Palm Springs Leather Pride 2018
Here’s my write-up on Palm Springs Leather Pride 2018, taking place October 26-29. Unlike last year, I did not continue to anywhere else, so it was just strictly a few nights in PS. So, no returning to the Midwest nor going to Hibearnation. My leatherbear buddy of over 13 years from Seattle, Rick, joined me for the weekend. It was his first time to the event.
I should point out some recent news before my trip began: Drew, the leatherbear near Indianapolis that I was supposed to meet last year, is alive and okay! I haven’t seen him online for one year but then I noticed his last login on BearForest was Oct.24 which surprised the hell out of me. I was worried because he didn’t meet me at the airport and I was forced to get a hotel room for the night, wondering what happened to him. Not seeing him online, I thought the worst had happened… But after noticing he was online, I called him. He first wondered who I was after a long, awkward silence. After a few more details, he remembered. Turns out he suffered a bad stroke around that time last year and has been picking up the pieces recovering. He lost a lot of weight and in fact, weighs about 50 pounds less than me. It was nearly an hour conversation and I wasn’t angry with him. I don’t know when I’ll return to Indy, but I will invite him to leather events and see if he’ll join. I’m glad to find out he didn’t pass away after all.
On Friday afternoon, my father dropped me off at YVR at about 2pm, talking about our custodial stuff on the way. At check-in, my luggage had $5 refunded because I booked my ticket before the price increase. Security was easy because I was pulled into the NEXUS lane and got all the perks with it. I got a bottle of water before waiting for my direct WestJet flight and just answered some messages on my phone. Rick had already departed Seattle, and we would be over a couple hours apart. My plane departed at 4:30pm and I had seat 19A. During the plane ride, I watched two episodes of the show Krypton. I saw the first episode with Daddy Eric when it debuted on TV during the Rubbout weekend last spring. I also read a couple of chapters of The Screwtape Letters, the first time I continued that book in over a year. It was nice to see LA at nightfall and on my side of the plane that I snapped a couple of pictures. I landed in PSP before 7:30pm. I got my luggage and texted Rick to let him know I had arrived. He was with a friend of his who was a Daddybear and retired drag queen. His name was Bradford and he picked me up at the airport. He certainly had the personality of a queen: very direct and no nonsense. But he was handsome, and he certainly was interested in me. He drove us to the hotel I had chose this year, The Caliente Tropics Hotel. We checked in and got room 146. We dressed in some basic leather and Daddy Bradford took us to his place in Cathedral City -a gated retirement community for folks over 55- that was pretty much across from the Barracks! I was fed fried chicken and taters, which I was grateful for. We spent around an hour with my eating a bit and chatting. Rick had eaten earlier that night. We then all went to the Barracks after Bradford stopped to chat with a neighbour. Like last year, the bar took over part of the outside to host the Fair. Rick and I walked around and checked the booths. In the middle of the back of the grounds, was a place to play around. Daddy Bradford was there with Rick and I. He was hand-spanking another guy while he wanted me to spank him too. I did so -hard- but I sort-of sprained my left wrist in the process. As we both took turns on this guy’s ass, another guy was getting a blowjob from him. As I was done but still standing in the same place, a black guy in a harness and (neoprene? I forgot) jockstrap, was rubbing his bulge against me and sucking on my nipples. He wasn’t bad looking and was thoroughly enjoying being intimate with him. Rick and I eventually left the orgy and walked back to the patio area. I saw Daddy Frank from LA and gave him a kiss but sadly, he wasn’t wearing boots that night. I promised that the next time I’d see him in boots, to give them a licking. Sadly, I wouldn’t cross paths with him the rest of the weekend. Come to think of it, there were a small of leatherbears I knew that were in attendance that I didn’t see this year, including Tony, John, and a couple others. It was kind of a bummer, but I hope that can be rectified next year. Anyways, the Leatherdaddy I befriended last year on the same Friday night, David, was at the Tool Shed. I decided to go to him and Rick tagged along with me. The Tool Shed wasn’t full, just the right number of guys. I found Daddy David in the smoking room in the back. He was looking good all leathered up and we decided to go back to my hotel room. I let Rick know so he would give us some time for private play. We went to David’s car and before we went to the hotel, I stopped off at a nearby 24-hour Rite-Aid so I could pick up a jug of distilled water and a few drinks for the room. Back in the room, I orally serviced Daddy David and he shot in my mouth. A few minutes after we were done, Rick walked in. His phone died, and he got back because a guy back at the bar was nice enough to call an Uber for him. Thank God. Daddy David left shortly after and I wouldn’t see him for the rest of the weekend as he had to return to LA later. Rick realized that he accidentally took Daddy Bradford’s phone charger and left his in the car. We called him, and he drove over from the Barracks in 15 minutes. After I made the trade, I spent around half an hour outside chatting with Daddy Bradford. He had his paw down my leather pants, feeling me up as we were talking (it was dark outside the hotel parking lot so not like many people could see). Eventually we stopped and kissed goodbye. We would be joining him in the day time to do some running around. Rick and I eventually went to bed at 4am.
Rick and I made love in the morning, playing for nearly an hour. We were about to have a shower, but the handle wasn’t working properly so we can maintenance come over to tighten it. It seemed to work but after they left, we still couldn’t get it to work again. They came again, and it seemed to work for us after they did a small adjustment. Rick and I showered together, and it wasn’t long after we were dressed that Daddy Bradford picked us up. Before we went to brunch, we stopped at a local garage sale. I picked up 2 books for $2: Homer’s The Iliad and Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy (3 books in a set). Daddy Bradford bought a box full of CDs and several other things. The owners were moving to Hawaii, so they were selling most of their stuff. After paying, Bradford would come back later in the day to pick it all up. We then proceeded to Sherman’s Deli & Bakery for brunch. I forgot his name, but we met a man who was a part of the 15 Association and Rick took a liking to him. I ordered a Triple Decker Club Sandwich (a turkey BLT) with fries and holy shit, they were very generous with their portions! Lots of sliced turkey! Daddy Bradford had the same too, but he couldn’t fully finish his, so he gave the rest to me. We left at 1:30pm and said goodbye to the man who joined us. It was getting close to the cigar social at the Barrack’s, but we went to Rough Trade Leather and spent around half an hour there. Rick was having a ball helping this one customer on the look of a leather cap. It was a nice shop but nothing for me. We then went next door to Bear Wear, which I haven’t went to since my 2016 trip. I got a nice Pepsi-parody “Bear” t-shirt, but Daddy Bradford took too long in the store, looking for swimming trunks for a friend via his phone cam. We were there for about an hour. We quickly then went to Off Ramp Leathers, a place with leather on consignment and custom orders. A few of the bears were cute, including a cub in a leather jock. I found a Sam Browne belt, better than the one I currently had, and they fit it for me before I paid for it. About $109.20 Cdn for it but it looked good on my uniform I later found. Rick ordered a custom leather shirt and bought a nice leather jock (he chose either a white or red stripe, I picked the red one for him because it looked better on him). We finally went next door to Gear Leather and Fetish, but we didn’t buy anything. Still a good gear shop though. Daddy Bradford then drove us back to the hotel and we thanked him for the shopping excursion. Problem was, I missed the cigar social so a little upset about that (I paid for it beforehand). The contest was starting soon, and Rick geared up for it though I had no interest in going. He didn’t have much money on him as he hasn’t been able to get to his bank, so I gave him $40 which he could pay back later. I called a Lyft for him but there was a problem with the driver and it took over half an hour of waiting. He called me, and we deduced that the app screwed up and switched the pickup and destination fields! This is likely due to how wonky the cell signal was. I decided to cancel the ride and Rick decided to not bother going to the contest as it was now an hour into it. I geared up in my rubber uniform and we took an Uber (whom I used for the rest of the night) to dinner at Lulu’s. Dressed in our uniforms among some others who were in Hallowe’en costumes, some people liked our look. At the restaurant, it was a 15-minute wait for a table but if we chose to sit at the bar, we could go in immediately. So, we chose to sit at the bar. I got a Pepsi while Rick got some mint alcoholic drink to try out. For dinner, I ordered a pasta dish with grilled chicken, but I forgot what Rick ordered. We shared a basket of garlic bread together.
I paid for the meal before we took an Uber ride to the Tool Shed, hoping to see a Leatherdaddy from Arizona as he had to leave Sunday morning. I took a quick look inside about 9pm and didn’t see him (he apologized as he had to leave early in the morning). So, we then went to the Barracks. I immediately noticed that they had the Fair go on again that night, unlike last year in which it was on the Friday night only. We quickly found out that the non-alcoholic drinks they offered on the fairgrounds side, were free because we paid getting into the bar. But if you buy the same drink in the bar, they charge you. Good thing as it’s easy to dehydrate that night and we needed fluids. We ran into Daddy Bradford again and he did some playing in the “orgy pit”. After we finished walking around, Rick eventually went there too and spent awhile. I got cruised on the fairgrounds by a stocky pup who liked my rubber uniform. He was a sweet pup! I did get a few compliments from guys on my uniform, just like last year. Was nice to get noticed. As I was by myself, I found Daddy Bradford around the patio area and spent the rest of the night with him. We were chatting, and he was feeling me up. I met a Jewish friend of his who wanted to meet me. He wasn’t bad but holy shit - he had thick nipple rings! After some time, Rick and I left the Barracks after 1:30am. Before returning to the hotel, we went to the nearby am/pm store, so he could get some snacks and cash back. He picked up some packed mini donuts, a couple of drinks, and paid me my $40 back. I called an Uber and went back to the hotel. We went to bed before 3am.
Sunday morning, Rick and I did some quick playing around before showering. Daddy Bradford picked him up as they were going to a party at a local gay resort. I got in contact with Daddy Jim from last year and we decided to see each other that early afternoon. I needed to eat so I took a Lyft after 1pm to the nearest Del Taco, since I enjoyed it last year. I got the same thing: a Queso Chicken Burrito with fries and drink. I also got this 3-meat burrito that contained chicken, beef, and bacon. Personally, I preferred the 3-meat as the Queso was a little too cheesy, so I ate only half of it. I returned to the hotel and soon after, Daddy Jim arrived with his new, 24-year old boyfriend (I forgot his name). I gave him a copy of a picture of the both of us from last year and he was tickled. He drove us downtown and we walked around, looking at the various walk of fame stars on the sidewalk. His boyfriend and I were mostly talking about anime, cartoons, and comics. We went to Hunters Nightclub to continue the conversation over a drink. We spent about an hour before Daddy Jim dropped me off at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. It was around 5pm and I texted Rick as to where he was at. He said he was going to be at Hunter’s to meet a friend or two. It was fine by me, so I geared up in my BLUF uniform and took my DSLR camera with me, to go to the Barracks at 6pm. There was a scheduled BLUF dinner and the instructions were that we meet at the bar, but it didn’t say where we were meeting! I saw Daddy Bradford but only briefly. I eventually found someone going to the dinner thanks to him, and the crew met outside of the entrance and we took Uber/Lyfts to El Mirasol Cocina Mexicana, which was near the hotel I was staying at. There were over 20 guys, some not in uniform but no big deal. I had some steak dish, which was okay. I was cruising this hot Daddybear across from me but would find he was not interested in me. Bummer. I took some pictures throughout the dinner. One of the guys was nice and paid for my meal, which I didn’t expect!
We decided to go to the Tool Shed and while I was prepared to call a Lyft to take one or two guys with me, I ended up going by myself and being the last to go. I texted Rick to join us. Unlike two nights ago, the Tool Shed had more guys so was a little full. We had a good time together and I took some pictures of us, plus Rick. I remembered one guy and his friend from Berlin that I took a picture of last year. They were good to me regardless. After over an hour in the bar and some of the BLUF guys had left, Rick and I also had to leave around 11pm and took a Lyft back to the hotel. Before we undressed, we did a photo shoot of each other. After we were done, we started the long process of packing. I tried to watch some episodes of the Nostalgia Critic on YouTube, but the Wi-Fi was not working that night and wouldn’t work for the rest of the time we were in the hotel. By the time we were mostly done, we went to bed at 2am.
After 8am, Rick topped me and we played for over an hour. He gave me a good spanking and opened my ass up to take his raw cock. While he didn’t breed me, I did lick up his cum when he jerked on his own. WOOF! We showered, finished packing, and I checked us out of the hotel. I let the clerk know about the Wi-Fi and she said they would investigate it. We then and took a Lyft to the airport and said our goodbyes. After dropping my bag off, we met at the same security screening but parted as our gates were a little away from each other in the same part of the airport. My flight was half an hour late due to the plane arriving late from its destination. Onboard, I sat in 27A and we departed sometime after 1:30pm. I watched 3 episodes of Krypton, putting me at least halfway through the first season. We landed at 4:30pm and my father picked me up by 5pm and took me home.
Despite a little less involvement at the Barracks this year, I still had a good time for the entire weekend. It was a bummer I didn’t get to see much of the guys I met before. I’m glad Rick had a good time too and we got to catch up on playing. I plan to invite him to future events.