theboondork's RV blog

I wonder if the TV cowboy, Johnny Yuma, was from here?

1/18/2019

My two favorite vehicles, a Sherman tank, and the Arctic Fox. One's a real tank, and the other is built like a tank.

I left Quartzsite this morning and got to my next boondocking site near Yuma about 11 o'clock.

I was surprised how many RVs were still heading for Quartzsite as I was leaving town so I guess Q is not as full as its going to get. One thing that became apparent as I was leaving is the closer you get to Q the more crowded the boondocking areas are, which makes sense, and is a bit of information I will keep in mind for the future.

On the way to Yuma I stopped at the Yuma Proving Grounds outdoor museum which I always do when I come this way. Not so much to see the exhibits, since I've been here so many times, but mostly just to walk around and take a break. But anyway today's pictures are some that I took at the museum.

I'm staying at the Yuma VFW just north of town on Highway 95. I never realized it before when I saw RVs here in the past, what appeared to be the VFW parking lot is actually BLM land and you can sign in with the host for a free 14 day stay just like all the other BLM land in the area.

And amazingly enough it's more crowded here than it was in Q. the parking area is about half full, it's right next to Highway 95 so it's pretty noisy, and on the other side of Highway 95 there's a railroad track that's turning out to be fairly busy. I'm thinking I probably won't make it for the entire two weeks here.

I'm going to need to empty my tanks, and get some water pretty soon so I'll probably go to the escapees RV Park here in Yuma to boondock for a few days and dump my tanks.

Edit:
a spot opened up near the back of the BLM boondocking area and I moved into it. There's a little bit less road and train noise back here, and more importantly it's a bit more private without people all around me. So I may be able to tolerate staying here longer than I first thought. Now the question is can they tolerate me.

theboondork

a Vietnam era APC [Armored Personnel Carrier ]

M60 the U.S. Army's main battle tank during the Vietnam war.

U.S. Army Self-propelled gun, also Vietnam era.

4 Comments

Barney Ward

1/19/2019 04:48:47 pm

I rode on an APC a couple of times while I was in the 82nd Airborne in Nam in 69. It was better than walking but sure made you a major target sitting on top of it. I was a lot more agile then.

Tom

1/19/2019 07:21:38 pm

I loaded and unloaded many of them on C141s coming to and from Nam. I was always amazed at how easy it was to penetrate the aluminum armor they were covered with.

I know they had to build them light so they could be shipped by air but it seemed like the only thing the aluminum armor would stop was small arms ammunition. But I guess it was still better sitting inside than on top where you were at.

Tom

Linda Sand

1/20/2019 02:41:23 pm

Dave was in the 192nd assault helicopter company supporting the 82nd airborne in late '67. He preferred flying over the country to walking (or riding) through it. He came home in '68 having received enemy fire only once. Of, course they hit him.

1/20/2019 03:17:39 pm

That's during the time I was in, from 1965 to 1969. I was in the Air Force which is kind of like being in the military, you get to wear a uniform and get paid every two weeks but other than that it's pretty much just like a regular job. And if you stay out of bars on payday night you usually won't get shot.

Some of the equipment Dave was using probably came through me. In 1967 till I was discharged in 69 I was loading C141's and C-130s at Yokoda Air Force Base in Japan. Yokoda was a major APOE [ Aerial Port of Embarkation ] during the war and we handled most of the supplies heading for Vietnam. But unlike Dave, and Barney, other than occasionally falling off a barstool, I returned home unscathed.

Tom

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I wonder if the TV cowboy, Johnny Yuma, was from here?

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