The Ricker is very particular about his driveway.
It's a fairly steep driveway on the top of a hill, with a curve at the top to get in the garage. The top portion is red cement, molded into a honeycomb pattern. For years, the bottom portion was red dirt that he had hauled to the house in the 1970s to cover the natural, grey dirt. When it rained, all the red dirt would wash down into the street, resulting in deep ruts and exposed grey dirt. For years, my brother and me (and, after my brother moved out but I was too young to help, some of the neighborhood kids) used buckets and wheelbarrows to haul the dirt back up the driveway after every rainstorm. The only problem was, in Colorado, there are thunderstorms every afternoon in the summer--meaning that this was done a near-daily basis for months during the year. My father finally broke down and paved the rest of the driveway, using red cement again. I used to use kerosene and gasoline to clean oil spots and tire marks off of the driveway to keep it clean (The Ricker is not what you'd call an environmentalist). More cement = more driveway to clean.
No one drives on the driveway. Everyone must park at the bottom and walk up, either right up the steep driveway or along a dimly lit, twisting path through the woods. Garrett would always drive up the driveway to pick me up, and the Ricker never got over that. The UPS guy can come up, but only because he has been the same driver for 25 years and because my dad taught him how to come up and turn around.
The Ricker built a wooden road block to keep cars from coming up, which was replaced by a chain that he could pull across the driveway, hanging a little reflector from the chain. The chain immediately rusted, as the Ricker didn't use a galvanized chain. Still, it serves its purpose--keeping people off the driveway and, more importantly, away from the Ricker.
It's a fairly steep driveway on the top of a hill, with a curve at the top to get in the garage. The top portion is red cement, molded into a honeycomb pattern. For years, the bottom portion was red dirt that he had hauled to the house in the 1970s to cover the natural, grey dirt. When it rained, all the red dirt would wash down into the street, resulting in deep ruts and exposed grey dirt. For years, my brother and me (and, after my brother moved out but I was too young to help, some of the neighborhood kids) used buckets and wheelbarrows to haul the dirt back up the driveway after every rainstorm. The only problem was, in Colorado, there are thunderstorms every afternoon in the summer--meaning that this was done a near-daily basis for months during the year. My father finally broke down and paved the rest of the driveway, using red cement again. I used to use kerosene and gasoline to clean oil spots and tire marks off of the driveway to keep it clean (The Ricker is not what you'd call an environmentalist). More cement = more driveway to clean.
No one drives on the driveway. Everyone must park at the bottom and walk up, either right up the steep driveway or along a dimly lit, twisting path through the woods. Garrett would always drive up the driveway to pick me up, and the Ricker never got over that. The UPS guy can come up, but only because he has been the same driver for 25 years and because my dad taught him how to come up and turn around.
The Ricker built a wooden road block to keep cars from coming up, which was replaced by a chain that he could pull across the driveway, hanging a little reflector from the chain. The chain immediately rusted, as the Ricker didn't use a galvanized chain. Still, it serves its purpose--keeping people off the driveway and, more importantly, away from the Ricker.
posted at 11:15 AM
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