Fort Totten Dump Story

So on Friday, it was time to take some of our extra stuff, no longer needed or useful, plus a bunch of packing materials, to the D.C. dump, which is located near Fort Totten in northeast. The "Fort Totten dump" is not that easy to find, though. For one thing, it's in that section of northeast where there aren't any right angles--all the streets intersect at strange angles. Plus, the dump is located on Bates Rd., but some sections of Bates Rd. are actually gated, blocking routes that seem simple on the map. So I drove out that way--to North Capitol and Hawaii Avenue, and then I was lost. I drove around awhile, but I wasn't getting any closer to the dump. Finally, I pulled into the parking area of a cement company and waved down a truck driver. He looked at me and said, "You're looking for the dump." I said yes. Then he gave me directions: "Go out to the street, turn left. Go to the bottom of the hill and turn left. Drive to the 7-11--don't go into the 7-11--and turn left. Veer right, don't go over the bridge, but under the bridge. Then take a left, and the dump is down that way."

OK. Let's see. That's one, two, three . . . four left turns. Doesn't that get me back to where I started?

So I followed these directions. At one point, I had lost track of my left turns, but then, suddenly, I saw the bridge. I slammed on the brakes, to avoid going over the bridge--which I was warned against--went under the bridge and turned left. Drove past the CUA football field--the odor must be very strong on an early fall day with the wind blowing the right direction--and found the dump. But the women "manning" the gate turned me away, saying "Citizens can't dump until 1 pm." It was 11 am. But there's no use arguing with the woman working the gate at the dump.

There's more, but I'm tired. So later, I'll finish.