It only took two more days of moving dirt after that first day of breaking ground to shape and smooth the driveway and level the first building site.

Luckily, we had several dry days, and the rain we did get was light for the most part. Though it was a bit of a bumpy ride, we were able to drive into our property for the first time in more than seven years. It was amazing.

Even better, though, was not having to park on the side of the road and hike all our gear up the hill to our worksite to start the day. We drove our supplies in and started working on our next project without having to take a break first!

The next order of business was to establish proper drainage in the form of culverts where water runs across the low section of the driveway. The experts selected 36” dual-walled, high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe and delivered six 20-foot sections, each weighing approximately 400 pounds.

Next, the pipes were set into place. The six sections of pipe were assembled into two 60-foot long tubes. They were placed next to each other in the lowest spot in the drive, which is where a small creek cuts through the property.

Truckloads (and more truckloads) of clean dirt were dumped, moved, packed down, and shaped over the pipes to set them in place.

By the end of the day, the area had been transformed.

It really is amazing how these guys can completely change the look of a place in such a short span of time. We were speechless.

A second day of dirt work put the finishing touches on, perfectly smooth and level with the culvert pipes underneath.

Gravel came next. During the dirt days, we talked to the crew, getting to know the people who were quite literally making a mark on our land. We talked about their families, their health scares—that always comes up when people know we work in healthcare, prior projects, future projects, and of course the current task at hand. For those two dirt days, they mused about the gravel.

The driveway is intentionally tight, and winding. We wanted to remove as few trees as possible, and we wanted to tuck away the building sites, so there’s not a straight line of sight from the road. It meets required standards: 16 foot width at the road, 12 foot width the rest of the way. The grade wasn’t going to be the issue.

Generally speaking, when gravel is delivered, the easiest, most-efficient means by which to do it is to back in and dump and spread the gravel simultaneously as they drive out. The dirt guy at the bottom of the drive looking up said, “There’s no way a semi is backing up that,” with an amused smirk on his face. If there’s space to turn around up top at the building site, then there’s no backing in required; they just pull up to the top, turn around, and dump the rock on the way out.

These guys are pros. Truck after truck of gravel was dumped, and the skid loader quickly turned the piles into a road.

By the end of the day, we had a finished driveway! For us, it’s the biggest, most important part of building our homestead. To be able to access the land means that we can not only call it our home, but we can now share it with the people we love.