Today I got my first glimpse of Gold Base. Following detailed instructions emailed me by Keith Henson, I had no difficulty finding GB, the real difficulty I encountered was an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh. When I first caught sight of the Pink Castle my first thought was "Walt Disney could not have done better ... all this place needs is Tinker Bell and Captain Hook." Actually, this was my second attempt to locate GB, but the first time I made the mistake of staying on Sunderson thinking that it was Hwy. 79 and got turned around in Hemet.

For anyone else searching for GB, be aware that San Juacinto Avenue is actually Hwy. 79 and if you simply stay on it either going south from Beaumont or north out of Hemet you can't mistake GB for anything but scientology's hide-a-way.

Unfortunately, I was not able to contact Keith in time to meet him today, but I will be in the area next week and will try again.

Once I got aquatinted with the area, I tried to find alternative locations to get a view of the compound. As Keith has mentioned many times Hwy. 79 runs directly through Cof$ property. As you drive south on Hwy. 79 the first thing you see is this large pink building that looks more like Disney's Fantasy Land Caste then it does a "state of the art production facility." I've decided to call it Tinker Bell's House (I think (*) would like that). As I continued south I caught sight of a row of buses made famous by Keith Henson; the only buses I've ever heard of to be totally enturbulated by one man with a sign. Next came the main entrance (I think) with a guard station in evidence. Through the gate I could see a small group of blue suited, very young looking people, running across the compound - I don't know where they were going, but they were sure in a hurry considering that the outside air temperature was 109 degrees. Behind much of the compound I could see their golf course with one guy out there in that heat!

Keith, all those houses you see along the road inside the compound, who lives in them? The long, low building south of Tinker Bells House, is that a barracks?

Following my first pass, I turned around and drove north so I could get a look at the east side of the street. There is a mansion under construction up on a rise that must be DM's. As I passed there were two men wearing blue shorts and white T-shirts taking potted plants out of a storage area and placing them in a group along side of the road. I did notice the every driveway save the entrance to the golf course is gated and has surveillance gear mounted on each side. I guess they don't trust their neighbors (heh heh).

I turned around for another pass and got quite a treat. There, walking down the road were two people, an older man followed by a younger woman, both dressed in the blue shorts and T-shirt attire. Both carried radios on their belts, each carried a clipboard with lots of paper attached and they appeared to be carefully inspecting the perimeter. When first spotted they were on the east side of the road walking north near the two working with the potted plants. As I had arrived at about 1:00 p.m., and I was hungry, I stopped at the McDonalds were Sunderson & San Juacinto intersect. Following a quick snack and a few telephone calls, I drove back up Hwy. 79 for another peek and there were the two "security" types and they were pushing aside shrubbery and plants looking for something on the west side of the street. I could not resist the urge to get a good look at their faces so I hung a quick U-turn at the far end of the compound and drove slowly back toward them. He was very flushed in the face, almost a bright red, with close cropped hair (could have been blond with gray in it). I'm not sure of his height, but he was thin and looked a bit worn out. His companion was in her mid twenties, I'd guess, with light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She appeared to be following him, that is, I got the impression she was assisting him.

What struck me most is that there really is not a safe place to picket Gold Base. There are no sidewalks, the street is relatively narrow, and worst of all there are plenty of places were one could get ambushed if Davy should go completely off the rails. My admiration for Keith's courage took a giant leap forward, but in all honesty, I wish you had a regular picket partner and that both carried camcorders and cell phones.

As I was leaving the area, I took note of the fact that you can see both (*) house and the "chapel" steeple & scientology cross from almost anyplace on the valley floor that has a straight line view. I would not care to live anywhere Davy could use his telescope to look in the windows - hmm, what was that flash of light from the top floor?

SP

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