Tuesday, February 7 – We continue our sightseeing around the Yuma, AZ, area. Our second stop of the morning was the Yuma Proving Ground. The Proving Ground is used for testing military equipment and encompasses 1,307.8 square miles in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.
Two very large howitzers predominately displayed at the entrance welcomes visitors to the Proving Ground. The Proving Ground conducts tests on nearly every weapon system in the ground combat arsenal. There are about two dozen pieces of artillery, tanks, and missiles on displayed in the nearby field that have been tested here at the Proving Grounds.
The outside museum is free. We walked around and view the weapons. There are informative placards at each piece telling us about the weapon. We felt the amount of information was minimal wishing for more insight about the displays. For example, it would be nice to display the shell fired by each of these large guns to get a perspective of their destructive power.
M107, 175MM Self-Propelled Howitzer. Wt. 174 lbs. Used during the Vietnam War. 
M386, Launcher 762-MM Rocket, truck mounted launcher. Self-Propelled base for launching surface-to-surface, large caliber, fin-stabilized, free flight rockets.
M42A2 “Duster” Antiaircraft, Artillery, Self-propelled Twin 40-MM Guns. Used extensively in Vietnam.
M112A1 Armored Personnel Carrier. This unit is capable of amphibious and air-drop operations. Used extensively in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.
Once a boy, always a boy.
Unfortunately, Paul failed to put our updated truck registration in the glove box (It's there now.) so we were not permitted to enter the active military base to see the additional museum displays. Regardless, we enjoyed our visit and when back in the area, we might finish our visit to the military base.
Our third and last stop for the day was the St. Thomas Mission. It was dedicated in 1922. Its design replicates the Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción, which once stood on the site.
This gentleman was working on the bell.
Located next to the Historic Yuma Prison, we found the Mission locked. We were able to walk around outside, but missed the opportunity to see the inside. Darn!
Gorgeous doors.
We spent the remainder of the day relaxing in the beautiful Yuma sunshine. We've been lucky since entering Arizona. The area suffered some unseasonable nasty weather in January, but the customary 70-80 degree weather has welcomed us.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!
