This was my first time operating in the QRP portable category in the flatlands instead of on a hilltop or mountaintop, and it was frustrating.  I was in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley near the town of Madera.   I thought a tower trailer would make up for the lack of height above average terrain, but it really didn't.  The Southern California Contest Club rovers provided a huge percent of my contacts and multipliers.  Without them, it would have been a very difficult contest.