Strawberry Fields Forever

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For three days we stayed at Sunset State Beach near Watsonville in the Monterey Bay area about 90 miles south of San Francisco. California has many state beaches, some with camping, some without. Some allow dogs on the beach; some do not. No services were provided at Sunset Beach, so we were "dry camping" here.

We could not help comparing coastal development in Florida where we spent three months RVing several winters ago with coastal development in California. Florida is dominated by housing developments, golf courses, and high-rise condominiums blocking view of the ocean and access to it. This section of California’s coast is dominated by artichoke and strawberry farming. Although agribusiness has co-opted most of the land right up to the sand dunes and cliffs overlooking the ocean, there is an abundance of state beaches so that access to the ocean is available.

Strawberry farms are everywhere in the Watsonville area. The next time you buy a non-local box of strawberries, look at the label. It is most likely from Watsonville, CA. As far as you can see, the landscape is divided up into fields with rows carefully hilled up high and shrouded in plastic with strawberry plants contentedly flowering and fruiting. Extensive greenhouses are interspersed between the fields and used, we imagine, to grow the baby plants. The old Beatle’s tune will never be the same for us.

One of the birding places we visited during our stay was Moss Landing and the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve--a big name for a wonderful salt marsh. Although the shorebird migration has not yet started on the west coast, we saw many birds.

Notably, the mouth of the estuary had an aggregation of several dozen sea otters, all lying on their backs and gorging on shellfish. Sea lions loafed on the beach and a nearby dock.

We also spent some time in the town of Monterey and visited some of the historical areas associated with Cannery Row and John Steinbeck's novel by the same name. Shops, restaurants, and tourists, not sardines dominate Monterey today. A good place to visit while in town is the Monterey Aquarium, although the day we chose was a Saturday and the aquarium was awash in kids and parents. We still had a good time!

Our next travel blog entry will probably be focus on our trip to Yosemite with son Nick from 24-29 April.

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Photos

Camp Site at Sunset State Beach
Our campsite was adjacent to the dunes at Sunset State Beach. Large, beautiful pine trees restricted the output of our solar panels, but we still produced enough electricity to meet our needs.

Sunset State Beach
View from the dunes. To protect the dunes, access was only by boardwalk.

Dogs Allowed on Beach
Dogs were not allowed on Sunset Beach, but were allowed on the adjacent Manresa State Beach.

Watsonville Agribusiness
Agriculture is big business in this part of the coast and all of the suitable land seems to be in production. This large, plowed field with rich loamy soil was ready for planting, probably to artichokes.

Artichoke Field
Although artichokes were as expensive as back in New York State, they certainly were fresher and better tasting.

Typical Strawberry Field
Rows are hilled up high, covered with plastic mulch (white or black), and planted with double rows of plants.

Strawberry Plants
Although strawberry plants are perennials, all the fields we saw seemed to have newly-planted stock.

Sea Lions on the Beach at Moss Landing
It was low tide and the sea lions seemed in need of a siesta.

Sea Otters in Water; Sea Lions on Dock
Moss Landing Bay was very popular with this group of feeding sea otters and sea lions lounging on the dock.

Cannery Row in Monterey
We were not sure what John Steinbeck would think of modern-day Monterey, other than it smells better without the sardine factory.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
Well worth a half-day visit, but try to avoid weekends.

Heermann's Gull at Monterey Aquarium
This individual in first winter plumage was begging for food at the aquarium.

Red Phalarope
Aviary at Monterey Bay Aquarium included a variety of rehabilitated seabirds, including this red phalarope in winter plumage.

View of Another California State Beach
We counted over 24 state beaches between Monterey and Pacifica, CA.

Sorrel ([i]Oxalis[/i] sp.)
Another pretty, but invasive species, commonly seen along the roadside on the coastal highway.