Here in the Sierra Foothills there are three types of driveways: Asphalt; rock; and dirt. Yup. That’s about it! When we moved here to the Foothills, we became the proud owners of a rock driveway. We got an estimate for an asphalt driveway back when we moved here, which is more than 5 years ago, but could not find a reason to pay over $10,000 for a driveway on a downhill slope that would need repair every other year or so due to land slippage. The cost per year of the asphalt is $2,000. The cost of a rock driveway: $380 every 3-4 years! Hmmm…hard decision!
So, this year, and last weekend, was the big weekend for new rock! We ordered 8 yards, which equates to about 20,000 lbs. of rock, or 10 tons of rock. I tried to get photos of what it looked like before we started. The light was a bit too bright, but I think you might see what we had, and what we did… Here are the photos:
Before photo
Pointing out bald spots
This shot really shows the bald spots on the driveway
The rock truck arrives!
Starting to dump the load
Midway through dumping the load
Adjusting the truck
The entire load
The work starts with the first shovel
Spreading the rock
The gravel gets spread
Next time, due to age, we will look into getting help. We have not only saved a bundle of money, but the rock we got was a road base, and will compact and stand the test of time!
Life in the Foothills 
What a back breaker – moving 20,000lbs, at least you had a small tractor. Worst thing about an uphill gravel driveway is that some people think you have give your car more gas, which of course makes tires spin, which then digs into the gravel – slow and steady is the way to go on gravel.