Yuma Proving Grounds

Every morning during the week that we go to town we get to watch the Army practice skydiving. Martinez Lake road is a public county road that goes through the military proving ground. The amount of land the military owns north of Yuma is amazing and they are very busy on it testing equipment and ordinance (bombs). There are several bases located here for both the Army and the Air Force. The Marines have a base on the southside of Yuma and their playground is the Barry Goldwater range south of Yuma and Wellton. Yuma is pretty much surrounded by military operations. It's good for the economy because they hire lots of civilians.

The parachute jumpers come down very close to the road. You can see their drop zone in the one picture and see how close to the road it is. One day there was some gusty winds when we were coming through and they were missing their mark. Honestly we thought the one guy was going to land right on the roof of our truck. If I had opened the sunroof I could have almost reached up and grabbed his foot. We were going slow anyway, the speed limit through there is 25, but we slowed down even more seeing that happening. The guy overseeing the jump on the ground came running out on to the road and stopped all the traffic behind us as the rest of them came down. They all followed the first guy even though they were off their mark. I guess they are just learning how to follow in formation. You can see a white cross in the drop zone, obviously there to remember someone who didn't make it. You would think one of them would land right on that cross --and with them coming down with their legs apart you know where that hit. -- OUCH!