This is a No Touch Lake

Day 34 – Fresno

We awoke late and headed out with Josh to enjoy breakfast on his recommendation – chilaquiles (a traditional Mexican dish) with scrambled eggs. So good. After a quick coffee at Peets' (a Californian chain) we parted ways with Josh and headed off into Fresno.

The temperature rose to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) as we drove there. And this heat was much more intense than the 40 C we'd experienced in Minneapolis. Lacking decent humidity, it consisted solely of a scorching sun. I almost threw up and passed out at one point.

This guy is wearing skin tight gold pants. Considering the heat, I don't think he'll get them off without taking a couple layers of skin.

We played in a tiny sweat box with about 7 metal / hardcore bands. People were going crazy and I was amazed that they didn't drop like flies. They are more used to the heat, but even they thought it was pretty devastating.

After the show ended we piled into the van and drove fast over a hilly pass towards San Jose. It was much cooler when we finally stopped in a small town called Gilroy – home of a yearly garlic festival that has international clout. San Jose next up, and then only three days left on this tour . .

Day 35 – San Jose

We woke in a parking lot, which is now the norm I'd say. And I never thought I'd say this – after being employed at both hellish places at some point in my life – but thank goodness for Starbucks and McDonalds ubiquitously placed in monolithic shopping centres. Free wifi and clean washrooms; times may change, but standards must remain.

Our goal for the morning was a body of water in which to jump. This proved very difficult in the County of Santa Clara. Everywhere we went we were told that it was a “no-touch lake”. Apparently boats, fishermen and wakeboarders are okay, but we can't stick our toes in under penalty of fines and possible beatings. Swimming is for pools and waterparks here, so we made our way to the San Jose University Aquatic Centre. Julian was forced to buy actual shorts as swimming in your numerous-day-old boxer shorts is frowned upon.

The venue for the evening was The Blank Club, and we shared the stage with a band called cermak (who wrote songs entirely about architecture) – pretty jazzy stuff, and nice peoples to boot.

Julian messin' about on their drums! -

After the sets we drank delicious pbr and then headed out with a gang of folks – including Leslie, the promoter who'd hooked up the show and was ever so nice to us. We grabbed some burritos from a local favourite spot and ate them in a park. We were also fortunate enough to meet a fellow named Jamie who let us park in his driveway for the evening snooze. He had a very nice cat that would play fetch, and a pretty sweet in-home recording studio (like everyone down here it seems).

Day 36 – San Jose redux

We awoke late and Jamie helped Julian with some amp tube replacement, then we headed to a place called Stacks for breakfast. I had the special, which consisted of french toast and raspberry compote. And it was good.

Thoroughly satiated we headed to Jamie's work – Guitar Showcase – two buildings (one consignment, one new gear) and a museum of guitars and basses (including a '61 Precision Bass listed at $18,000). Guitar Shangri-La.

After a lengthy noodling around in the shop we received a call from Leslie (the local promoter). We actually didn't have a show booked and had planned to begin the driving to friday's gig in Portland. The call changed all that – a last minute show offer at the Caravan Lounge – which was actually a block away from the previous night's gig. We said hell yeah, immediately drove to another music gear shop (aptly named the Starving Musician) and noodled some more before going to a local Asian restaurant and eating noodles.

The gig was with two bands, Twelve Gauge Shotgun and INFM – both loud punk bands of a very friendly sort. The bar was awesome and all the people that we met were incredibly fun, we laughed and drank and laughed and high-fived extensively. INFM was particularly fun to watch – their bass played Matt is one hilarious dude.

After all was said and done, the gear was loaded and we'd loitered on the sidewalk for a sufficient amount of time, it was 2:30am - we hopped in the van and started the drive to Portland.

Here's Mt. Shasta in Northern California. Time to go sleep in the back of the van!