Travel Log - A long weekend in skirts and dresses

[Jenniferathome]

Hi everyone, I have a bike (road) race on Sunday in central California. 105 miles and 8.5K feet of climbing if you’re curious. Weather should be perfect. We ride to the mountains and the ocean and back. Well, I decided to use this as an excuse to do something I have never done: travel for multiple days in girl mode. Other than my bike kit, I do not have a stitch of boy clothes with me.
I’m going to keep a log of sorts and update this thread as I interact with the normals over the next three days and do all the crap one has to do when traveling. So Day 1, this is me at zero hour. Car is packed, bike on the roof and ready to hit the road south in a casual skirt and top. I’ll be checking into the hotel like this. That'll be a first. Kinda curious how I'll be received, but my expectation is cordially. Stay tuned....



UPDATE #1. The Check-in

I entered the lobby of the hotel and a huge man was scowling at me from behind the check-in desk... NOT. So here's how it really went. I entered, the man behind the desk welcomed me without a hint of "WTF?" A lady came in right behind me with a key problem and stood next to me. The desk agent asked my name and I gave him my last name and then he asked of my first name and I gave him my real name, of course. He also asked for my credit card an ID which I produced. He found my reservation in a pile of printed reservations (I am in a VERY small town in costal central California). He went through his speil on breakfast, where my room was, wifi, etc. He said it, I am sure, in exactly the same way he does for all. I didn't detect a hint of discomfort.

Now, the interesting thing about the check-in was that I expected to get some nerves as I got closer to the hotel. The drive was about 4 hours with some traffic and when I parked, zero nerves. Now the good thing about not having any boy clothes is that it's fatalistic. With no plan B, what was I supposed to get nervous about? It's not like I could do anything about it. Funny what we do in our heads! OK, I'm heading out to stretch my legs, then I'll freshen up, change (I brought one of my favorite casual dresses) and head out to dinner. I'll update after that!

UPDATE #2. Dinner in a sports bar in a small town. What could go wrong? Nothing, of course.

Changed into my floral dress pictured here and put on a jean jacket as it was getting chilly and headed out. Opened the door to the restaurant to a huge group of people getting situated. The host greeted me very warmly without batting an eye and said I could sit right away. Restaurant area was not quite full but I was sat at the front most table, nearest the entry door and right next to the stage where a guy was playing guitar. He was good. Let me just state that I was noticed. But, no stares, no double takes, just the ole peripheral eyeball once over and mostly from women. The guys didn't seem to notice but there was a game on. Women always do. Ordered food, watched the first half of the Warriors game while listening to live music AND THEN....nothing happened. I anyone cared, they didn't make it known. Long day tomorrow and then dinner with Nadine and her wife. Yahoo! Wish my wife could have made it but she's with her Mom. i bought a really cute white sun dress by Elizabeth & James that I'll wear with suede heeled sandals in a taupe color. Update #3 late tomorrow afternoon.

UPDATE #3 - the race. See reply #25

UPDATE#4 - ready for dinner!

First, let me state that I have earned every calorie I plan to put in my body tonight. It will be a challenge to take small bites. OK, I'm meeting Nadine Spirit, a member here and her wife at an upscale Peruvian restaurant. I have no idea what the cuisine is, but I like to try new things. I'll update after dinner, but this is my outfit. White summer dress, whip belt and heeled sandals. Now, recall that I just rode 113 miles and now I'm in 4" heels. Not great planning but I love the shoes!
I'm going to try and remember to get a group shot at dinner...but I never seem to remember.

UPDATE #4.5

I forgot to get a group picture last night. No surprise. Dinner was great. Nadine and Jules are great company. Jules is really funny and she paid me the ultimate compliment, "Your fashion style is great." I'm still not certain what Peruvian cuisine is, but it was delicious! The restaurant was packed and stayed packed until we left at about 9PM. Quite naturally, I caught a few glances but no scowls. Our busboy and waitress addressed us as we presented without a hitch.



UPDATE #5 - Breakfast with the normals.

It is so much easier to roll out of bed, put on some shorts and T-shirt and grab breakfast at a hotel. Men and women can do this. Cross dressers can't. My "getting ready" routine is down to 20 minutes or so, but that routine is a MUST if I don't want to frighten the world. So I get dressed and jump in the elevator to go to the dining room and it is PACKED with Chinese tourists and ONE clearly American family looking like they knew they were outnumbered. I got in the buffet line, got my food and of course, no one said anything, except one Chinese gal who said good morning. And if anyone looked at me strangely, I didn't notice. I bought this casual red dress a few weeks ago and finally got to wear it. It really needs a strapless bra because the straps of the dress are so thin and, of course, I didn't have one. I covered it with the blue, loose knit sweater.

So in the end, I have two big takeaways from this three day weekend. 1) It takes A LOT of work to be in girl mode for three days. 2) The normals just seem to be ok with a dude in a dress. If you want, get out there!