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nancy58
02-14-2023, 11:42 PM
Hi, all! I'm writing to tell you about my recent road trip down south. The occasion was helping my mother-in-law move to senior living, and her locale was/is South Florida. My wife expected that she would need to stay a few days longer than I would, so I would have to make the two-day drive back to Virginia on my own. (It turned out that there was so much stuff to go back that she wouldn't have fit into the car anyway.) I packed some girl clothes, my wig, and my breast forms.

When I wasn't working, I spent my time trying to do things in support of the downsizing. One day, the thing being downsized was clothing, and my wife instructed me to bag a bunch of clothing that my MiL had decided to donate to Goodwill. It happens that my MiL and I are pretty much the same size, and she is a sharp dresser. I am certain that one of the torments inflicted on crossdressers in Hell is packing dozens of items of beautiful articles of clothing for donation without being allowed to try them on. I did my best, but I surrendered to temptatioin and set aside several really nice items and tried them on after they had gone tot bed. To deal with the ethical dilemma presented by keeping items being given to charity, I made a cash donation to Goodwill equivalent to what they'd charge for them in their store.

The road trip home was mostly very nice. The morning of my departure, I loaded the car at my MiL's former residence, and as I had the place to myself, I changed from drab clothing to a femme outfit before I got on the road. I was a little apprehensive since I was driving through four states that are intolerant of people like us -- specifically concerning the issue of restrooms. It turned out that I needn't have worried. The Interstate restrooms weren't busy, and I felt like I had the restrooms to myself. I got one second look from a woman at a rest area in Florida, but that was it. I was very gratified that when I had to stand in line at a Target in Jacksonville, one woman smiled and waved to get my attention when a stall came open.

For my lunch stop, I diid a Google search for "LGBTQ friendly restaurants". The place I selected turned out to be a night club and there was nothing indicating friendliness toward gay people. When I walked in, I was the only customer. I picked a table in the darker area. A little while after I placed my order, another woman walked in, and she also sat in the darker area. The dish I ordered was a Dominican item called a *yarua* -- and it wasn't bad. I'm not sure I would stop there again for lunch, but I expanded my comfort boundaries.

I had a tense period in Georgia. It had gotten dark and was raining, and when I returned to the road after dinner, with over 100 miles to go to the hotel, my tire pressure warning light came on. I wouldn't like changing a tire in those conditions in drab attire, and the idea of doing it while presenting as a woman and wearing a skort was pretty frightening. Additionally, among the items blocking access to the jack and lug wrench was a grandfather clock.I got off at the next exit, where there were only three gas stations. The third one had a working air pump, and I brought the tire up to pressure. It stayed at that pressure for the rest of the trip.

Another point of concern was checking into the hotel, since U.S. hotels require ID. The young woman at the front desk didn't bat an eye when I handed her my license with a photo of a bald-headed man. If she noticed the X on "sex", she didn't say anything. (I love the Millenials!)

In North Carolina, I believe a Subway worker "sirred" me, but there was no expression of malice, and I may have mis-heard. I realized around that time that one of my Southern mannerisms -- saying "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am" might out me, as I don't recall hearing women use them so much.

All in all, it was a great trip. One thing I am learning is that in addiition to getting over my fears of being called out, I need to get rid of my own prejudices. I have a number of unpleasant memories from my youth in SC, but the people I interacted with on my trip were either oblivious to my male core, or they didn't have a problem with it.

bridget thronton
02-15-2023, 02:33 AM
Sounds like a good trip - thanks for sharing

Crissy 107
02-15-2023, 03:37 AM
Interesting trip, I am happy everything worked out ok

Helen_Highwater
02-15-2023, 04:32 AM
Glad you had such a good trip. It's certainly true that the fears in our heads can be much greater than the reality of the real world. Plus as you rightly say, there's a newer generation for whom being pat of he LGBTQ community is a non event.

Heather76
02-15-2023, 04:47 AM
Nice report. Most of all, I'm impressed you felt it only proper to make the cash donation to Goodwill for the resale value of the items you kept.

kimdl93
02-15-2023, 07:20 AM
Thank you for sharing! It is great to travel en femme!

I have made the trip between TX and MN many times over the years, dined, stayed in hotels, visited a few bars and used the bathrooms w/o incident in small and larger towns along the way, in AR, KS, NB and MO. I even had to stop for a couple hours to get a cracked distributor cap fixed in a town just north of Muskogee. I was always treated respectfully, got the correct pronouns, and even for the car repair, I enjoyed the experience.

alwayshave
02-15-2023, 07:31 AM
Nancy, Sounds like a great trip. The cash donation was a nice touch. Does your wife know that you have some of her mother's dresses?

Ann Simpson
02-15-2023, 03:32 PM
I made that same trip moving Mother to Florida from the midwest.
I drove the uhaul with her stuff and towed my van on a trailer.
I wore a white sports bra and kept my money in there...lol bra money
I stopped at the JC penney store in harrison ar and was followed by two sales people.
I left without buying anything.
Since I was wearing shorts, I didn't worry about restrooms, just stood between the uhaul.
No hotel worry either since I slept inthe uhaul. I hate spending money on hotels.
I stopped at a VF outlet store in north florida somewhere and bought some panties.
After I got Mom settled, I drove my van home through atlanta at night, following a semi! exciting!