Sunset Beach - Day 1 When We Rely on the Kindness of Strangers

 August 27, 2023

We hadn't camped at Sunset Beach in Watsonville before but since it was the only campground with availability before we wanted to be available for when the baby comes, I took it.

While we worried about traffic on 17, we arrived quickly, and at just about 2:00, check-in time. There was a line of folks waiting to check in. The ranger wasn't granting anyone early entry. We were prepared for no dump station, but the website said water spigots. We guessed that meant we could fill up but the ranger told us the water was non-potable. We made a U-turn out of the park and drove into Watsonville, looking for a park that might have a spigot where we could fill up. I had no luck locating a place but Denis found a city park with RV camping and he thought they might allow us to fill up. He was right. The lady at Pinto Park said we were welcome to fill up and though she was supposed to charge us, she wouldn't.

After we filled up, we drove back through strawberry fields to Sunset. 80% of the nation's strawberries come from California, with 34% coming from the Watsonville area.


Our camping spot was advertised as a back-in. Instead, we are parked by the side of the road, and the beach is a long hike away. At least it is a fairly nice spot.

We headed to Corralitos Brewery. We had an empty growler from them and thought we'd fill it at the start of the trip. It is a nice local brewery. I had a seltzer and Denis a beer. There was a local band. We sat and enjoyed the drinks and the music but decided not to refill the growler.

Back at camp, I made dinner. We drove to the beach but the beach is the other side of sand dunes from the parking lot. We weren't feeling up to it - it feels like a longer day than it's been. A good day for an early bedtime.

Location: Sunset State Beach, Sunset Beach Rd, Watsonville, CA 95076, USA

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