Dore Alley 2018
My second trip to San Francisco and for the Dore Alley weekend took place July 27-30. Daddy Eric from Texas joined me again though I had failed to secure a third leatherbear bud to join me this year. While I didn't get to explore the city this time, I did go to the SF Eagle a couple more times compared to last year. I didn't go to any of the other events that required a paid ticket.
I got up Friday morning just after 6am and did my usual stuff in the washroom. Almost all my stuff was packed though I had to add the CPAP machine last. My father took my carry-on luggage while I finished up the main luggage. After getting some US funds from my stash, my folks drove me to YVR at 7am. My mom made perogies, so I had a sufficient breakfast (though they aren’t a brand I like… they lack flavour). After saying goodbye, I proceed to drop my luggage off with Alaska Airlines and go through security. I left my CPAP machine in the carry-on which was a major no-no, so it got scanned again and had go through the crap of putting it back in my full bag. US Customs had a long line though it didn’t take long to get to an official. I then walked the long way to gate E94, a part of the airport I’ve never been to. I sat down and took out my new laptop but found that where we were positioned, the Wi-Fi was kind of slow. The flight to Seattle departed at 9:40am and took under an hour. I dosed off a couple times. Landing at Sea-Tac airport, I proceeded to gate D3 and to do my 4-hour layover. I first had a washroom break and then picked up a new pair of earbuds since I hate the ones I already had. I then picked up a strawberry smoothie from Seattle’s Best Coffee and sat down at the gate. The Wi-Fi here is pretty good. After people boarded their flight to San Jose, I took a spot to sit down and plug in my laptop, so I could watch videos and Netflix. In under an hour before my flight, I was getting hungry, so I walked to some burrito place, so I could get a chicken burrito, cookie, and drink. I then returned to the gate and it wasn’t long until boarding, but we were about 10 minutes late. On the Alaska plane, I got seat 22E. It wasn’t that uncomfortable even as I had two girls between me, so elbow room wasn’t an issue. During the flight, I watched The Incredibles. Believe it or not, I’ve never seen it before. I thought it was pretty good. It lasted the entire flight so perfect timing. I arrived in SFO before 6pm while Daddy Eric had already gotten my hotel room. Baggage claim wasn’t that far and while my big black luggage came down… my red carry-on bag did not! I suspected this would happen! I go to Alaska’s baggage services and file a claim with them. The bag was still at Sea-Tac Airport and I was supposed to take it back when we landed there! It would be put on the next plane that night, but they will have to contact me to verify it before it leaves the airport. That was fine with me. Inside was my CPAP machine, my rubber uniform, and my fresh clean clothes. I left my information and went up to the BART information booth to pick up my pre-paid ticket. I took the BART train to Civic Center, taking about half an hour. I emerged outside on Market street and it was cloudy and cool that afternoon. I walked to the Holiday Inn Civic Center -the same hotel as last year- and showed my ID and got my key card. We were in room 1401, the top floor. I opened the door and Daddy Eric was right there, sitting on the edge of the bed. We kissed and talked while I set my stuff down. We went out to Burger King nearby on Market. Daddy paid, and I got two crispy chicken sandwiches (2 for $6 deal, in Canada they only offer the original chicken sandwiches and not the more expensive ones), a drink, and fries. He got the same but two whoppers. We ate in the room and it was very good, but I found I missed two calls. It was Alaska Airlines from Sea-Tac and they needed confirmation on my bag before they could send it to SFO. We tried to call them back but they were closed. We watched some Doctor Who: Shada episode on Blu-Ray (PAL release since it has yet to come out in NTSC) while I got dressed in some leather to go to the SF Eagle. Daddy Eric was too tired to join me. I took a Lyft to the bar and unlike last year, there was no lineup outside. I paid the $5 entry and walked around. While it had a lot of guys, it wasn’t as packed as last year. This is likely because a “Bay of the Pigs” event was going on elsewhere. No matter. I took some pictures of various men. I ran into Luis, a leathercub friend of mine and he was looking great in uniform. I also ran into SFLthrRub, and we chatted a bit. Before leaving, Daddy Eric (of LA) came in with his partner, and they were a very handsome leather couple! It was difficult to take pictures due to the lighting that it was getting frustrating! I left the bar about midnight and took Lyft back to the hotel. As expected, Daddy was sleeping but I had to wake him up to get my boots off. After undressing my leathers, I brushed my teeth and had a shower. I joined him in bed after answering some messages.
Daddy Eric and I cuddled Saturday morning and I proceed to suck his cock and got him to cum. He certainly makes me work for it but it’s always worth the reward. He had a shower and we were waiting for pup Mufasa of Dallas to arrive to join us for the day. He was staying with a friend elsewhere. We met downstairs and walked over to Mel’s Diner for brunch, the same place we ate last year for our just-before the Fair brunch. I had chocolate chip pancakes and it was very nice. Mufasa and I sparred on issues about the “gay gene” as his shirt said “It’s in my DNA” with a rainbow fingerprint on it. It’s a nice shirt regardless. Sadly, we are opposites when it comes to values and once again, Daddy Eric brought it out at times, but he was not 100% on board with Mufasa, but mostly. Mufasa ranted on religion, the usual soundbites and disprovable arguments that we always hear but people presume to be true. I found it strange that Daddy Eric held to those same anti-religious viewpoints as that was not the impression I got years ago… something happened that made him change on that and deep down, I felt bad for him. They finished their food and we split on the bill. We walked to Leather Etc. and while Mufasa was interested in some leather shorts, he declined to buy anything. Mr. S Leathers was already open nearby, so we went in and spent about an hour. The crowd was okay at first, but it quickly got bigger. I first looked at the gloves but none of them fit me properly. The other interest I had were the boots… beautiful Wescos and Dehners! The Wescos peaked my interest the most and cost about $710Cdn with tax. The Dehners were nice but they weren’t laced. Daddy Eric met a boy he had been chatting with for the first time and he was very much cruising him. I think he was younger than me… had a much nicer body and probably better personality that Daddy found appealing. I took their picture and texted it to Daddy the next day, which he liked. I got to meet the current Mr. Washington State Leather titleholder, pup Micro. He knew my friend Rick from Seattle though he is no longer Rick’s submissive. After Daddy Eric bought a flogger holder, we left Mr. S and returned to our hotel room. We relaxed a bit and then got ready to go to the Eagle for an afternoon beer bust. Daddy and I dressed normally while pup Mufasa wore some rubber - WOOF! We took a Lyft down to the bar. We spent most of our time around the outside patio area and there was this sexy bearded bear that spent most of the visit with Daddy, smoking a cigar and even cruised me. I bought them both a drink and one for myself. I then walked around taking pictures of the pups and leathermen, but a lot of guys dressed casually at this time. I didn’t feel out of place at least. I think after 6pm we left and when we got back at the hotel, pup Mufasa had to leave to do his own plans. I planned to return to Eagle later at night. Before that, I noticed I was not getting any messages or returned calls on the carry-on baggage. When Daddy suggested I restart my phone and re-enable roaming, I ended up getting 8 voicemails! I was calling them throughout the day but didn’t know they replied. I started to call them back and confirm the contents of what was in the bag. They would have it on a flight from Seattle to SF soon and then need confirmation on where I was staying. I hoped it would arrive later that night. Before then, I needed to have supper. Daddy Eric got food at the bar earlier, so he wasn’t too hungry but eventually ended up going to Grubsteak - the same place we went last year for Sunday supper. When he returned to the hotel room around dusk, he gave me a part of his French Dip sandwich and it was very good. I planned to go to Burger King again for my supper. It was after 8pm and I went out to walk on Market street to go to Walgreens to pick up distilled water for Daddy Eric’s CPAP machine. I found it closed at 8pm and so was CV Pharmacy (on the opposite side of 8th St. close to the BART station). I then went back to Burger King for another 2 chicken sandwiches, both spicy this time. I also got pretzel chicken fries, and a Twix pie for dessert! Yum! I ate it in the hotel room.
I then geared up in my leather uniform and left the hotel by 10pm for the Eagle. It was a much bigger turnout than the previous night and it seemed there were more uniformed men. Luis was around, and he gave me a cigar as a gift as I didn’t have one - bless him! I saw Mark (Urso) had come in and we chatted a bit. I haven’t seen him since Palm Springs last year and he was looking handsome. After around a couple of hours, I left and returned to the hotel. After dressing out of my leathers, I re-dressed in my clothes to go looking for a convenience store I saw on my ride back to the hotel nearby. During my walk on Market, I walked past the famous Dolby Laboratories building - the place where a lot of film/TV surround sound and mixing takes place. I don’t think I remembered seeing it last year. Anyways, I found the convenience store and it was open at night. It was on the same block as the hotel, just on the opposite side near Dolby. They didn’t sell distilled water, so I got a bottle of drinking water that was as close to “distilled” as I could find. When I got back, I awoke Daddy Eric and he let me fill up his CPAP machine with it and then went back to sleep. A little earlier, I asked the front desk if my bag arrived and it didn’t so… I’m going a second night without my CPAP machine.
In the morning, I asked Daddy Eric if the water was fine while breathing and he said it was okay, but he could tell it was drinking water. He went out to go visit a boy and have breakfast, but we would meet back at the hotel to go to the Fair later. I got voice messages that my carry-on had arrived at SFO and they wanted me to call back to confirm the hotel address. Once again, I had problems getting a hold of them, so I left messages though no one called me back for the rest of the day. I went back to Burger King and I was in line until I saw the sign that says they are serving breakfast until 11am. It was 20 minutes until then, so I left the restaurant to walk around. It was overcast again but I walked toward city hall and took pictures with my phone. Back toward Market, there was a Sunday farm market going on and I settled on a lady selling east Indian food. It cost me almost $20 for a chicken and rice dish that included a mango drink and a vegetable samosa. I sat down nearby and had a decent meal.
I walked back to the hotel and waited for Daddy Eric to come back which didn’t take long. He was going to wear some fireman-inspired gear for Fair: hat, t-shirt, kilt, and his usual boots. I wore my uniform again (without the jacket) even though I wanted to wear my rubber one - and we know why I couldn’t! Pup Mufasa and his posse of handsome friends came up to the room before we left together after 1pm. We walked down to the Fair and paid the $10 to get in. I took a group shot of Daddy, pup, and his friends. Recon had their booth and because Daddy Eric knew their marketing guy, he got a free jockstrap from him. After I snapped a pic of them, I walked around the Fair and took pictures of the various men around. I found that I was one of a minority that wore a uniform outside that day. Sadly, I wasn’t attractive and interesting enough for people to stop me and ask to take my picture. I took pictures of others and I noticed a lot of others getting their pictures taken but the only ones who took mine were guys I knew and ran into.
I chatted with a few guys from The 15 Association and it was productive. They had their dungeon equipment and I saw a sub get whipped by a single tail, given there was room outside to do it safely. I later ran into Daddy John and he was looking very handsome, especially after his surgery months ago. We kissed and hugged. I even ran into a guy named Roy who was from Vancouver and he told me he has lived locally in SF for over a few years! There were a few men I saw last year that I cruised heavily and one of them from Idaho I chatted with on Recon later. I got a message from Daddy Eric around after 3pm that he was already back at the hotel as he was tired. Before I left, I had final pictures be taken of myself, so I asked someone to shoot some with my camera. I got back to the hotel sometime before 4:30pm but just prior, I went back to that convenience store to pick up a bottle of water to drink and another of that “distilled” one just in case my CPAP machine arrived later.
Back in the hotel room, pup Mufasa was with Daddy Eric and before he left -in which it would be the last time we’d see him for the weekend- he helped take off my boots (since Daddy has done it every time during the weekend - bless him!). We were going to meet pup Astro (from last year) and his friend at Grubsteak in awhile. We dressed in our regular clothes and Daddy called a Lyft to take us there. They were running late so Daddy and I spent some time chatting. He got an iced tea while I got cherry coke to drink. They finally got in and while I never met pup Astro’s friend before (I forgot his name, sorry), he was a big handsome bear. I ordered the French Dip sandwich with fries and once again, it was very good. We spent around an hour in the restaurant before Astro’s friend called a Lyft to take us back to the hotel though we had to part. It was a pity that we couldn’t have run into each other at the Fair earlier. Daddy and I pretty much stayed in the hotel for the rest of the night, and we finally got the phone call (on Daddy’s phone as there were problems with communicating with mine) that the carry-on was going to be delivered. It finally arrived around 10:30pm! All my things were accounted for, so I got to sleep that night with my machine.
Monday morning, Daddy Eric noted to me that I slept much better with the machine but felt that I needed a better mask. I tended to agree but what could I do? He said he would look up the mask he uses and tell me later what it was. He called the front desk to extend the check-out time to 1pm, giving us plenty of time to have brunch and finish packing. We went to Sam’s Diner, a place I walked past yesterday on Market near Burger King when I was going to city hall. Daddy had an iced tea and I had a root beer. For brunch, I forgot what he had but I had chili, and a turkey BLT (no avocado) with fries. I was blabbing too much so I finished my food well after Daddy was done. I paid the bill. We returned to our room for the last time and grabbed our bags. Before leaving, I called Kevin of Fresno. It was the first time Kevin and Eric have talked in years. His older sister was affected by the recent fires in Redding, but she was okay despite being upset about it, and her house has not been affected, yet. We checked out at the front desk and I thanked them for receiving my carry-on. We proceeded to Civic Station and while I managed to remember from last year that I must prepare and be fast with the gate, I didn’t expect the difference in how you received your card back, which Daddy had to point out. We waited under 10 mins for a train to SFO. On the train, we sat together with our bags in front, holding hands and nuzzling each other at random times (happy sigh...). We got to SFO about 2:30pm and we checked our bags at our respective airlines but found we couldn't go beyond security together as we were to be in separate terminals. So, before I went to the security check in the same terminal, we kissed and said goodbye before he had to take the tram to his terminal. Security took around half an hour as it was busy. Gate A2 was in a separate part downstairs and I was getting dehydrated, so I got in line at this kiosk to pick up a drink. There was a bit of a lineup and it was going so damn slow. I was getting anxious as boarding would be soon, at 3:10pm. My transaction took 20 seconds at most compared to the 2-7 minutes per person! When I got down, I thought most people have boarded but found that the plane had yet to arrive, so things will be a little late. While waiting, I called my friend Clayton in Redding to check on him. He's doing okay, and his home is not affected but he is exhausted and worried about family and friends. He enjoyed my call and we hoped we will see each other in the future. I boarded my WestJet plane sometime after 4pm and got seat 21A, a window seat. The flight was all right, I didn’t do much but play some Dragon Quest II on my phone. We landed after 6:30pm and not long after I took my phone off airplane mode, Wayne called me. We talked, and my father called to let me know he was waiting in the cell area. At customs, I had a bit of an interview. After collecting my bag, I waited for my father outside departures and went home.
While I didn’t get to do any real exploring around SF this time, it was easier to navigate given my experience last year. Daddy Eric was again a big help for me and I enjoyed meeting leather buds and making new ones. Next year, Daddy Eric may get a hotel room as he wants one with two queen beds, so he can have pup Mufasa and/or another friend with him besides me. Regardless, I do plan to attend a third time.