Rather than loop all the way back to South to Bakersfield, why not route Northwest to Bishop? Bishop has some mid-level chain motels like Best Western and Comfort Inn; as well as some reasonable local motels like the Creekside Inn or Joseph House Inn... (if it were mid-May or later I'd recommend going up to Mammoth Lakes, but as they are still doing Spring skiing, rooms will be hard to come by and expensive...)
The next day, either drive up 395 passing Mono Lake to Carson City and take Highway 50 over the Sierras, skirting the South edge of Lake Tahoe, or follow 395 all the way up to Reno and then hop on I-80 W. Much, much prettier drives than the pass to Bakersfield and going through the Central Valley.
Either way, you end up in Sacramento and can decide to idle around there, swing slightly north to the Napa wine country, or South towards Santa Cruz or Monterey