The Ultimate, Unlimited, Unorthodox RV

Welcome to YPG!

We are for a few days at Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG), a US Army base north of Yuma, AZ.  Nearby is the All American Canal and Imperial Dam and SW Arizona is one large RV Park after another and all full of RVs this time of the year!   

The proving ground was established in 1942 to train US armored units for desert warfare and General George Patton was the first commander.  They still do a lot of testing here and it is part of the California/Arizona Maneuver Area that extends several hundred miles north and east of the base.  It is part of a large coordinated DOD training area.  YMG only occupies about 13,000 square miles of it, a relatively small portion of the entire area. 

I visited the Heritage Center, a base museum, that was well done and I especially enjoyed the section on ordnance testing.  They have been part of the program to develop armor piercing projectiles, as well as, cannon to deliver them to the target. 

Another project in the early 1960’s was a program to develop an “overland train”.  It was intended to deliver a large amount of supplies over unimproved terrain.  It consisted of a control cab, two power generating trailers, and up to 13 cargo trailers.  The entire train was 565 feet long.   It was never fully deployed and it appears only one complete unit was every built and it was for test purposes. 

However, what remains is the control cab and it is on display across the street from the museum.  It can handle the living, sleeping and sanitary needs of the 6-man crew that operated the overland train.  There are a number of pictures of the entire training winding around the desert like a big snake. 

The ultimate RV

I am thinking what a cool RV that would be. You would be secure inside and great view from the cab.  Traffic would get out of your way.  And, think of all the room we would have inside.  BJ could have her own quilting room, I could have a workshop.  We could go just about wherever we wanted too!

Uh, we won’t talk about the fuel bill when we fill up with diesel!  There was some discussion about outfitting it with a small nuclear power plant and it would provide power for the base once it arrived at destination.  There was no evidence much serious work was done on that part of the program! 

But, what a great RV especially for the great, vast western outdoors that BJ and I are really enjoying!

Always at home, no matter where we are!