Hmmm, it's the end of July and the amazing Up Your Alley event was approaching and we hadn't planned to attend. But as it got closer and everyone was announcing their travel plans, I got an urge to run away to San Francisco for the one day event. Well, ok, the street fair is a one day event, but the weekend of dance parties and social events has grown to keep people busy from Friday until Sunday night. Our friend Jake offered us buddy passes for an event when we first started the title year, and it looked like a good opportunity to take him up on the offer. So Thursday afternoon, we booked for Sunday morning and evening. Yes - a one day trip. Fly out at 6am and home at 7pm. Yes, we're crazy, but it's going to be fun! And fun it was! We had an adventure!
So, as I progress through this year, I continue to make mistakes in travel. I'm still alive, but these little things make me appreciate how well my boy handles all the details when we travel together.
Little things like - weather. It's summer. It's 90+ degrees in Denver all the time now. Why check the weather unless you're leaving the northern hemisphere. wrong. Mark Twain was alleged to make a comment about the summer weather in San Francisco, but nobody has been able to prove it.
We're traveling on buddy passes, so, we assume, full leather fetish attire would be inappropriate. So would the usual summer fare of shirtless and very little else. We opted for a classy compromise - kilts. Black Utilikilts - Mocker version, to be exact. Add nice heavy boots and a button down shirt, and we were set to travel in style. The title vests, phone chargers, and a few other essentials went into one backpack - our only luggage.
Luckey got off work at midnight, home by 1, and then to bed, only to be roused by my 3:30 alarm so we could get ready and off to the airport to catch a 6am flight. He was not the most cheerful puppy. We learned something new at the airport - the body scanners don't like kilts. Something about all that extra fabric makes them flag us as needing more attention. So we got patted down/felt up by the gate staff. The guy did not look thrilled with life at that moment. But we got to our gate, and there was room on the plane for standby tickets, so off we went to San Francisco!
Once there, we rode the BART to Civic Center station and had a lovely conversation about kilts and Burning Man with a stranger on the train. Then when we arrived, we emerged to WINTER. No jackets, no pants. It was in the low 60s, with wind and humidity. BRRRRR! First stop - Starbucks for hot drinks! Nothing started until 11, so we had time to kill, if we didn't freeze to death first. We wound up at Wicked Grounds and fell in love with the place. We chatted with the staff and looked at the art and took refuge from the cold in their warm little kinky cafe'.
When 11 rolled around, we headed for the fair and began seeing friends from around the US. There were far too many to mention, and it was great to hug and share their space and energy and be with them. The San Francisco K9 Unit had a booth set up with play mats and space to visit. It was so much fun to meet them and hang out, and we made their booth our home base for the day. We ventured out to meet the bootblacks and Luckey got his boots done by Nick Elliott- there were so many good friends there it felt like home. We met new friends as well, like Matthew and Pup Sky from Seattle. We'll be staying with Matthew when we make a visit to Seattle in a few weeks. As the day passed, we ventured out to get some lunch and explore the booths, find other friends, see the fair, but we kept coming back to the puppies and meeting new people.
All good things must end, so around 4:30, we headed back to the BART to make our way home. Once again, we were felt up by security personnel and got to our gate. Hmm, the standby list is HUGE. What's up with that? Oh, an earlier flight was postponed, and people are scrambling to get to Denver. What does that mean? We wait. And we waited some more. We knew that it was a gamble, and we chose standby flights...and this was my first time to do that. So we kept waiting until 11pm when the last flight went out. There was only one seat available when they got to us, and we didn't want to separate.
We grabbed a hotel room for the night and crashed hard. Luckey was a really good sport for running on 2.5 hours of sleep in two days. But when the alarm went off at 3:30 am so we could get to the airport by 4:30, he was less cheerful. Through the morning, we moved from gate to gate to gate, setting up camp near the desk and in sight of the video boards. Luckey napped and I watched people.
We had some amusing experiences while there. I discussed our kilts with two older Chinese women who were studying Scottish dancing. Their English was limited, and their husbands spoke even less. No, we are not Scottish. We are from Denver, Colorado. No, we don't dance. We like kilts because they are comfortable. No, they are not wool. They are very lightweight cotton (insert mental image of four Chinese adults examining the fabric of my kilt without exposing my bits). The husbands were amused and fielded a few questions through their wives. Nobody asked about underpants. I visited with flight crews and desk agents. I fielded more kilt questions. We sampled more food from the variety available in Terminal 3 of SFO. Six flights left without us. The seventh flight was our lucky one - we got the last two seats and headed home.
So our adventure concluded. We spent much more time in the SFO airport than we did at the street fair, and that's ok. The two day trip actually felt like an extended four day weekend, but getting home to our own beds was great. Time to wash the kilts and prepare for our next adventure!
Showing posts with label festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label festival. Show all posts
Monday, September 16, 2013
Friday, August 2, 2013
Minneapolis Pride Weekend
How much fun can you have in one weekend? We were pushing all the barriers to find out.
The last weekend of June found us back in Minneapolis with friends to celebrate Twin Cities Pride Weekend. Once again, we stayed with friends and were welcomed in as family. They enfolded us into their pack and off we went for a wild ride. Friday lunch was all-you-can-eat sushi, and that night was Flog-A-Palooza and a visit to the eagleBOLT bar. Saturday we walked around Loring Park and enjoyed the festival as spectators (fried cheese curds) and then visited the eagleBOLT bar again for more time with friends.
Sunday came and we were on the parade route bright and early. Minneapolis leads their parade with two giant flags - the first one is the Gay Pride rainbow flag and it is followed by the Leather Pride flag. We joined local titleholders and community leaders and community members to carry the giant Leather Pride flag. These flags are huge. They are heavy. They are beautiful. And the mood that day was jubilant. You see, the Supreme Court ruled on Proposition 8 in California and on DOMA the prior week. And there we were, carrying one of the largest Leather Pride flags in the country, right up at the front of the parade. Several times when we stopped on the route, I turned around and looked up and down the lines of people carrying that flag. So many faces, so many backgrounds, so much diversity and history among the kinky locals - it brought tears to my eyes and a bigger smile to my face. As we walked the parade route, people threw money onto the flag - it was donations towards their fundraising goals for the year. Children threw handfuls of change, adults wadded up bills, and two people scampered out to collect the cash each time we stopped along the route. When we were done (all too soon for me) we navigated onto a grassy area with the flag and took pictures, folded the flag, and stored it. Then we joined Ryan Brown and quickly walked back to the parade route start point to jump on the eagleBOLT truck and do it all over again! This time we sat in the back of a truck with waterguns and a huge tub of water and Ryan sat/danced on the hood through the parade route. By the end of it, my face hurt from so much smiling. Seriously hurt. But I couldn't help it.
Back to Loring Park and the bondage booth! Yes, they had a booth set up with information and a partitioned off area for light bondage demos. What was the catch? You couldn't hit anyone. That means you can put someone over the spanking bench and pretend to spank them, but not actually hit them. Flogging could happen, but really not happen because you were flogging the air behind someone. Amazing thing about rope bondage - getting tied up doesn't HIT anyone. Luckey did four demos (three in the cage, one under the tent) and kept the crowd entertained.
When we were ready to collapse from exhaustion and heat, it was back to the house for a quick shower and GAME NIGHT! We ordered in pizza and relaxed with our family. Oh, the shenanigans. There is far too much evidence of that night on Bud's facebook page, and most things went undocumented. That's probably for the best, though.
Monday came too soon, and we headed back to Denver - happy and exhausted.
I am thankful for all of our friends and extended family in Minnesota - you guys rock my world!
The last weekend of June found us back in Minneapolis with friends to celebrate Twin Cities Pride Weekend. Once again, we stayed with friends and were welcomed in as family. They enfolded us into their pack and off we went for a wild ride. Friday lunch was all-you-can-eat sushi, and that night was Flog-A-Palooza and a visit to the eagleBOLT bar. Saturday we walked around Loring Park and enjoyed the festival as spectators (fried cheese curds) and then visited the eagleBOLT bar again for more time with friends.
Sunday came and we were on the parade route bright and early. Minneapolis leads their parade with two giant flags - the first one is the Gay Pride rainbow flag and it is followed by the Leather Pride flag. We joined local titleholders and community leaders and community members to carry the giant Leather Pride flag. These flags are huge. They are heavy. They are beautiful. And the mood that day was jubilant. You see, the Supreme Court ruled on Proposition 8 in California and on DOMA the prior week. And there we were, carrying one of the largest Leather Pride flags in the country, right up at the front of the parade. Several times when we stopped on the route, I turned around and looked up and down the lines of people carrying that flag. So many faces, so many backgrounds, so much diversity and history among the kinky locals - it brought tears to my eyes and a bigger smile to my face. As we walked the parade route, people threw money onto the flag - it was donations towards their fundraising goals for the year. Children threw handfuls of change, adults wadded up bills, and two people scampered out to collect the cash each time we stopped along the route. When we were done (all too soon for me) we navigated onto a grassy area with the flag and took pictures, folded the flag, and stored it. Then we joined Ryan Brown and quickly walked back to the parade route start point to jump on the eagleBOLT truck and do it all over again! This time we sat in the back of a truck with waterguns and a huge tub of water and Ryan sat/danced on the hood through the parade route. By the end of it, my face hurt from so much smiling. Seriously hurt. But I couldn't help it.
Back to Loring Park and the bondage booth! Yes, they had a booth set up with information and a partitioned off area for light bondage demos. What was the catch? You couldn't hit anyone. That means you can put someone over the spanking bench and pretend to spank them, but not actually hit them. Flogging could happen, but really not happen because you were flogging the air behind someone. Amazing thing about rope bondage - getting tied up doesn't HIT anyone. Luckey did four demos (three in the cage, one under the tent) and kept the crowd entertained.
When we were ready to collapse from exhaustion and heat, it was back to the house for a quick shower and GAME NIGHT! We ordered in pizza and relaxed with our family. Oh, the shenanigans. There is far too much evidence of that night on Bud's facebook page, and most things went undocumented. That's probably for the best, though.
Monday came too soon, and we headed back to Denver - happy and exhausted.
I am thankful for all of our friends and extended family in Minnesota - you guys rock my world!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Denver Pridefest 2013
June! It's the season of pride. Time for parades, sunscreen, rainbows, festivals, socializing, and celebrating the advances we've made for social justice and equality, and maybe getting laid too. For us, it was a time to celebrate with our local family.
Denver's celebration spans both Saturday and Sunday, with the parade on Sunday. Saturday we took a turn at the Leather/Kink booth, supporting their first year. At least five local groups pitched in funds to rent the space, and carried literature and information from all groups locally. Den-PAH (Denver Pups and Handlers) had a time slot, as did the Denver boys of Leather. There were other titleholders there as well. Colorado Bootblack Erik joined Luckey and I while we spoke to the crowd and engaged people in friendly dialogue. There were many children present, and they loved the outfits they saw. "Can I have a shirt like that, mommy?" was met by "Maybe when you're older."
For about five years now, the Rocky Mountain Leather Alliance has sponsored a Leather Contingent in the Pride Parade. It started small, with less than twenty people that first year. But by the end of the parade, people had joined us out of the crowd and marched proudly with the leather folks. This year, we had about 60+ people at the start, and right in the middle of it was a bright yellow convertible with me and Luckey sitting in the back.
What a ride! We were probably going to be walking when our original red convertible was not available. That's really not an issue, but it was to our friend Shazzy. She was going to be our driver, and had her heart set on driving us down the parade route. So, she rented a car for the day. Dang, it was bright and pretty and she was a fantastic driver - didn't dump us out once! We were joined by Praxis, International Mr. Olympus Leather, who was in town for the weekend.
My good friend Brad is one of the most knowledgeable non-medical people I know concerning HIV, and one of his favorite sites to share information is The Stigma Project. When he participated in the Mr. Leather Colorado contest, Brad promised to bring a campaign to Denver to raise awareness about HIV and the stigma surrounding the virus. He named his project "Marked for Awareness" and the effort began on Sunday. He brought bright red latex body paint and foam brushes, and painted "+" "-" and "+-" symbols on volunteer's arms, legs, chests backs, foreheads, anywhere we would allow it. Then we walked the parade and spent the rest of the day with the symbols on our bodies. If anyone asked, we could discuss that they are to bring awareness to HIV and the stigma, and we encouraged people to be HIV Neutral in their attitudes. I had the "plus over minus" on my right forearm and my left bicep throughout the day, parade and all, and had several good conversations.
We had a dozen puppies following our car in the parade, with an assortment of hoods, paws, harnesses, squeaky toys, and tails. They barked and howled and enjoyed all the attention, stopping at one point for a water break by the side of the street. The car following them had fun too, because they got to hear all the comments from the people along the entire route
"Isn't that cute?", "Look at them!", "Is that a TAIL?", "OMG, I think it is a tail", "How does it stay?", "Where does it...", "Oh no it doesn't", "I bet it does - look at it move", "oh my!"
The sun was shining and the mood was upbeat along the parade route. There were only a handful of protesters in a couple of places, and the crowd either totally ignored them or carried large signs to block them. Overall, it was humbling to sit in the middle of the attention like that. There was so much love and support. I smiled and waved and made eye contact with so many people on that parade route that I had to take a long quiet lunch afterwards and soak it all in.
We walked through the fair afterwards to visit with friends and watch the people. A short rain cooled things down during lunch, so it was not as hot as previous years. We closed out the day with Beer Bust at the Denver Eagle and then headed home to rest.
Denver's celebration spans both Saturday and Sunday, with the parade on Sunday. Saturday we took a turn at the Leather/Kink booth, supporting their first year. At least five local groups pitched in funds to rent the space, and carried literature and information from all groups locally. Den-PAH (Denver Pups and Handlers) had a time slot, as did the Denver boys of Leather. There were other titleholders there as well. Colorado Bootblack Erik joined Luckey and I while we spoke to the crowd and engaged people in friendly dialogue. There were many children present, and they loved the outfits they saw. "Can I have a shirt like that, mommy?" was met by "Maybe when you're older."
For about five years now, the Rocky Mountain Leather Alliance has sponsored a Leather Contingent in the Pride Parade. It started small, with less than twenty people that first year. But by the end of the parade, people had joined us out of the crowd and marched proudly with the leather folks. This year, we had about 60+ people at the start, and right in the middle of it was a bright yellow convertible with me and Luckey sitting in the back.
What a ride! We were probably going to be walking when our original red convertible was not available. That's really not an issue, but it was to our friend Shazzy. She was going to be our driver, and had her heart set on driving us down the parade route. So, she rented a car for the day. Dang, it was bright and pretty and she was a fantastic driver - didn't dump us out once! We were joined by Praxis, International Mr. Olympus Leather, who was in town for the weekend.
My good friend Brad is one of the most knowledgeable non-medical people I know concerning HIV, and one of his favorite sites to share information is The Stigma Project. When he participated in the Mr. Leather Colorado contest, Brad promised to bring a campaign to Denver to raise awareness about HIV and the stigma surrounding the virus. He named his project "Marked for Awareness" and the effort began on Sunday. He brought bright red latex body paint and foam brushes, and painted "+" "-" and "+-" symbols on volunteer's arms, legs, chests backs, foreheads, anywhere we would allow it. Then we walked the parade and spent the rest of the day with the symbols on our bodies. If anyone asked, we could discuss that they are to bring awareness to HIV and the stigma, and we encouraged people to be HIV Neutral in their attitudes. I had the "plus over minus" on my right forearm and my left bicep throughout the day, parade and all, and had several good conversations.
We had a dozen puppies following our car in the parade, with an assortment of hoods, paws, harnesses, squeaky toys, and tails. They barked and howled and enjoyed all the attention, stopping at one point for a water break by the side of the street. The car following them had fun too, because they got to hear all the comments from the people along the entire route
"Isn't that cute?", "Look at them!", "Is that a TAIL?", "OMG, I think it is a tail", "How does it stay?", "Where does it...", "Oh no it doesn't", "I bet it does - look at it move", "oh my!"
The sun was shining and the mood was upbeat along the parade route. There were only a handful of protesters in a couple of places, and the crowd either totally ignored them or carried large signs to block them. Overall, it was humbling to sit in the middle of the attention like that. There was so much love and support. I smiled and waved and made eye contact with so many people on that parade route that I had to take a long quiet lunch afterwards and soak it all in.
We walked through the fair afterwards to visit with friends and watch the people. A short rain cooled things down during lunch, so it was not as hot as previous years. We closed out the day with Beer Bust at the Denver Eagle and then headed home to rest.
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