One Last San Francisco Sayonara

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day for me – we got up and went to Alameda where I got my mani-pedi, then ran over to get my legs waxed – I was in girly-girl heaven. Lori was pretty exhausted and slept most of the day. Went out to dinner at the Conga Lounge in Rockridge with Lorena and Tess for soy pizza and delicious cocktails. They messed up our first pizza but that was fine with me since it meant we got to spend more time with them. Lorena convinced me to do the logical (smarter, safer) thing and take the southern route where the weather is way better and the terrain is less mountainous. Depending on the weather when we get to Texas/Oklahoma, we still may go up to Columbus for our last night before heading to Baltimore – I’d really like to stay with Tracy, Pakito & Katie!

I was up till about 3am this morning retooling the route again and I’m still not done. We got a great atlas book today and that will help a lot. It’s amazing, the amount of dismally-reviewed, pet-friendly motels in Albuquerque, New Mexico! We may not even end up staying there but it’s always good to be prepared.

This afternoon I went to Mango at El Rio in San Francisco. It’s a club that has a women’s T-dance once a month. It’s like no other place I’ve ever been. Surrounded by queer and queer-friendly women, a smattering of men and folks with many other gender identifiers, with great music and a jubilant atmosphere. Joining me were friends and family from all different and sometimes overlapping parts of my life here. It was the perfect place to say goodbye. I cried through much of it, drank, danced, chatted, cried, took pictures, cried, danced and cried some more. Went for food after with a bunch of the gals, then home. I cried every time I said goodbye to someone else. I can’t help it, I will miss these people so very much and love them dearly.

Now I’m back home with Lori and the kitties, and going back to planning our trip. Tomorrow is our last day here, I can’t believe it. Ready to get out of the empty house, though. We’ll do some errands and say goodbye to more people, including Tess and my sister Lorena. Saying goodbye to her will be the hardest.