PART FOUR Tuesday, July 29, 1997 San Francisco, CA - evening Reading this entry, you are in for a very special treat. At 13:35 hours today, boi rodtney told his Dad he wanted to get married! And Dad’s answer, "ya better start making the plans, then"; and later he added, "Yes, this Dad will marry you, boi." So, until the formal announcement is made, this will be the only mention of this event anywhere. In a sense, this is a point of forwards and backwards: Before, and after, engagement. The slave committed to 24/7 training on October 4th, 1996 after meeting at Folsom Street Fair the previous Sunday evening. Part of that evening was a three hour orientation. A three day weekend was planned for October 12th - 14th and a 21 day intensive followed. Then there was a three month trial and upon completion, the boi was taken as an ‘owned’ slave in a renewalable three year verbal contract which was defined as "forever and ever". Master Ross’ move to San Francisco was complete and we began living together on December 21st, 1997. Our 1st ‘honeymoon was Christmas at Lake Tahoe. The official one will be Europe in August of 1998 during the Gay Games. Since legal marriage is not possible for us we long ago decided to file individual fictitious names: "ROSS", and, "ross"; and then two form a legal partnership of "ROSS & ross". The terms of the association will be spelled out in our agreement and presented at the ceremony. Tomorrow, we will take a day trip up to the Russian River about a hundred miles north to find not only a new place to live, but a place to hold the celebration. Perhaps this is why the boy has recently been havng a barn fetish. We intend to live on the water, and the river would be just fine. We’ll see what Spirit has in store for us. Our target to move is close: October 1st, just after our 1st anniversary at Folsom Fair. (Guy Baldwin says the first year of a relationship doesn’t count… well, we’re counting.) On last Sunday at the "Up Your Alley", Dori Alley Leather Street Fair, Master flashed on the ring he’d been looking for. It’s a simple hematite band. We’d been looking for one all across the country but couldn’t find one large enough. After trying it on - third finger, left hand, instinctively; Master handed it to his boi and said, "Here, put it on, boi". No further thought, no further action. It all happened in an instant in the center of the crowd. That was it. At least for Dad, ‘cause by ‘taking’ the slave, he already considered himself ‘married’. Today Master Ross also gave his slaveboy and order about public appearance. But you will have to wait for his story to find out about what that is. Except to say that Dad did the running around today while the boi stay’d home. It’s a good thing too, because when Dad call’d in on an impulse, Roger and Burt were at the door to introduce us to Roger’s five year old daughter, Sahara. What a sweetheart. Ross rushed home from the Castro to entertain the guests. (Roger and Burt had stay’d the night on Sunday after the Fair and had gone up to Redlands to pick her up. They were on their way back to L.A.) See how ‘First Mind’ works?! It works! E-v-e-r-y time. You may be wondering what all this has to do with "As The Wheels Turn"? Well, realize this. We get home on Saturday noon. Sunday is the Fair. Monday, while rodtney rests, Ross sends e-mail and makes calls to all those whom we met and who hosted us along our path. Today we meet and plan ahead. We take care of business. Tomorrow we’re on the road again. Thursday we’ll be here doing maintainence. And then it’s off to L.A. for the weekend. That will bring our trip to a close at just about 10,000 miles and eight weeks overall. Each morning Ross gets up and announces, "one week ago today we were in - wherever; two weeks ago today we were in - whichever. boy rodt is amazed. This comes easy for the Master because it’s the ‘Master’s plan’. For instance, on this Sunday we’ll be at Agape Church in Santa Monica. Last Sunday was Dori Alley in San Francisco. The Sunday before we were in Chicago; the one before that, New York. The week before that we were in Atlanta and The River’s Edge. A week before that we were driving from Denver to Oklahoma City, and the one before that we were at the Mr. Drummer Contest in Alameda, California. See? It’s fun. Also on last Sunday, after the Fair, was the Mr. Ebony in Leather Contest at "10/15" Club on 1015 Folsom Street here in The City. It was supurb. Five contestants - all qualified. Five polished judges who were entertaining and fair. There was other entertainment as well,including Lurch - a huge local celebrity Bear of a nurse who does iconoclastic humor. Titleholders and prominant figures are seldom spared his caustic wit which can bring one to histerics. This Master has admired his character for years since first meeting him at a Motorcycle encampment of 500 men at a place called Badger Flats 7,000 feet up near Yosemiti National Park.. Emcee with the producer of the show, Don Thompson, was STACY who is Ms. NLA (National Leather Association) ’96- . She announced that she and the new IMsL (International Ms. Leather) will be putting together the first International Ms. Ebony in Leather Contest sometime during the next year. An inside scoop on Stacy is that she was being flogged by none other than Rober, aka The Wrangler, during the intermission. She was also beautifully bound in a rope harnass during the Fair earlier in the day. So much for here distractors. Yes, Stacy IS For Real folks. Wednesday, July 30th, 1997 RUSSIAN RIVER Used the morning to putter and answer responses to e-mail sent out on Monday. Such good people. We’re working on setting up the M.A.s.T. pot-luck and the church trip to L.A. and our next chapter of life togeher. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge going north before noon - exactly two weeks to after our crossing of the Washington Bridge out of New York City headed Upstate along the Hudson River and on to Niagra Falls. Amazing: Two weeks coast to coast, including Canada and Minnesota.; eleven of our 24 states. We saw in the Real Estate news a 400 acre estate 50 miles up from New York on the river for only eleven million. With that kind of money you could take a chopper to the city; or cruise down in your yacht. Now that is the way to live around Manhattan. About an hour later we arrived at the Russian River. It’s a Gay/Lesbian resort area less than an hour up from the ocean in Redwood Groves with wine country all around. The river goes way up and way down during the year. Right now it’s perfect with swimming, fishing and canoeing; yes, and crusing too. Temperature: 76 degrees. We drove directly to a rental agency and found the perfect house for us - on the river; but it’s bad luck to talk about it before it’s a done deal so you’ll have to wait. We also found a very nice park model trailer for sale by two lesbians. Super friendly people. After taking some time in the sun along the river we headed back into town on Rt. 101. We pulled off in Peagluma to look at the marina there. (It’s possible to cruise a boat up about 40 miles above the Bay.) A little further along, about a half-hour out of town we stopped again in San Pablo to look at some boats. We found a nice 42 foot houseboat for sale for $22,500., all refurbished - complete with engine. Not bad for an afternoon: A Cabin, a trailer, and a houseboat. Choices! "You chose your lifestyle and then you support it." This is our motto. Back in the city it was getting foggy as is the case in the summer here. We came right home after picking up the mail; ate dinner and went to bed early. Tomorrow we’ve got re-entry stuff to do. Saturday, August 2, 1997 San Francisco, CA A transition is sensed here. The travels are about to give way to the next adverture: Finding our new digs. Actually, the travels now are combined with this new task. Yesterday, Friday, we took another run up to the river - 71 miles - 1hour 15minutes. We stopped and picked up the key to our would-be home on the river and drove back the seven miles to where the place is visible in the redwoods from the Hacienda Bridge. The house sits on stilts which are enclosed as a huge garage. Very tempting to this car enthusiast. Inside we found a remodeled cabin with pine walls in the living room. Two bedrooms. . We took a hike down to the river in front and picked wild blackberries on the way up. Then we decided to follow the instructions of Rev. bobbie whom we’d met in Charlotte. He’d said to burn a candle for seven days and then walk around what we wanted seven times. So we proceeded to walk around the house seven times - clockwise; but we hadn’t burn’d the candle. On the first time around we found a lucky penny in the sand - heads up. Three quarters around the second time we were confronted by a man with two kids who said, "We’re the neighbor". He proceeded to Tell us about the floods coming up around this house every year or so. He left and we walked around the second time. This time we saw the water line half way up the side of the house. We stopped walking and immediately ran into a woman who owns the house next door. She really told us about being marooned for two weeks at a time with no water, electricity or sewer; that the place was not insulated and should only be a summer home. We returned the keys and left the area. Ya just can’t be certain you’d keep your home unless you move’d up on the mountain. But then, where’s the river? Go figure: Each time we walk’d around the house, information was brought to us out of nowhere. We never finished the seven cycles. Maybe next time we better burn the candle first. It’s gonna be interesting to see where we end up isn’t it? So on the return ride we stopped in Sausalito and toured all the houseboat docks. This is more attractive, exctiting to Ross, actually. So today we’re following up on all sorts of leads for unusual living situations. Saturday is maintainence and car fixing day. Today we will put a new blower motor in the truck air conditioner and change the oil & filter. Saturday is also the day we surf the web. This morning has been fun - drinking decaf, eating cinnamon rolls and letting the cat out and in, in and out. There’s an art show at Different Light Book Store tonight and then we’ll get ready to go to L.A. in time for Church in the morning. Oh, what did we do on Thursday? We rested. We ate. We shopped. We updated the web. We chill’d. Sunday, August 3rd, 197 San Francisco, CA We’re still here. Decided to take a day to just chill which we’ve been doing all day. That doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing whatever moves you; kinda like how a cat cleans itself: Wherever, whenever, whatever. It’s sunny and windy - almost cold. Inland things are different: 95 degrees however. Ross virtually collapsed last night; forgot the show at Different Light - everything. Sometimes this happens. Not exactly burn-out; but we have to rest. We took a 95 mile ride yesterday evening to look at a house over in Pittsburg. Not to our liking; but we stopped by the river (Sacramento) to look at the boats. Boats are big with us right now. In fact; just got off the phone with a man about his 22X50 foot houseboat he’s selling for $75.000. We’re going to look at it next week perhaps During the day we worked on the truck; put the new a/c blower in; changed the oil and filter and flushed the cooling system - all out in front of the house. Then there was a new leak around the water pump so we went to the parts house and got a new one. Now it’s stopped, so we’ll watch it for a few days. Dad is the mechanic; boi cooked fantastic chicken for dinner which we ate in bed. Enough for one day.. Our trip is still on - just posponed until in the morning about 03:00 hours. That way we can buzz down I-5 through the valley with the trucks and miss the heat. So we missed a few things: The BOSS picnic; Church, and a beer bust. When you’re partnered; these things carry less weight than they used to. It’s ok to just be one on one with each other just doing life together. Even so, with us, that means "In Gear and In Character: We’ll be in L.A. for breakfast; pick up our stuff - do whatever and maybe buzz right back tomorrow night. That’s the basic plan anyway. We’ll see how it turns out. Been on the internet a lot today; both e-mail and surfing. rodtney is always finding new software for us to try out and Ross is for ever finding new people to talk to. We’ve also been playing a load of catch-up with our regular connections around the country. A lot of this will show up elsewhere on LeatherWeb real soon. We’re moving into a new phase of our travel - that of reflecting upon what we saw; those we met, and making sense of what it all means to us. For example; one thing we’ve been talking about today is how Leather/Fetish is play’d out in different parts of the country. Not surprisingly, the community reflects the culture of the region it’s situated in. This is especially true with Black culture and Leather. The races are very segregated in Chicago and not surprisingly, so is Leather for example. In Minneapolis, for example, it was just the opposite - everyone’s mixed together there - at least this is what we saw and experienced. Religion has a heavier impact in the South it seems. People are expressing their individuality more overtly everywhere. The toll bridge cashier between Canada and Michigan had a number of piercings, for instance. Wednesday, August 6th Second Encore: San Francisco - L.A. - San Francisco "All good thing must come to an end." We like to say, All good things transend into something even better. We got the pictures back last night so now we can scan them and add some here. (We’ve covered 9,964 miles; over 10,000 by the time we return from the Delta tomorrow.) Yesterday morning at 03:00 hours we left out in the middle of the night for L.A. We had an appointment to pick up the final load of stuff from the Pasadena house at 09:00 hours. At 08:57 we pull’d off the San Diego Freeway at Burbank Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. Six minutes later we were being invited to sit in the hot tub and relax from the drive (375 miles). We peeled fresh oranges from the tree nearby and listened to the osmosis of the bamboo sheltering the pool. (Of course we were naked!) It’s a wonderful villa in the center of the Valley - totally New Age. We loaded up the truck and took off for Pasadena for breakfast and to check on the property there. After this we drove over to Glendale to visit a good friend who served us shrimp and slasa while we talked about Nevada where he was raised on a ranch. David has lived in the same house for nearly fifty years! This is LA., mind you. Our next task was to go to Santa Monica to find a hotel for our men’s group at church (East Bay - Oaklane) to stay in when they drive down to visit the sister church (Agape’) later in the month. Try and reserve eight rooms for $50. a night with two double beds at the beach during high season…. Actually we did finally find one almost walking distand from the church but thirty blocks from the beach. That’ll work. It was five o’clock and we decided to go the the beach, the gay beach at the foot of Santa Monica Canyon (We’ve already been to Venice Beach on our last visit). We play’d in the sand and the water which was quite warm actually and took some pictures, naturally.. We play’d in a lagoon that runs fills with fresh water from up in Rustic Canyon. As the sun was setting we changed clothes for the evening in the parking lot and walked up the canyon to the Golden Bull restaurant(gay) for dinner. Steak for two with red wine. Good. Back in the truck after our romantic meal, we drove down Wilshire to Beverly Hills; up Rodeo Drive and down Santa Monica Boulevard into "WeHo". It was such a balmy night; perfect for a stroll through "Boy’s Town". All the front’s of the bar’s open; music in the back and boy’s sitting at tables in front. Oh yes, we got plenty of beams. It felt good. It always feels good to us. It’s one of our favorite thangs… About midnight we drove over Laural Canyon to our friend’s place in Sherman Oaks. He was on aol naturally. So as we sat outside we were interrupped by a sweet teen age girl who was visiting her cousin in the house. She began talking to rodtney about his septum spike and then invited us to come inside where they were 'on-line'. What a trip: Two ‘high’ teen agers, candles buring on the monitor in their bedroom - chatting with boys on aol at one in the morning. What an insight. What a time warp. What fun! We slept in a 40 year old travel trailer burried in the trees and ivy at the corner of the estate. The last time Ross slept in this bed was seven years ago at LeatherFest San Diego. The door had been widened to accommodate the motorcycle. We pull’d it with the CJ-7 Jeep. Real Butch! Now it’s a guest house and we were the guests. There was a negative ion generator beside us and the air was cool. We slept great until the alarm went off at six am. "Up and at ‘em". By 06:30 we were on the Freeway headed north - home. No rraffic going or coming. Amazing. We are blessed! Dad drove to Bakersfield; where we got gas and food. boi drove all the rest of the way - 250 miles. We had a wonderful discussion and business meeting on the way up Rt. 101 from Gilroy (The Garlic Capital of the World). We discovered that the playing in the sand the night before was a kinetic exiercise that had resulted in clearing the way for our new home - that we were now ‘on the same page’ with regard what and where and when. Think Houseboat! We arrived in the Castro to pick up our mail at 12:30 - exactly six hours up through the central valley which was rich with summer crops of cotton, corn, and almonds (and more and more, grapes). 75 percent of California’s precious water is used to grow four crops. Cotton, alphalfa, almonds and rice; that’s right, rice. Imagine, in the desert. Crazy? Well, kind of, it seems like. And the 30 million people only use 16% of the water. The rest goes to agriculture. But the people pay for 84%. Is there anything wrong with this picture? The field workers no longer ride to work in company buses. Many drive their own cars to the packing factories in the outdoor sun. Cesar Chavez lead the revolution. Still it’s back breaking stoop labor. Think about it the next time you shop at the market for produce. And the next time you say grace, thank those who brought it to you whether it be the San Jauquin Valley; Imperial Valley, or Mexico. If you haven’t seen this, the central valley is 400 miles long and almost 100 miles wide with the High Serria’s on the East. After traveling across America the focus is more on the land this trip. Beautiful. Well we’re home now. The trip is officially over. But not the friends and the memories. We’re already planning on Europe next Summer. We hope you’ve enjoy’d traveling with us and much as we’ve enjoy’d sharing with you. There will be wonderful things that come out of this experience as time goes on. And we’ll be back to invite you along. Surprises, yes! Just watch. We love you, one and all. Peace and blessings,