Jamul, CA

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      Normally it would have taken 3.8 miles to the "park and ride" area from the campground, but I took a 2.6 mile detour to avoid the rough road we took on the way in. A lot of our things jumped around and it was a challenge to keep things from falling out when we opened cabinets. Mr. Pete and Frances were already at the parking area when we got there. They had just begun hooking up their Saturn VUE. I pulled our Traveling Talisman up beside them and Tom pulled up behind me. Within half an hour we both had our tows hooked-up. Our tires were checked for proper air pressure. We showed the Carranza's how to check their tires too. Last, but not least were our directional signals. They were checked and worked correctly. We were finally on our way. Tom and I lead the way and the Carranza's followed right behind.

      Interstate 8 West was all down hill and helped save fuel usage. We got off onto Main Street in El Cajon and didn't plan to get gas until later on, but then we came across a gas station with gas at $4.27 per gallon. It was a good price and we decided to fuel up. As we entered the station we noticed the height clearance of 12 feet. Our Traveling Talisman was 12 feet 6 inches tall. By then we were already half way in. With no choice we continued to make a drive through. Our 10 foot tail bottomed out in the entrance way and again as we proceeded out the exit. The Carranza's were still at the intersection light behind us. They had given us one of their Cobra two-way radios and I had called them to let them know of the danger. Mr. Pete decided he was going to get gas there anyway. His rig had a shorter tail than we did and he didn't bottom out. They passed the clearance, even though they were just as tall as we were. The reading on the over-hang must have been exaggerated. I found a place to pull over on Main Street to wait. Soon we were back on the road. There's one thing about turning a motorhome around, and that's turning radius. Mr. Pete couldn't get back on Main Street and had to go around the block to meet up with us. When we got together again our adventure continued.

      At the other south side of Rancho San Diego, CA, we stopped at a Mobil gas station. It was the very same stop we made on the way to Oakzanita Springs / TT. Getting in and out was much easier than most. Tom filled up our Traveling Talisman tank with 22.227 gallons. Gas was priced at $4.499 per gallon. It had been 66.1 miles since our last fill up. We're averaging 7.16 miles per gallon since the beginning of the year. The Carranza's waited patiently in a nearby Target store parking lot for us. As soon as we finished fueling up our adventure continued again for another 12 miles to the Pio Pico Preserve / TT. It started getting hot so during the remainder of our drive the generator was running. It produced energy to operate our Traveling Talisman roof air conditioners. The total travel distance was 43.7 miles. We arrived at the ranger's station in good time. There was no cost to stay here using our TT (Thousand Trails) membership.

      The first thing I inquired about was campsite E-7 and E-5, hoping and praying they were available. The last time Tom and I were here we noticed they were 50 amp campsites with lots of shade. We were in luck, but not out of the woods. Even though the members in those sites were leaving today it didn't mean the sites were available. Some one could have stopped at the site to put their name on it. The Carranza's followed as I lead the way. We parked by the campsites and inquired if the current members already had someone reserving the site after them. My prayers were answered with a simple "No". The current occupants had until 12:00 to vacate. Buddy and Benny were let out of their cat carriers to roam freely in the air conditioned environment. We had a good two hour wait, so Frances and I drove to the ranger's station to get name tags to put on the power boxes. There was no rush now and it was a beautiful day. We had perfect campsites reserved for three weeks and they were next door from one another. Both members left earlier than expected and we moved in.

      Tom and I started right away. The first plan was to position our Traveling Talisman. The front end was lower than our back end. I needed to drive up on block to get a better level. Tom didn't like the idea, but I knew it wasn't a problem to do. We ended up using four 12" x 12" x 1" blocks under the front tires and were close to being totally level. Lynx Levelers, plastic level blocks were put under the HWH hydraulic system to finish off our leveling and stabilize our Traveling Talisman. Mr. Pete was having problems with his automatic leveling system and Tom went to his rescue. They ended up leveling their motorhome manually instead of using the automatic system. Next on our agenda was hooking up the Wilson Truckers Antenna. Tom got on the roof to attach the antenna. I received the cable line from a five foot ladder. He got down from the roof and went inside to extend the living room / dining room slide. As soon as he was ready the cable was passed through the seal to him. Within a few minutes the cables were connected and our Verizon cell phones had service.

      Frances brought us hot dogs for lunch. We made plans to have dinner at our campsite picnic table. The Carranza's were providing the meal. Tom's next set up was the HughesNet satellite dish. It was going to take him awhile and I usually do best by staying out of his way. So I put the Sunshades on the front windshield, put a plum table cloth on the picnic table, covered our tires with SnapRing TireSavers and took the bikes off the rack on the back of our Traveling Talisman. Tom successfully connected our internet system and we were in business. It was getting late and we went for a bike ride around the campground. The Pio Pico country store was just about to close when we got there. They let us in to get an ice cream sandwich. By the time Tom and I returned back to our Traveling Talisman, the Carranza's were all set up and ready for dinner. Our dinner was very enjoyable and we ate until it got dark. It had been a long day for both of us. We said our good nights and retired for the night. We didn't go straight to bed. Instead we watched a little television before retiring totally.

Remember to visit travelingtalisman.com by Tom Reider.