100428 - General Patton Memorial

April 28, 2010
General Patton’s Memorial
Chiraco Summit, California

This small museum is a tribute to a very large and probably one of the most famous war heroes of our country. Right now it is located east of Palm Springs, on Interstate 10, but in 1942 there was no interstate and this was in the center of the Mojave Desert.

In the earliest days of World War II, when this Nation was thrust into the greatest global conflict the world has ever seen, the War Department realized the necessity for troops well trained under harsh conditions to withstand the rigors of battle over rough terrain and in inhospitable climates. Thus, the Desert Training Center, California-Arizona Maneuver Area (DTC-CAMA) was created in 1942. This simulated theater of operation was the largest military training ground in the history of military maneuvers.

Native Californian Major General George Smith Patton, Jr., commander of the I Armored Corps, was responsible for selecting this site in early 1942. As a native of southern California he knew the area well from his youth and from having participated in Army maneuvers here and in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s.
Patton chose the small town of Desert Center, population 19, as his headquarters. At that time the training base was called "Desert Training Center" and had not yet reached it maximum size. Six months later it was given the CAMA name, and by November 1943, The area chosen in the Mojave Desert was ultimately 350 miles wide and 250 miles deep. On 20 June 1942 the War Department acquired the land from the Department of the Interior by Public Land Order No. 1. The area included several sections in Riverside County, ranging from Indio, California to Arizona and from Las Vegas to Yuma. On May 12, 1942, by announcement of General Orders No. 7, the Desert Training Center was named Camp Young. On January 27, 1943, (the day of my birth) by announcement of General Orders No. 8, Camp Young "proper" (3,279.89 acres) became the Headquarters of the Desert Training Center/California-Arizona Maneuver Area (DTC/CAMA). By November 1943 CAMA had enlarged and included Camp Young, Camp Coxcomb, Camp Iron Mountain, Camp Granite, Camp Essex (later renamed Camp Clipper), Camp Ibis, Camp Hyder, Camp Horn, Camp Laguna, Camp Pilot Knob, Camp Bouse and several bombing and artillery ranges.

General Patton, who was independently wealthy, purchased some commercial radio broadcasting equipment with his own funds and set up his own radio station within CAMA. The station broadcasted music and news most of the time except when Patton wanted to address the troops. He kept a microphone at his desk and another by his bed and broke into the programming whenever it suited him.
Patton's I Armored Corps trained here from April to August 1942 and then departed to participate in the invasion of North Africa which occurred in November 1942.

After General Patton was sent to North Africa, the name of the training center was changed to the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA). Twenty separate divisions consisting of more than one million men trained here. This was the largest Army base in the world covering some 18,000 square miles. It stretched from the outskirts of Pomona, California eastward to within 50 miles of Phoenix, Arizona, southward to the suburbs of Yuma, Arizona and northward into the southern tip of Nevada. It existed primarily to train U.S. forces in desert warfare for the North African campaign.

When the Allied victory came in North Africa, the need for desert-trained units faded and in May 1944, CAMA was closed.

100427 - Green Acres

April 27,2010
Green Acres
Desert Center, California

Leaving the Colorado River area, we headed east. There is a small museum outside of Palm Springs that we have been meaning to visit but never did, so we looked for campgrounds near by to stay at.

Green Acres is a small mobile home park in an area of the Mojave called Desert Center and it is appropriately named. It is in the middle of nowhere with a population of less than 20 and the main street consists of a post office, a 24 hour diner and a number of adjacent small buildings decorated with signs such as “Closed” or” For Sale”.

While we did not expect to be greeted by Eva Gabor or Mr. Haney, we were happy to meet the owner of the park, Mary. Originally from New Jersey, she came out west like so many others and somehow became the owner of this mobile home park for the past 40: years . In that period, there was a large population due to the large-scale operation at the Alcoa Mine but that was closed in the late 1900’s and the population dwindled. In fact, the town is so small; you have to drive 20 miles to the nearest gas station.

The population of the park is currently about 6 large mobile homes and a few travelers like us in Rvs.
The weather was good and with lots of open space, Danny got to be off leash every day for an exercise period.

One odd thing. Of all the locations we have been at in the past 6 months -big cities, small towns, desolate and remote areas - this is the only site that my Sprint internet connection registered 6 bars, the best reception I have gotten ever - even better than Los Angeles. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would suspect the government has some secret communications installation hidden out here.

We enjoyed our stay here and look forward to retuning in the future, if for no other reason than to see Mary and listen to more of her stories about her past experiences.

100407 Green Valley

April 7, 2010
Green Valley, Picacho State Park
Colorado River Oasis RV

Ehrenberg, AZ

6 Years ago, when we were rookie Rvers, we were returning from a Mexican Caravan and stayed at a RV park north of the border.
Two couples that were staying there befriended us and taught us how to play MEXICAN TRAIN.
Briefly, it’s a domino game that has nothing to do with Mexico but is lots of fun for groups of 4-6.

One of the couples, Barry and Maureen (New Englanders), had relatives in Green Valley (Buck and Marilyn) who also took a liking to us. Any time we are in the Tucson area, we make it a point to visit them and spend some fun filled evenings playing Mexican Train.

The park we usually stay at was quite busy this season and we were only able to get a week’s reservation, but we made the best of it. The last time I had been there Peter was alive so this was their first opportunity to meet the new guy, Danny. Of course he charmed them with his sad brown eyes and constantly wagging tail. He actually behaved well most of the time and made some new friends.

There is one other couple we tried to visit there that we knew in Los Angeles, but they had a death in the family and had to be away during the time of our visit. Our condolences to Margie and Murray on the loss of her brother and hope to see them the next time we are in the area.

Knowing that Arizona is closing down its parks due to budget problems, we wanted to make sure we got our “desert fix”. Picacho is a great park and we unwound and relaxed for a few days there.

We are now parked along the Colorado River at one of our member parks. The weather is bright and sunny, warm and dry. Danny looks like he wants to jump off the boat launch ramp into the river but if something happened; I wouldn’t be able to help him so I have to keep his leash tight.

Now that the cold weather seems behind us, we have to think about our summer destinations.

The little blue scooter is holding up well, but my knees and general stamina and endurance are not.

Grocery shopping would not be possible without the market’s electric carts, and Danny would get no exercise at all without the aid of Little Blue. I guess the silver lining is that since I exert much less effort by not walking, my cardiac symptoms have been more mild and less often.

I’ve been trying to teach Danny to Dial “9-1-1” in case I have an emergency, but as soon as the operator come on and asked what the emergency is - he tell her to send cookies.

As usual, we are always open to suggestion for places to visit. Just remember that when someone talks about a beautiful scenic drive, you can bet he or she wasn’t doing the driving. As much as we enjoy the southwest in the winter, we never get used to seeing brown grass, green trees and gravel. Forests, lakes, and level roadways are desirable. Gravel, sand and
Muddy trails are the natural enemies of the handicapped with their scooters and walkers.

We usually avoid the road less traveled (like everyone else). There has to be a reason nobody’s on it.

High altitudes and steep mountain passes causes the Beast to breath hard and slow down so we just enjoy the view.

By the way, speaking of being handicapped – we have Sprint as our cell phone and Internet carrier. Sometimes communications can be prehistoric.
A weak signal doesn’t ring and goes right to voicemail and emails can take longer than snail mail to get.

We don’t use MY FACE or YOUR SPACE or TOOTER. I am registered with all of them but have no idea how to use them nor do I want to. Phone calls, voicemail or sometimes an IM is as good as it gets.

Till next time,