California!

Days before the charity event in Philadelphia, I found myself in San Francisco for the International Leather Sir, Leather boy and Community Bootblack Competition, www.leathersir.com. ILSb/cbb. I arrived on the Thursday of the event and right off the bat made arrangements with friends at the airport and shared a taxi. Great way to start the weekend. I have been to San Francisco for Folsom but have never had the chance to really sight see. So my friend and I went for a walk-about and wound up at a Harley Davidson dealership. I already knew they rented motorcycles and was excited at the thought of seeing the city on 2 wheels. They had a huge selection of bikes for rent. Harley, BMW, Honda etc... what did we wind up with? A Vestpa 250 scooter. I actually own a scooter at home and my friend picked the scooter so I could drive it too. I do have a motorcycle license but that does not mean I can drive one..lol.

So 2 days and 118 miles later we had a blast riding around the city. Up and down... up and down... weeeeeeeee.... The view from Twin Peaks is pretty awsome but being the butch bitch on the back was priceless. I adored holding onto the femme..grins. Up and down... up and down... then off to the ocean. We made a turn and I saw something quite unexpected. Horses... there was a huge stable right by the ocean. Next morning we were off on the scooter again and on horseback by 8:30am. Just the two of us plus the guide made for a perfect ride. As we were galloping down the beach I slowed my horse to a lope and watched the seals pace me. There was a small group of them and they kept popping their heads up and looking right at us... almost questioning.. what ya doing? and defiantly showing they were faster then me. So during the day I finally got to see the city and there is no better way then on 2 wheels.

At night was the competition and what a competition it was! It was my first time at the International Competition and was quite surprised at how many people I knew there. My title team of Kyle, boy eddie and bootblack Brandon were all at their best. I couldn't have cheered them on any louder. I am damn proud of the 3 of them. They had a great showing over the weekend. The number of leather women that showed up to the event was staggering. It was announced that 40% of the ticket sales were to women..wow! What made that night super memorable was getting pinned by Mama herself. I am now Mama's Cowboi Jen number 1111 of her family. How can I ever forget Halloween this year?

That night I went waaaay outside of my box. I wound up at the bathhouse. On a very rare occasion they open it to women so why not? It was a queer party and I hung ou t for a bit then back to the hotel. That was an experience.The city was alive with party goers. On Sunday I volunteered for the victory party at the door of Stompers. I got to see everyone one last time and say my goodbyes. I had dinner with my California Leather Family, Evil Mommy Tina. I didn't realize just how much I miss her. By far she is one of the people that have been my backbone all these years. We wound up meeting up again for breakfast and she drove me to the airport. This is when the adventure starts... I wasn't flying out.. I was picking up the rental car.
My friend and I went up the coastal expressway route 1. I must say I have been working out at the gym but damn.. those twists and turns along the coast really worked my arm muscles. Someone taught me how to drive them and what the different signs meant. Coming from Philly we are mostly flatland and though I do know how to drive it was fun being told. We traveled well together and I enjoyed the entire drive. Walks on the beach, sunsets over the ocean and breakfast at a wonderful B&B made for one hell of a trip to the.... REDWOODS. All I can say is WOW. We stopped at the visitor center and got directions to the best trails, did a small loop to the biggest trees in the grove then found a nice cabin to spend the night in. The 2nd day in the forrest we went for a longer hike. At one point I had to stop and sit down. I wasn't tired but was overwhelmed. What I saw was so beautiful I had to take a moment and thank the higher being for me being alive to be there. We went back to San Fra ncisco and spent one last night in the city before flying home on Thursday morning. Only 52 hours until the charity event... nothing like cutting it close.