Before and After

I took on a 'little' project at home. I didn't think it would last as long as it did (OK, only 2 Saturdays instead of one), but I hit a few snags. Five to be exact.

My vision was to remove 5 unsightly bushes from the front of my house. I thought I could take them out and replace them with manageable yet pretty plants/bushes. I knew it would be a big project, but I honestly thought I could do it in one Saturday. But the bushes had another idea...or the roots did!

BEFORE...

This picture shows 4 of the bushes. The large one is two together. There is another one on the other side of the stairs. 5 total!

My mums were a little overgrown too! Yes, that's one mum plant!

OK, I know it looks really good, but those 5 stumps were horrendous!!! They wouldn't budge for me. I tried digging, I tried sawing, then I gave up and tried calling! I called in reinforcements - Erich.

This is what I took to the dump. One full truck bed!

It took me two Saturdays and one very nice landscaper, Erich, that took at least 2 hours to get out the 5 stumps. I should have taken a picture of Erich and his battle with the last stump, but it was too dark by the time he finished!

AFTER!

New holes awaiting new bushes!

This is my Abelia Kaleidoscope! Don't you love the name?! It is flanked by two dwarf Boxwoods. My front bed looks awesome now!

Fiery Furnace 7/5

I was the newbie here and Trish the expert (she had been here once before). We tried to get a guided tour (a group of about 15 people) of the Fiery Furnace but time wouldn't permit. The only way we could see it was on our own. They only let about 70 people per day through, including the guided tours. I think they gave us the permit (non-guided) because Trish had been once before. It's not a marked trail, so I must admit that I was a little nervous. All we had to go by were footprints in sand and worn out rock where people have walked.

This first picture is an aerial view - pretty cool!

Here's the beginning of our trail - we could see the tall narrow walls and it was pretty intimidating - at least it was for me! Remember, no guide and no marked trails. :-/ Just the two of us.


Can you see the really small person in this picture below (bottom left corner of pic)? That's me - and that's how MASSIVE these intimidating walls are!!!


As you can see in this pic, there is a handrail and you might be able to see some steps that have been carved in the rock. This is the only place where it's marked. We saw a couple right before we got to this rail (the very beginning of our hike) and they told us they found an arch - we found it too!




We found the arch the couple told us about. But it was a dead end so we had to turn around to continue the UN-guided hike.

"Umm, are we lost?"

I hope I don't get this wrong, but I think somebody said this was the kissing turtle arch - looks like two turtle heads kissing! Awwww!


Don't remember the name of this double arch at all. If anyone does, let me know! But is was my favorite in the Fiery Furnace - so cool!

I know this pic looks fake, but I promise we were there!

This was one of the dead ends we hit - I actually started getting nervous about getting out. Did I tell you that we started this hike around 4:30 p.m.? We did run in to the afternoon guided-tour group. We were going to follow them out, but it would have taken us back the way we came and we didn't want to do that. But it was tempting! I think we both admitted that we were worried - but not until after we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, the end of the fiery furnace!


We made it out! It was about 6:45 p.m. when we found the trail out of the furnace. What a great experience. I can't wait to go again!

Landscape Arch 7/5

This was my first time seeing Landscape Arch. It was so amazing. I couldn't get as close as I wanted to, but it was so neat to see. I am overwhelmed by the beauty here - the beauty that God has created and we are blessed to witness. Okay, back to the pictures!


I'm not sure if this one is Double O or one close to it, but it is visible from the trail to Landscape.

On the same trail, different branch, were Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Sunrise at Delicate Arch 6:00 am 7/5

The park recommends to go to Delicate Arch toward sunset. But with our windstorm yesterday, we decided to try it at sunrise. The sun may have been hitting it 'wrong', but it was just beautiful. After a few chatty mc-chattersons left, Trish and I had the whole arch to ourselves! It was so awesome. The pics don't really do it justice, but we had a blast up there.

Sunrise

Here are the chatty mc-chattersons in the pic with the sun just hitting Delicate Arch.

Who's shadow is that??

At the base of Delicate Arch.

North and South Windows & Turret Arch 7/4

All of these beauties are in the same location. I enjoyed climbing up to the North Window, but our time was cut a little short with a wind storm, so some quick pics of the other arches and we were out of there! Because of the sand out there, it felt like little pellets hitting your skin and getting in your eyes - ouch! We retreated to Moab for some dinner and to make some plans for Monday.

North Window

South Window

Turret Arch