Palm Springs Leather Pride 2022
The last annual event for me to attend this year since the pandemic, Palm Springs Leather Pride was more relaxing for me than going out and having fun. I literary only did what I wanted to do last Saturday while I spent the whole rest of the weekend at my host’s home. I was in town October 28-31.
After about a couple hours of sleep, my father dropped me off at Abbotsford Airport by 5am. Security screening was a little packed. My WestJet flight left on time at 6am and I sat in 17A. I noticed this big, really sexy Daddybear on the flight and thought he was a passenger. Turns out, he was a steward! I tried to get a discrete picture of him, but the lighting was too dim. Sigh. We landed in Calgary about 8am MST. At their security screening, we had to take shoes off. One of my shoes went missing temporarily and had to wait for it to reappear on the conveyer. Yuck! US Customs was easy and waited about an hour at Gate E84 for the Palm Springs flight. I got a bottle of AHA Sparkling Water and it had almost no flavour. I volunteered my carry-on to be checked in for free as the flight was going to be full. We departed at 10am and I sat in 24F. I nodded off and on for the majority of flight, missing my chance to get a drink and snack. I landed in Palm Springs after 12 noon. I waited quite awhile for my bags and got picked up by Daddy Bradford and his young visiting friend from Miami (I forgot his name). We went to Elmer’s Restaurant for lunch. I had a sandwich with fries while Daddy and I caught up on some things since the pandemic. He was looking really sexy with the beard he has grown! We wouldn’t be able to play or cuddle all weekend as he was in the final recovery from a small cold. After Elmer’s, Daddy Bradford took back to his place at the El Dorado. I forgotten how big it was - it had about 300 units. I did remember that the complex was across the street from The Barracks, so that is super convenient. Daddy Bradford had a long nap not long after we got in while his friend went out later before sunset. I set my stuff in the spare room and got on the Wi-Fi. I didn’t feel like going out that night to the bars and to be honest, didn’t know how the complex worked for visitors just yet, so I decided to wait until Daddy woke up and didn’t want to disturb him. I spent time online and called Wayne T. back home. When Daddy’s friend eventually came home, he later got up and was surprised I didn’t go out. I was getting hungry, and I found that there was a Del Taco next door. I was warned that it was closed but Google said they were open until midnight. I walked to the front gate and found I couldn’t get out of the exit door as it was locked both sides. I waited a bit for someone to come with their car to open the gate to let me out. Del Taco was in fact closed - except for the drive thru. Damn. I went to the AM/PM next door to the Barracks as a compromise. I got a lime flavoured Mexican popsicle, and a small bag of Chex Mix which I could use to take my metformin medication throughout the weekend. Back at the gate, I used a code to have Daddy Bradford let me back in. When I got back, he let me borrow his fob so I could open the gate whenever I wanted to. He and I talked for hours, mainly about my relationship with my late-Daddy David. His friend had a 5:30am flight back home to Miami (likely a transfer on the way) so Daddy dropped him off at PSP after 4am. After he returned home, we both went to bed before 5am.
I slept until about noon. After getting up, I had a cold shower (I don’t think it affected Daddy Bradford’s shower - I think he shut off the hot water for the tub I was using to save on the electric bill) and did my business. I geared up in my vest, gauntlets, gloves, pants, Wesco highliners, and muir cap. I walked to The Barracks sometime after 1pm. The back patio area was opened up and I showed my ticket to the volunteer on my phone. I noticed no cigars were being sold on-site and inquired about it. It turns out they couldn’t get the license to sell them on the premises. The volunteer suggested I go to a smoke shop nearby to buy a cigar and that he would look after my drink. I walked across the street on East Palm Canyon Drive to the nearby smoke shop, got a cigar, and returned in minutes. I thanked the volunteer for holding onto my drink. As I lit up, I talked to a guy from Detroit for awhile as we smoked. After I was done, I went around the patio taking pictures with my phone. I saw Daddy Doug, Latexdaddy (Jon), Alex’s (boy Zander) Sir though I didn’t realize it until later that night, ex-Knight from the San Francisco chapter Arthur, etc. For Arthur, this was the second time we’ve met - the first time was in 2017 of my first Leather Pride. Some guys had me text their pictures to them. I left before 4pm but before I returned to Daddy Bradford, I returned to the smoke shop and got another cigar for that night.
After I got back, Daddy and I talked some more in the living room as I took off my Wescos. During sunset, we decided we would eat at Sherman’s Deli & Bakery for dinner. We got there in time as about half an hour after we were seated, it started to get packed. I forget the sandwich Daddy ordered, but I had a beef brisket dish with sliced zucchini and fries. The chicken noodle soup that came with it beforehand was very good too. For dessert, Daddy had a slice of coconut cream pie while I had a slice of sugar-free cheesecake as the blueberry pie I originally wanted was out. The meal was $70 (almost $100 Cdn) with tip, and I paid. We went back home so I could gear up into my uniform for the upcoming BLUF gathering. I discovered that I forgot my flogger holder back at home, so I left my red flogger behind. Daddy then dropped me off at the Tool Shed after 8pm.
Like in years past, the outside back lot of the Tool Shed was opened to allow for vendors and mingling. I thought there was going to be a space for BLUF members to meet at, but we generally hung out around the vendor area. I met some of the members who were very friendly and took a lot of pictures with my DSLR. One of them was a woofy titleholder and his friend who were from Houston. I showed them pictures from GLUE 2016 weekend on my phone and they knew a few of the guys in the pics. I found Tony -the previous owner of Posh- and chatted with him plus Eric from Cockeye Kink. I soon after got a couple of diet cokes and then had my cigar. It wasn’t that great and for a couple of seconds halfway through, I felt like I wanted to throw up. I smoked it a little more and then put it out. I took some final photos and called Daddy at 11:20pm. I said goodbye to some of the BLUF guys. I wanted to get a picture of this hot Leatherdaddy porn star that I recognized, but he politely declined. I don’t know if this was a rule for him or he just didn’t care about me (I’ve cruised him on Recon before, but he never cruised back). Daddy Bradford arrived 20 minutes after I called and met him at the front of the bar. We went home and chatted some more in the living room. He went to bed after 1am and I went before 5am.
Sunday was an uneventful day for me. Daddy went to Streetbar to meet with some friends. After getting up, I went to that nearby Del Taco again as I knew the restaurant would be open. I ordered an Epic Cali Bacon chicken burrito with fries, some small chicken taco, four caramel cheesecake bites, and a Minute Maid Lemonade Light to drink. Everything was really good and surprisingly, it didn’t cause my blood sugar to spike too much. When I retuned back at Daddy Bradford’s, I ended up spending the rest of the day there. I don’t know why I stayed put as I wanted to do a little shopping around. He came back sometime at night. We spent some more time talking in the living room about David and other topics.
Monday, I got out of bed about after noon and did some final packing. Daddy was watching TV, so I joined him. After watching an episode of Bonanza (“Long Way to Ogden”, which guest starred the late but handsome actor Walter Barnes), we left the house after watching half an episode of Dr. Phil. We stopped at a nearby McDonald’s so I could get some food into me. I had a Crispy Chicken Deluxe meal with diet coke, plus two pumpkin and cream pies. I got Daddy a couple of McRib sandwiches that he wanted to have. I ate my meal on the way to the airport. It was nice and overcast that day so not that hot. I was finished my meal when we got to PSP. After getting my bags, I thanked and said goodbye to Daddy Bradford. I then dropped my baggage off with WestJet and did PreTSA screening, which was easy as I was the only one there. At Gate 8, I got a bottle of apple-flavoured water and waited about an hour for my 5:30pm flight. I called Wayne T. to let him know that I saw Tony and Arthur but didn’t see past-Fresno Knight John during the weekend. On the plane, I sat in 17A and had entire row to myself. On the WestJet app, I watched 1985’s Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure. I don’t think I’ve seen it in over a decade and it was one of my favourite movies when I was a little kid. I landed in YYC after 9:30pm MST. Customs was easy though NEXUS wasn’t open. I walked to Gate C58 as the original assigned gate was changed. I picked up a bottle of kiwi-strawberry Propel drink on the way and sat down at the gate. I had an over an hour wait for my flight, so I called my father at home. My flight departed on time at 11:30pm and I sat 7F, once again with a row by myself. Yay! I played a game of Sudoku on my phone to pass the time. I landed in YXX at 11:59pm PST. My father was already outside, and my luggage didn’t take long to wait for. We got home before 1am.
While I should have done more, I’m glad to have returned to Palm Springs after the pandemic. Next year I’ll make up for it, but it was still great being hosted by Daddy Bradford and getting to know him more.
