next report   May 13 What's wrong with this picture? We're not carrying signs and flags. Two things come to mind right of the bat when I think about Carmel-by-the-Sea: they arenÕt very creative and money is evil.   First of all, Carmel is by the sea, so why name it Carmel-by-the-Sea ... itÕs a bit redundant. Secondly, the infamous 17-Mile-Drive Ða big loop of a road that winds around past some of the most expensive real estate in the world, beautiful rock cliffs dropping off into the ocean and Pebble Beach Golf CourseÐand all they can think of for a name is 17-Mile-Drive? Money talks. They managed to buy the city. Buy a police force. And, for that matter, buy our 1st Amendment Rights. They made us put our signs and flags in the van for the day. It all started when we walked up to the Pacific Grove entrance and a security guard popped out of his little shack and told us that weÕd have to walk around because "this is private property." I quickly asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor told me that a "demonstration" wouldnÕt be allowed because it ruffles the residentsÐpretty much the idea. I told him that we were simply conducting a peace march from San Francisco to Los Angeles and that it was important for our walk to be continuous. After a bit of back and forth about whether or not people are allowed to walk along the drive or not he asked me if he "needed to send a patrol car?" I said for what?! And offered to stow our signs and flags if heÕd let us walk through. He didnÕt trust that we would at first, but we did, and they let us pass. Of course we made sure our walk shirts with Free Tibet on the back were obvious and we slapped bumper stickers all over ourselves. Yishe, our walk leader, did carry a very small Tibetan flagÐlike he has everyday of the walk. We didnÕt get much response from passersby. A few honked here and there, but for the most part they just ignored us. The day wasnÕt that bad, actually. Del Scott of the Pebble Beach Company Private Security came rolling up on his bike after weÕd walked about a third of the dayÕs route and offered to escort us through. The 20-something-year-old said that heÕd be advocating for us while in the office, saying that he thought they were crazy for almost not letting us in. We were grateful for that. He was quite helpful, especially when we came to stretches of the road that were very narrow and windy. Also, while waiting for lunch, we saw two Orca whales out in the bay. They were amazing and all were in awe. Del said that it was only the second time in five years that heÕd seen any in the bay. Susanne came and fed us again. Unbelievable. After exiting the drive at the Carmel gate we quickly donned our signs and walking into the downtown shopping area. Lots of slogan smashing followed. I think the shoppers were a bit ruffledÐagain, the idea. We saw a lot of people and a lot of traffic. Especially once we left downtown and headed down Highway 1 (our route for about the next week). We managed to get our message out after all.
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