way to the top. Digging out old tree roots was unreal. The second and third courses were easy.

Putting on the caps was delightful. Next year, we will put patio blocks in. It's a nice firepit area - will be even nicer when some vines mature and the steps are in. But that is for next summer's vacation.