Day 3: Madera->Bakersfield

Today was mostly uneventful. I started by riding to Fresno, where nothing happens. I drove around until I found Mia Cuppa Caffe, where I stopped for coffee and regrouping. I decided to head straight down to Bakersfield. I pulled over at Selma to check out the huge flea market. I bet I'm the the first Israeli to ever set foot there. In fact, you could probably count the non-Mexican people there on one hand.

The things you find in these flea markets can get pretty random:

I wonder who their customers are.

I had some Chinese food from one of the trucks and moved on.

Downtown Bakersfield was dead. Nobody in the streets. I finally found a coffee shop with more than two people in it, had a cappuccino outside in the terrific sun and then started walking around looking for a bar. Which is when I saw an asshole. Not a person acting like an asshole, but an actual hole located in the middle of an ass. It was a homeless person taking a dump in the middle of the street, but since he was hiding, very poorly, between the cars, all that I could see was an asshole staring right at me. What an asshole.

That marked a transition to one of the less nice parts of town. I walked in on a drug deal, some homeless people, and finally found the Mint. It's not a gay bar as much as it's a sports bar gone sexually ambiguous. It's pretty cool.

Then I looked for a room. I found the Downtowner Hotel. I talked to the receptionist for a bit but had a bad feeling, so I decided to look some more. I drove around the other motels in town.

Motorcycle roadtripping tip #5: when looking for a room, check for the signs

Shopping carts in the parking lot? no go. These belong to motel "guests", and people who carry their belongings in shopping carts are not the kind of people you want to hang out with. Also, try to check in advance for hot water, smell of cigarettes, noise, towels, and wifi.

All the motels that I saw had shopping carts in the parking lot, so I came back to the Downtowner. I checked in and went to Goose Loonies for dinner, beer, and to watch the game.

We won! and by that I'm referring to the fact that the San Francisco Giants, without any help whatsoever from me, won a game that I actually don't understand at all. But still - we won!

Then I came back to the hotel where I learned:

Motorcycle roadtripping tip #6: if staying in a multi floor hotel, do not take a room that is near the elevator