"Baking hot in Bakersfield....."

I set off later than planned for my next leg to Bakersfield and my new couchsurfing hosts Francine and Carl. This turned out to be a mistake, given that I was heading east ,away from the cooler coast. After an hour`s ride the temperature steadily climbed to 90º+! I had stop at every available place, petrol station, diner, anywhere I could get shade and refreshment to take on more fluids and soak my T shirt in water. This allowed a brief respite from the intense heat and usually lasted a few miles before completely drying out. Normally, to cool myself on the road, I ride with my visor up (trying to avoid wasps, of course), but it was like putting your head into a fan oven ,so I had to ride visor down for the duration. I arrived in Bakersfield just after 4.00 p.m. and found Francine`s house (eventually!). I was so glad to get off the bike and into a cool house.



Francine welcomed me like a friend. She showed me around the house and said, “Please help yourself to whatever you need. This is your house now”.
And so began another extraordinary couchsurfing experience.

Francine and Carl are an amazing couple who epitomise the entire spirit of the couchsurfing concept. Francine is Greek by birth and still retains that Mediterranean love of all things to do with family and community. Their house is almost an "open house" for whoever happens to be passing. Everyone who comes to the door is welcomed, invited in and offered food and drink. Francine is passionate about life, food and above all sharing everything she has, and this includes looking after foreign students who come to the U.S. to study. At the time of my visit they already had a long term surfer/lodger, Maria, a really lovely girl from Austria, who was there to improve her English.

After settling in and showering, I chatted for over an hour with Francine while we awaited Carl`s arrival from his trip to L.A. We soon discovered how much we had in common (surprise, surprise) in our values and philosophies of life.

The Law of Attraction is alive and well!

Isn`t it interesting how you can meet a total stranger and within minutes feel completely at home with them.
When Carl arrived, one of the first things he said was, “Would you like a cold beer?” Could it get any better!

That night they took me out to a downtown hotel (very plush) where they`d arranged to meet up with some of their friends in the rooftop bar. Francine, Carl, Maria, Andre, and Charles. Great company, great beer, great location and a fascinating insight into the Bakersfield Friday night scene. The Padre Hotel rooftop bar, where the “beautiful people” congregate!

The following day was spent primarily indoors because of the baking heat, although we did venture out to the local supermarket which was just around the corner to replenish food and beer stocks! Each evening,(and morning come to think of it!) both Francine and Carl busied themselves in the kitchen creating superb culinary dishes. I ate like a king for 3 days!

At least the heat enabled me to catch up on blogging and e mails. On my last day, after what seemed like hours pouring over my netbook, Francine said she had a surprise for me and could I take a break for a while. Obviously, being open to anything and everything that happens on this journey I said yes! So she drove me downtown and we arrived at a massage therapists! Knowing how beneficial this stuff is to me she had arranged for a good friend of hers (who also happens to be a massage therapist!) to set aside some time to see me and sort my back out (again).

After a beautifully relaxing and re-energising session with Rita (another fascinating person) I asked how much I owed and was told,

“It has all been taken care of by your wonderful friends!”

What exceptional people!

I got up early the next day in order to beat the heat before it got to pressure cooker intensity. Francine, Carl and Maria all got up especially early to see me off. I was really quite sad to be leaving my “new home”, but the flesh pots of Sin City were calling me, so just out of curiosity, I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Viva Las Vegas!