It had been a while, quite a while in fact, since I'd been out anywhere, never mind heading up to "the City". So when I found out, a week in advance, that I was going to have the opportunity to be myself, I immediately called Krys to see if she was free that evening. It turned out that she was thinking of taking her girlfriend to see the Castro as the girlfriend had never been there before (sound familiar?). I didn't want to be the 'spare wheel' so to speak, but Krys insisted it wasn't a problem. Her girlfriend, who had heard a lot about me, wanted to meet me - so this would be an ideal opportunity for the 3 of us to make an excursion to San Francisco.

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Like last time, I brought my things to Krys' place, intending to get dressed there. The drawback of that plan of action was that I got to meet her girlfriend for the first time while I was in drab. It did feel a little awkward knowing that she would then have to alter her thinking when she saw Jenn emerge.

Considering just how long it had been since I last did the full make-up thing, I was surprised by how quickly I got myself ready. I wasn't entirely sure what expectations Krys had set with her girlfriend about me, so I was more than a little self-conscious as I walked down the stairs into the living room where she was sitting. I have to say she was most gracious and complimented me on the way I looked, which really helped put me at ease. The two of us sat and chatted until Krys was ready, and then we headed off up to San Francisco.

Being a Saturday night, it was very busy, and finding a parking space was quite a challenge. We'd been fortunate on our previous trip and had found a parking place close to the area where we wanted to go. This time we were much farther away. I had totally spaced and put on shoes that were not meant for walking any distance in. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I knew I was going to be in trouble with my feet. What an air-head! I was ready to chalk it up to inexperience, but this is the girl who walked many blocks around New York City - but who, back then, had the sense to wear low heeled shoes.

I didn't have any choice, unless I wanted to sit out the evening in the car by myself. I also didn't want to complain to Krys as she was excited at having the opportunity to show her girlfriend around. So I did what generations of women have done before me, I gritted my teeth and made the best of a bad decision.

The other thing that was noticeably different this time, was the weather. It was down-right cold, with a stiff breeze that made a real mess of my hair (now I know why some GG's use hair-spray!) As you can see from the photos, Krys was wearing a short skirt, and she said her legs were turning blue! I was a little more fortunate in that I had trousers, and a jacket (which wasn't really coordinated, but I didn't care).

The three of us walked along Castro St., and ambled into a number of the small stores along the way. It was a relief just to get out of the wind and the cold. We stopped at the hole-in-the-wall pizza place, but I didn't eat as a result of weighing myself earlier in the day and being shocked by what the scale had said. But that's a whole other story, as they say.

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I'm not sure that I have ever been to a 'regular' gay bar before. I've been to quite a few bars/clubs where there was a significant contingent of TG people, and therefore I wouldn't classify it as 'regular' gay bar. But there's a first time for everything, right? The three of us decided to check out this place where the chords of our "our kind of music"** were blasting out of the doors into the street. The place was jammed, and was 95%+ men. For a millisecond, I worried about going in, and then realized that I'd be perfectly safe as no one in there would be the least bit interested in me. The three of us shuffled our way into the bowels of the club. It was dark, stuffy and smelled of beer, but what did I expect from this kind of basic club (it reminded me a lot of a few of the clubs I'd been to in New York city, such as the Bowery, or the one that closed recently, UMFUG I think it was called.

We worked our way through the crowd to the very back where the small, crowded dance floor was. And although my poor feet were killing me, I couldn't resist dancing. I was a little self-conscious at first, but the semi-darkness helped alleviate that concern, and soon I was quite happy. It brought back memories of the good old days at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. In the end, knowing I still had to walk back to the car, I reluctantly stopped dancing and tried in vain to rest my feet. Krys and the girlfriend danced together a little longer and then suggested we head home. I wasn't about to disagree.

The drive back to Krys's place was uneventful, which is something I worry about too. What if we're in a car accident and I'm fully en femme? Hopefully everyone would be unhurt, and the police officer would have seen it all before and not even bat an eye-lid.

** By 'our kind of music' I mean, popular music from the late seventies and eighties. I heard a number of tunes/songs I hadn't heard in 30 years... Oh, oh, now I've gone and dated myself!