The "soon to be" roof of the cave with a geode in the center.  The trench will be the
beginnings of the walls.  The entire depression was then filled with concrete from 7 to 9+ inches thick.

What a great power tool!

Between the excavator and my handy chipping hammer (small yellow jack-hammer on roof)
 this is how far I was able to dig the first day.

Lots of rocks.  The three big pieces on the bottom started out as once big rock.
I found it just as I was starting to tunnel under the roof.

In case you were wondering what I'm doing with all the dirt.  A lot of it is being
used to backfill the stem wall to our hall addition to the house.  The rest will be
spread around to yard to make mounds for rocks and cactus gardens.

Pitching rocks and digging dirt the hard way.

What started of as a small rock quickly turned into a huge rock.  I used a come-along
to drag the rock out to the access trench and then....

Using my A-frame and a chain hoist counterweighted with a mess-o-rocks I lifted
the rock out of the access trench.

Big rock out of the hole.  Now where should I put it???

Starting to rock in the entrance retaining walls.