Explore hidden gems Pacific Northwest! Discover secluded beaches, majestic rainforests, and fascinating caves. Hike through untouched landscapes and witness breathtaking views.

The Pacific Northwest, a region known for its vibrant cities like Seattle and Portland, also harbors some of the most breathtaking and lesser-known attractions in the United States. Beyond the gleaming urban centers lie a plethora of hidden gems waiting to be discovered by the intrepid traveler. From secluded beaches to picturesque hiking trails, the Pacific Northwest offers a treasure trove of off-the-beaten-path experiences that can provide tranquillity, adventure, and awe-inspiring views.

Hidden Gems Pacific Northwest

Cape Alava in Olympic National Park

Situated in the westernmost point of the contiguous United States, Cape Alava in Olympic National Park, Washington, is a secluded beach that provides an escape from the crowded hotspots. Accessible via a 3.3-mile hike through lush forest, you’ll find yourself on a coastline strewn with driftwood, tide pools, and the opportunity to spot wildlife such as sea otters and eagles. Check the tide schedule; low tide reveals more of the marine ecosystem. Pack out what you bring in to keep this untouched beach pristine.

Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor

This hidden stretch along the Oregon Coast boasts secret coves, dramatic cliffs, and viewpoints that will take your breath away. The most magical time to visit is sunset, when the sun casts a golden glow over the Pacific Ocean. Visit Natural Bridges and Secret Beach for the most picturesque views. Bring a camera to capture the stunning rock formations and arches.

Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

The Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S. It offers visitors the chance to hike through its green canopies and moss-covered grounds. The Hall of Mosses Trail, an easy 0.8-mile loop, allows you to immerse yourself in the forest’s ethereal beauty. Remember to bring waterproof gear, as the area receives a lot of rainfall. Stay on marked trails to protect the delicate ecosystems.

Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon

The Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains is a paradise for hikers looking for solitude and splendor. Numerous trails offer varying degrees of difficulty, and the views of alpine lakes and rugged peaks are a joy for adventurers willing to venture further. Keep your eyes to the sky, you may see birds such as bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and ferruginous hawks. Obtain a wilderness permit before your hike. Prepare for altitude changes and pack accordingly.

Ape Caves in Washington

Located near Mount St. Helens, the Ape Caves present a fascinating underground adventure through one of the longest lava tubes in North America. With a flashlight and sturdy shoes, explorers can navigate the interesting rock formations and lava stalactites. Dress warmly as temperatures in the cave stay around 42°F year-round. Rent or bring a headlamp for hands-free navigation.

Enchanted Valley in Washington

The “Valley of 10,000 Waterfalls” promises enchanting sights within Olympic National Park. A 13-mile hike along the Quinault River leads to the Enchanted Valley, where waterfalls spill over cliff walls, especially during spring runoff. Be bear aware; proper food storage is required in the valley. Check for trail conditions ahead of time, as access can be affected by weather.

Safety Tips for Road Trips

When embarking on a journey to uncover these gems, remember that to reach many of them, you must drive on less familiar roads, which can be narrow, winding, or uneven. A Seattle car accident lawyer recommends using caution when driving under such conditions to avoid accidents. 

• Drive According to Conditions: Weather can change rapidly in the Pacific Northwest. Adjust your driving speed to match road and weather conditions.
• Stay Alert: Keep an eye out for wildlife crossing and fallen debris such as rocks and branches.
• Maintain Your Vehicle: Ensure your car is well-maintained, with tires and brakes checked before the trip.
• Fill Up Frequently: Remote areas may not have gas stations for miles, so it’s best to fill up when possible.
• Carry an Emergency Kit: Include items like a first aid kit, flashlight, blanket, and additional food and water.

By keeping these safety tips in mind, you can ensure that your quest for natural beauty is as safe as it is memorable.

The Pacific Northwest remains a region of immense natural beauty and hidden surprises. Whether you seek the serenity of a secluded beach, the grandeur of a rainforest hike, or the thrill of underground exploration, this corner of the United States holds a special allure for those willing to look beyond the beaten path. Remember to travel responsibly, respect the natural environment, and take precautions to ensure a safe and joyful adventure.

What are your favorite “hidden gems” in the Pacific Northwest?

Article about what you need to know about Seattle leash laws with a list and map of Seattle Dog Parks with off-leash areas.

Living in Seattle comes with its rules and regulations, including those concerning pets and leash laws. The regulations are in place to ensure the safety of pets, their owners, and the community. According to Elk & Elk, Co., Ltd.’s dog bite attorneys, King County reports over 300 dog bites annually. Dog owners must be aware of and comply with leash laws to help keep everyone safe and maintain a harmonious environment in the city.

Whether you’re a seasoned pet owner or a newcomer to the Emerald City, understanding these laws is crucial to ensure the safety of your furry friend and maintain harmony within the community.

What is the 9.25 084 law in Seattle?

Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.084 outlines the regulations regarding pets and domestic animals in state park areas. Animal control officers and local law enforcement agencies enforce leash laws. Violating leash laws can result in fines or other penalties. According to this law:

• Pets or domestic animals must be kept under physical control on a leash no longer than eight feet or otherwise restrained.
• They are not allowed to dig or disturb any state park area’s natural or cultural features.
• Certain areas, such as designated swimming beaches, natural area preserves, and public buildings, may prohibit pets, except for assistance animals for persons with disabilities.
• Pets may be prohibited in certain areas within state park areas to prevent conflicts with wildlife, protect sensitive natural systems, or ensure recreational and safety purposes, as approved and posted by the director or designee.
• Pet owners must dispose of animal feces properly in designated waste containers.
• Violations of this law are considered infractions under chapter 7.84 RCW.

Video from Seattle Parks and Rec about what your dog can do in Seattle parks.

Seattle Parks and Rec has a cute video explaining where your dog can roam in city parks and laws relating to poop-scooping.

Leash-free Seattle Dog Parks

List of Seattle dog parks with off-leash areas

• Blue Dog Pond Off-Leash Area
• Denny Park Off-Leash Area
• Dr. Jose Rizal Park Off-Leash Area
• Genesee Park Off-Leash Area
• Golden Gardens Off-Leash Area
• I-5 Colonnade Off-Leash Area
• Kinnear Park Off-Leash Area
• Magnolia Manor Park Off-Leash Area
• Magnuson Park Off-Leash Area
• Northacres Park Off-Leash Area
• Plymouth Pillars Off-Leash Area
• Regrade Park Off-Leash Area
• Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area
• Woodland Park Off-Leash Area

Map of Seattle dog parks

Below is a photo of a map on our site with off-leash dog parks. We keep a static image here to ensure that the map loads only for those who need it and to keep the loading speed quicker.

To view the interactive map, click here or on the map image.

Questions about dog laws in Seattle

Is it illegal to not pick up dog poop in Seattle?

Yes, it is illegal to not pick up after your dog in Seattle. Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.084 requires pet owners to dispose of animal feces in a plastic or paper sack and deposit it in a solid waste container. Failure to do so can result in penalties under Chapter 7.84 RCW.

Does Washington have a one-bite rule?

No, Washington State does not have a “one-bite rule.” Instead, it follows a strict liability statute for dog bites, meaning dog owners are held responsible for any injuries or damages caused by their dog, regardless of whether the dog has shown previous aggression or bitten someone before.

What is the vicious dog law in Washington state?

Washington State does not have a specific statute titled “vicious dog law.” However, it does have laws that address dangerous dogs. According to RCW 16.08.070, a dog may be declared dangerous if it has bitten a person or another domestic animal without provocation or poses an imminent threat to public safety.

Can you sue for a dog bite in Washington state?

Yes, you can sue for a dog bite in Washington State. If a dog has bitten you and you have incurred medical expenses, lost wages, or other damages, you have the right to pursue a personal injury claim against the dog owner to seek compensation for your losses.

Be a Responsible Pet Owner For The Health and Safety of Our Communities

Understanding and complying with leash laws and other regulations concerning pets are essential responsibilities for pet owners in Seattle, WA. By adhering to these laws, we can create a safer and more enjoyable environment for humans and animals alike.

It’s important to know about Washington State cycling laws and rules if you live and ride here. Stay safe — and have two-wheeled fun — on the roads by obeying important safety tips.

Cycling in Washington State offers a unique blend of breathtaking scenery and vibrant communities, attracting enthusiasts of all levels. From Seattle to Portland and the rugged coastline to the rolling hills of wine country, the state’s diverse landscapes provide endless opportunities for exploration on two wheels. However, it’s essential to prioritize safety and adhere to the rules of the road.

Understanding the Need for Safety

Before we pedal forward, let’s consider why safety is paramount. Recent data reveals a concerning trend—according to 2023 data from the Washington State Department of Transportation, there were 1,177 bicycle crashes reported, resulting in 18 fatalities, 168 serious injuries, and another 641 suspected minor injuries. While numerous factors contribute to these incidents, one thing is clear: following traffic laws can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and ensure a safer riding experience for all.

Essential Washington State Cycling Laws and Rules Every Cyclist Should Know

1. Stay to the Right:As a cyclist, your default position on the road should be as close to the right-hand side as practicable. Staying to the right allows for the smooth flow of traffic and minimizes the risk of collisions with vehicles. However, there are exceptions – when preparing for a left turn, overtaking a slower vehicle, or avoiding hazards, it’s acceptable to move towards the center of the lane. Under RCW 46.61.770, bicyclists can ride on the left (with the traffic flow) if it’s a one-way street.
2. Use Hand Signals: Communication is key on the road, and hand signals are crucial in conveying your intentions to other road users. Under RCW 46.61.758, cyclists must signal clearly and in advance before turning. Extend your left arm straight out for a left turn, bend it upward at the elbow for a right turn, and extend it downward to indicate stopping.
3. Obey Traffic Signals: Red means stop, green means go – it’s as simple as that. The law requires cyclists to adhere to traffic signals and signs, the same as motorists. Stop at red lights and stop signs, yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and proceed with caution only when it’s safe.
4. Ride with Traffic: Contrary to popular belief, cycling against the flow of traffic is not only illegal but also dangerous. Always ride in the same direction as the traffic flow, staying on the right-hand side of the road. Doing so ensures that motorists can anticipate your movements and react accordingly.
5. Use Lights at Night: Visibility is crucial to safety when riding after dark. Equip your bicycle with a white front light and a red rear reflector or light – it’s the law under RCW 46.61.780. These illuminations ensure you’re visible to motorists and other road users, reducing the risk of accidents in low-light conditions.
6. Wear a Helmet:While Washington State law doesn’t have an overall helmet mandate, some certain counties and cities do. For those counties and cities, the ages can vary from all ages to those under a certain age, such as 17 or 18. Regardless, riders of all ages should wear a helmet. Wearing a helmet significantly reduces the risk of head injuries in the event of a crash, providing invaluable protection for your most important asset – your brain.
7. Be Predictable:Consistency is vital to safety on the road. Maintain a steady line of travel, avoid sudden movements or erratic behavior, and signal your intentions clearly to other road users. Predictability fosters a safer riding environment for everyone.
8. Give Audible Warnings: When passing pedestrians or other cyclists, a friendly warning can go a long way in preventing accidents. Use your voice or a bell to alert them to your presence – a simple “on your left” or a polite bell ring can help avoid collisions and promote mutual respect on the road.

Additional Tips for Safe Cycling

Whether you’re attending a cycling event in Washington or going out on your own, here are some additional tips to stay safe.

• Stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings at all times. Scan the road ahead for potential hazards and anticipate the actions of other road users.
• Avoid distractions such as using your phone or wearing headphones while cycling. Your full attention should be on the road and your surroundings.
• Invest in quality safety gear, including reflective clothing and accessories, especially if you frequently ride in low-light conditions or inclement weather.
• Maintain your bicycle regularly to ensure that it’s in optimal working condition. Before each ride, check your brakes, tires, and lights to avoid unexpected malfunctions.

What To Do If You Are in an Accident

While you may have done everything you could to avoid a cycling accident, if you find yourself in one, contact the authorities and wait for them to arrive.

A Vancouver bike accident attorney relayed to keep the conversation with the driver to a minimum, keep all statements confined to the facts involved, and not provide any speculation regarding who is at fault for the accident or the state of your injuries.

Document the scene as much as possible and any injuries you may have suffered. After the accident, go to the hospital even if you ‘feel fine.’ It’s not uncommon for some injuries to appear hours after the incident. Not only should you take care of your body, but having documentation of any injuries could be beneficial later if you decide to pursue a legal claim against the person who hit you.  

Enjoy the Ride

Cycling in Washington State offers a blend of adventure, exercise, and exploration. By following Washington State cycling laws and the rules of the road and prioritizing safety, you can enjoy your rides with confidence, knowing that you’re doing your part to prevent accidents and promote a culture of responsible cycling. So, gear up, pedal on, and ride safely – the open road awaits!

Have questions or comments for the author about this post on Washington State cycling laws, rules, and safety? Leave a comment in the comments section below.

When I approached the stoplight at the intersection near my house, I was heading out for a ride, and the light was red. I prepared to stop, starting to lower my dropper post and brake when it turned green. Seat back up, stand on the pedals a bit to get into the seat and get going, and WHAM! Before I knew what was happening, my left bike pedal fell off, and I was on the pavement in the middle of the intersection

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As soon as I assured myself that I could get up after my bike pedal fell off, I grabbed the bike, ran out of the intersection, sat down until I could assess myself, and then walked home.

Fortunately, my bones held up. Nothing was fractured. My chin was bleeding. My left elbow had swelling in the joint capsule — and still won’t extend as easily or completely as it usually does, and I had a massive goose egg on my right thigh, which did not completely go away until a couple of months later. I fell on my left! All I can figure is that my saddle whopped me in the thigh. Anyway, the pavement was hard, the fall was unpleasant (as falls generally are), and it left me afraid to get back on this bike that I had started to love.

I had just purchased another Gore Phantom Cycling Jacket after my old, used one got coated with bike grease accidentally after I had an on-road repair I was amazed and thankful that it didn’t rip and saved my elbow skin. The skin on my knee wasn’t so lucky. Maybe I need to cover my entire body in GoreTex.

I was also grateful that when my bike pedal fell off, it was in low-traffic conditions, and no cars were close to me. I could have been much more seriously injured if I had gone down suddenly with traffic nearby.

Pedals don’t normally fall off a bike. Cyclists stand on pedals routinely. It’s something we do. Suddenly having one come off is like having the ground suddenly pulled out from underneath you; you have to trust that your pedal is going to take your weight.

So why WOULD a pedal suddenly fall off a bike? Why did mine fall off? What can you do to prevent it from happening?

Video

The video basically goes over the same things as this post, though in less detail, with me looking at the cone and cup bearing system on the pedal that was involved in the accident. Note that I do not actually adjust said pedal in this video!

Why did my bike pedal fall off ?

If your pedal comes loose or falls off, it generally indicates one of two problems: a problem with the pedal or the crank arm.

Fortunately, the reason my pedal fell off fell into camp #1

Installing bike pedals

This post isn’t about installing bike pedals, but I think I need to mention the subject here.

You likely know the following information if you’ve ever installed bike pedals. But perhaps you don’t if you’re someone who has a bike shop do 100% of your work and (like my spouse) stays content with the pedals that came on your bike.

I fall into the first group. I too frequently switch out different bike parts, so I’ve installed pedals on my bikes a number of times.

When you put pedals on a bike, the right pedal screws on the way you’d typically expect. The left pedal screws on the opposite way.

Generally, pedals don’t just unscrew themselves; they tend to tighten up as you ride.

Reason #1: Problem with your crank arm

However, even if you’ve installed pedals before, you can start to make a mistake. Maybe you’re thinking about other things and not being “mindful” of what you’re doing, as installing pedals is “old hat.” And you find that you’ve tried installing a pedal on the wrong side or screwing it in the wrong way even though you know better.

Such things can mess up the threads in your crank arm.

The guy at my favorite bike repair shop admits they even sometimes make mistakes. If so, they just back off and use a pedal tap tool to clean out and fix the threads in the crank arm, and then put the pedal in the right way.

I did not do this. I didn’t have a crank tap set and thought I would be “fine” when I found myself making a mindless mistake, and I just pulled the pedal out and then put it back in the right way.

This could cause a bike pedal to come loose. But it may be an easily fixable problem, not necessarily a reason to go out and buy yourself a new crank.

Of course, if your pedal keeps coming loose repeatedly, there could be a problem with your crank arm—you might need to replace it. If you’re like me, you don’t want the pedal to fall off your bike more than once!

After my bike pedal fell off, I took it to a bike shop for diagnosis instead of trying to figure it out myself. And, indeed, I had messed up my crank threads with my ham-handed attempt at screwing in the pedal the wrong way. Fortunately, the bike repair guy told me that the problem was fixable.

The verdict was that, though the crank arm threads needed some cleaning out, the fault was for reason #2: the pedals were not rotating freely.

Reason #2: Stuck pedal bearings/pedal cannot rotate freely (the reason my bike pedal fell off)

I’ll start with an honest admission that I do not really want to make: I noticed on the last couple of rides before my bike pedal fell off that my pedal was not spinning as freely as usual. However, it was rotating, and I mistakenly thought it was rotating “enough” and would not be a problem.

The pedal did not just fall off the first time I rode this bike. The problem occurred on a bicycle I built as a DIY winter project. At least DIY was the intention — I’ll admit that the bike shop near my house started recognizing my voice on the phone. To test it out and get back in a bit better shape before taking it to the road, I’d put it on a Wahoo Kickr and had been Zwifting (click here to use our referral link to try Zwift free for 30 days) with it during the winter.

My last ride just before the accident was a fun, muddy meander on a local trail. I returned home dirty but happy, having decided I really liked this bike, and lovingly gave it a wash down as it was covered in mud.

The pedals I installed on the bike are relatively well-known and have a reliable history. However, they have adjustable bearings. I don’t know if they could have got crud in them during my muddy ride that caused them to seize up. My bike repair guy didn’t attribute the issue to dirt but just pointed out that the pedals were not rotating freely. “I think they just unscrewed themselves as you were riding.” Indeed, the bearings needed some adjustment. He tried to fix them and the crank threads so they wouldn’t fall off again but added, “If you wanted to replace anything, I’d replace the pedals, not the cranks.

I had not even noticed that the pedal was loose. After this, I’ll be checking my pedals repeatedly. My husband won’t want to ride with me anymore!

Prevent this from happening to you!

A word of advice: manuals always tell you to inspect your bike before riding. Please do it! At least a quick check! If your pedal is rotating but not spinning as freely as usual, don’t ignore it. If your pedals are adjustable, come with a manual, and you feel comfortable doing mechanical stuff yourself, see if you can adjust them. If not, take it to your local bike shop. But don’t ride it this way.

Pay attention when you’re installing your pedals. If you’re talking to your friend and then notice you’ve started trying to screw the pedal in the wrong way — stop! Back off and examine your crank threads. Check with your bike shop if you need clarification on whether they’re OK.

If it’s a repeat problem and your pedal freely rotates, it might be a more severe issue with your crank arm. If you’re not a mechanic (and you’re likely not one if you’re reading this), please consider taking it to your local bike shop for inspection. They’ll tell you if it’s fixable or if you need to replace the crank.

You were using platform pedals! Would this have happened with clipless pedals?

I added this question here because someone asked me: Would this scenario have happened if I had been using clipless pedals? Who knows? Probably not, because it would have been a different set of pedals in different installation circumstances.

But I see no reason why it couldn’t have happened with clipless pedals under the right (or rather wrong) circumstances.

I recently started using flats after years of using clipless pedals. I’m not 100% sold on platform pedals, but I decided to make the change now that I’m not riding a speedy road bike or trying to race.

I think that if I was clipped in with the SPD pedals I used to always use when my bike pedal fell off, the result would have been much the same. Who knows? It could have been even worse if my foot was still clipped into the right pedal when I fell.

Indeed, I wouldn’t have had to venture out into the street to grab my errant pedal—which had flown off the bike quite a distance—but I probably would have ended up removing my shoe to get out of the street, as I know from experience that it can be difficult to unclip an SPD pedal affixed to a shoe that’s not attached to anything else.

Since then, I purchased different pedals, not glamorous and shiny ones like the ones that fell off, but the same black pedals I have on my bike as they’ve been good to me. I’ve started riding my me-built and me-powered bike again — a bit. But since my pedal fell off, I am trying to re-establish trust with this bike I lovingly call the “pastel disaster.” Hopefully, I can rebuild my relationship with this bike I worked so hard to build — but my eye has already been straying to other bikes.

Have your pedals ever fallen off your bike? Do you have any additional input on this topic?

You can leave a comment below. Also consider signing up and helping me to create the Cycling General Topics group and forum on this website. I’ll enter this as a topic in the forum there as well.

Viking City or “Little Norway” are names sometimes given to Poulsbo — a small but reasonably rapidly growing city on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State.

“Little Norway” because the town’s first (non-native) permanent settlers were from Norway and Viking because, well, who of us with Norwegian heritage doesn’t like to think they have Viking ancestry! And it makes for fun festivals and wearing of helmets with Viking horns.

People come to Poulsbo and say, “Wow! This place is cute!” The town’s Front Street certainly fits that description. But it’s a lovely town overall. I live here, so I think I’m in the know.

Background and History

Norwegian Roots

Jorgen Eliason is considered the first permanent European settler of Poulsbo. In 1883, he rowed his boat into Dogfish Bay (one of the former names for Liberty Bay and still used to describe part of it) and set up his homestead. I can understand what the Norwegian settlers saw in the area. Liberty Bay, which Poulsbo surrounds, is like a fjord. Riding my bike toward town off Lemolo Road, I’m greeted with water and stunning views of the Olympic Mountains.

A patient of mine once told me that if you lived in Poulsbo 100 years ago, you’d be speaking Norwegian and HAVE TO speak Norwegian here. Even three or so years ago, a man confronted me with Norwegian when I entered the Sons of Norway for the annual Lutefisk dinner. I explained that I didn’t speak it, and he shook his head sadly. Kids these days! Can’t even speak the language!

Even though you can’t find so many Norwegian speakers — or Norwegians — in Poulsbo these days, Poulsbo really gets into its “Little Norway” vibe. Signs say “Uff Da!” in giant letters, it holds an annual Viking Fest celebration around Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day) every May, and Norwegian flags abound.

Fun Facts

• Did you know that Laura Palmer did not wash up on the shore in Twin Peaks? She did so right here in Poulsbo! The scene where they found her body was filmed at the Kiana Lodge.
• In the 2020 census, the population of Poulsbo was 11,970, up about 1000 over the 2018 population. Like any other town, it’s growing. Apartments and condos are cropping up near the “downtown” area of Front Street.
• How do you say Poulsbo? My kids always criticize me for this. It’s not POLLS Bow, but PAULS Bow. According to the city of Poulsbo website, the name came from “Paul’s Place,” and the Postal Service is blamed for the misspelling. True? Likely. However, a few years back, I met a Danish man who said that the current spelling is “just as it should be from a Scandinavian perspective.”
• According to Wikipedia, Liberty Bay’s original name, Dogfish Bay, came from the dogfish oil used to grease logs that made up roads.

Do you know of any other fun facts about Poulsbo?

Visiting Poulsbo WA: Things to do in Poulsbo

Poulsbo can be a day trip from Seattle, but you’ll need to account for time when taking the ferry both ways, as it’s on the Kitsap Peninsula. Depending on your location and traffic, you can take either the Edmonds or Seattle ferry. As with any ferry travel, I’d recommend looking at the WS-DOT app (iOS Android) or the Washington State Ferries schedule to determine how the ferries are running, plan your trip, and determine which ferry to take. Depending on your timetable, it can be a part-day stop en route to the Olympic Peninsula. Or you can stay a while and take more time to explore.

Map

The map below is a static image to keep this page loading quicker and prevent excessive map loads. If you click here or on the image, you can access the live map with a list of all the locations on it. We haven’t listed every location in Poulsbo, but if there’s one not on the map you’d like to see, you can add one here. If you do, be sure to tag it “Poulsbo.”

Likewise, we did not list every business in Poulsbo in this post. “Walk down Front Street and explore” covers a lot!

Walk down Front Street

Most visitors like to walk down Front Street, which is the “cute” part of town.

Actually, not all of the locations below are on Front Street. Where they require a significant walk or drive from “downtown,” we’ve noted it.

While you’re there…

Meander into galleries and do some shopping

As you walk down Front Street, you’ll find several gift shops and galleries. One of my favorites is the Verksted Gallery, which is an artists’ collective—meaning that it has art from various artists and is a great place to look for gifts.

If you’re a book lover, you’ll want to check out Liberty Bay Books — a small, independent bookstore; you can easily see it by its bright, yellow exterior.

Get something to eat

Visit Sluy’s Bakery

It seems every visitor to Poulsbo wants to go to Sluy’s Bakery — and with good reason. The foremost reason is not that it’s where “Poulsbo Bread” originated, but the many yummy treats you’ll find there. Our kids always loved the colossal dough boys. Our choice? Probably the Viking Cup with cream cheese.

Visit Mama’s Armenian Kitchen

You might miss this unique little bakery if you’re not careful. It’s located up a stairway from what, at the time of this writing, is Cafe Cocina That’s the coffee place right by the red English phone booth on the corner of Front Street and Jensen Way.

And you might miss Mama’s Armenian Kitchen because it’s only open on Saturdays from early morning to mid-afternoon.

Or you might NOT miss it because of the line out the door! And the wait is worth it. You might need to ask what some of the items are — you can’t always tell from the chalkboard. And do try the Turkish coffee. You’ll have to wait a bit for it but it’s worth the wait if you like coffee.

Go for coffee at the Poulsbohemian Coffee House (or somewhere else)

If you want to stop for coffee in Poulsbo, we’d recommend the Poulsbohemian Coffee House because… it’s very Poulsbo. It’s in a little yellow cinder block building. You can stay, get coffee in a ceramic cup, and look out at Liberty Bay if my favorite spot isn’t taken. If the day is nice, you’ll find a couple of Adirondack chairs on the side overlooking the water. If your dog is with you, there are a few tables out front.

Other Poulsbo coffee locations are great, too, though!

You can spot Cafe Cocina by finding a place with a fence, a mural, and a red English phone booth on the corner. It has very nice indoor and outdoor seating. Cups is right on Front Street and seems to be a favorite for people who want to gather on the sidewalk and watch passersby.

Get Ice Cream

If you want ice cream, your choice near Liberty Bay is Island Cool. But if you want to drive out of the central part of town (but not too far), you can visit the Viking Ice Cream Forge on Viking Way (if they’re open) or buy a pint of it at Red Apple Grocery next door if they’re not.

Go to a Brewery

Does it say something about Poulsbo that we have FIVE breweries and a cidery within a fairly small city? Does it mean that we’re awesome? Or that we drink a lot? Or both?

Right on or near Front Street, you can visit Valhöll, Western Red, and Slippery Pig (which also has food), and if you want to take a long walk or a short drive up to Viking way, you can go to Rainy Daze or Echoes. And a slightly longer drive will take you up Highway 3 to Bushel & Barrel Cider House.

There are even a couple of beer runs every year (St. Patrick’s Day and Oktoberfest) that see people in costume running (or meandering) from brewery to brewery.

Restaurants

There are plenty of restaurants in Poulsbo, but if we need to take visitors out to dinner, we usually end up going to one of two places:

1. The Loft, because they have good seafood and a large outdoor area — part of it is covered but you can still see the bay from that area
2. Burrata Bistro — indoors for their bar and tapas, outdoors in the Summer for their full menu. I’d primarily been in the bar area. I didn’t realize their menu’s extent (and wonderfulness — is that a word?) until we took visitors there for a complete meal.

Sogno di Vigno, too, is good for Italian food — especially in the winter if you can get a seat by the fireplace or on the upstairs brick-surrounded terrace, which has heaters in the winter.

Things to See

Sculptures, Murals, and Public Art

Viking Statues!

Poulsbo has TWO Viking statues! The (smaller) one in Waterfront Park is of King Olaf. The larger one sits outside of “downtown” on Viking Way and is a 12-foot tall sculpture of a Viking with a sword and horned helmet!

The Poulsbo Norseman statue often gets dressed up for various events and has sported everything from beer steins to bunny ears to sombreros. It’s fun. I met one local who thought it “disrespectful” to dress a “proud Viking” in such an outfit.

In Waterfront Park, you’ll also encounter some Viking weaponry! The Guardian Stone is a sculpture by Bremerton Artist Lisa Stirrett depicting swords stuck in a stone. To my knowledge, nobody has pulled them out and made themselves King or Queen of Poulsbo. To my understanding, the sculpture is inspired by a similar statue in Norway.

Murals

Off Front Street, you can find a vast mural proclaiming “Uff Da!” on the side of Slippery Pig Brewery. What does Uff Da mean? You MUST know that if you visit Poulsbo. It’s commonly used to express or commiserate with someone else’s frustration. So, if you spill your beer from Slippery Pig? Say Uff Da!

You’ll also notice a giant, colorful Viking ship mural in town. It is on the side of Boehm’s Chocolate Shop – so you have no reason NOT to stop for chocolate.

Museums

Poulsbo doesn’t have many museums, but if you want to learn more about local history, you can visit the Poulsbo Historical Museum and Maritime Museum and the Hyak sandwiched between the two. It’s a mosquito fleet steamer boat that used to sail the area.

Suppose you’re visiting with kids (or a kidult who likes marine life)? In that case, the SEA Discovery Center is a small educational center with hands-on activities. I also should have listed it under sculptures, as a large Octopus statue is out in front.

Outdoors

You might imagine that since Poulsbo is right on Liberty Bay, it would be an excellent place for boating. You are correct!

If you have a boat:

1. I am envious of you. Be my friend.
2. You probably already know this.

Go kayaking on Liberty Bay

But even if you’re like me and have had smaller boats, you know it’s an excellent place for kayaking. You can rent a kayak at Olympic Outdoor Center from May through the Summer months. You’ll find their rental place right by the marina.

And if you have your own?

You can launch your kayak near the marina, but there are some other sites I’ve used more often: Oyster Plant Park has a few convenient parking spots nearby, a dock, and a beach area—yes, there are oyster shells, so I hesitate to launch the inflatable I have now there, but I used to use it all the time for my hard kayak.

If you want to venture farther down out of Poulsbo to Keyport, Keyport Saltwater Park is another spot I’ve put in when the tide was high. But you’ll have to paddle down a distance to get to Poulsbo.

The Kitsap Water Trails has a convenient, interactive map for paddlers of where to put in.

Take a walk in the Fish Park

Poulsbo’s Fish Park is a 40-acre park on the Dogfish Creek estuary with 1.5 miles of easy trails. It’s a great place to relax and take a stroll — and a favorite place for dog walkers! We’ve added a route map and a video with more information about the Fish Park here.

Upcoming Poulsbo Events

The list below includes future events from our calendar that are located in Poulsbo. However, for the official listing of events, visit the City of Poulsbo’s events calendar.

Gallery

You can view any photo we’ve tagged “Poulsbo” on our site in our Poulsbo gallery. Or add your own.

Your experiences?

Have you been to Poulsbo as a visitor? Or live nearby?

What are your favorite things about Poulsbo or things to do there?

Leave a comment to add something we may have left out or you can add a location if we missed on on our map.

If you get emails (who doesn’t) you’ve likely see a little button in the email header or list to Unsubscribe — at least in Gmail.

Email providers like Gmail are getting more stringent about email headers and having an easy way for people to unsubscribe.

Our email list already has an unsubscribe function, but to comply with best practices we decided to also add unsubscribe headers to our emails from our email list.

But, in testing it, it seems that we clicked on our own unsubscribe header, sent to our admin email address. We thought, apparently, that would be OK and it would just unsubscribe us from our own email list for our admin email. No big deal.

What it did, in reality, is unsubscribe us from ALL admin notifications. So if you used our contact form, asked a question in our FAQ section, added a new post, we likely didn’t get notified. The exception seems to have been with getting notified about event submissions, for some reason. Those were still coming in.

So there are a few things I want to note here:

1. If you sent us an email with our contact form, we have no way to recover it. We weren’t trying to ignore you. Please email us again, unless it was spam. Then don’t.
2. If you asked a FAQ, we just found it and have responded.
3. Know that if you click an unsubscribe header rather than an unsubscribe link in an email newsletter, you may be blocked from receiving ANY notifications from that email, not just newsletters. We, for some reason, did not realize this.

So the issue seems to be fixed now and we are, again, receiving notifications. But we feel a bit like this:

About the Enamel Pin Raffle

We’re finally holding another raffle. Generally our raffles are for small stuff and this is no exception. It’s an enamel pin raffle.

For April 2024, we’re raffling off some of our enamel pins. Some have been bestsellers, some…not so much.

We’ve stopped selling this on our site but still do in our Etsy shop. This may be your last chance to get the Space Needle earrings.

We’re also throwing in a couple of “mystery pins” that are one-off leftovers (one is a mermaid Furby and the other says “Pokemom”. We will not be seeing these again!).

As we’ve had trouble with international shipping previously and we have only ONE of some of these items, we’re only opening this to US residents.

The enamel pin raffle will close on April 30 and we’ll ship the pins a few days after that. You must enter a valid email address so we can reach you and confirm.

You can get extra entries by following us on social media — but it is not required. Registering for the giveaway does NOT register you with an account on our website.

Friends and family cannot enter the enamel pin raffle. If you win and we cannot contact you within five days of the raffle ending, we’ll go on to the next contestant. Additionally, if you are not in the US, we’ll go on to then next in line. Because we want to make sure bots are not entering and a person who wants to enter is actually entering, we require email confirmation. You’ll receive an email to confirm that you wanted to enter and you must follow up with the link to confirm.

About our enamel pins

The pins (and earrings) are of our own design — due to the process of making enamel pins, we did not make them. You can find most of them in our Etsy shop if you’d like additional details about the size of each..but they’re pictured below except for the “mystery pins.” The frames, of course are NOT part of the pin ! The Space Needle pins (and earrings) are licensed by Space Needle LLC, which means a portion of the funds from them go to support the Space Needle.

Get notified if we have future raffles

If you’d like to get notified of future giveaways, you can sign up below:

If you want to subscribe to additional content areas, you can do so here.

FYI we use RafflePress for giveaways.

If you are a reader or writer of fantasy, you know the rule that any magic system has to come with a cost. WordPress has a nifty thing called “plugins” which allow you to perhaps too-easily add features to your website. There’s a whole WordPress plugin repository where you can choose from over 50,000 different plugins to download and install for free.

Of course, they all come with ads for their “pro” version which offers extra features. But I am 100% on board with that — plugin developers need to earn money for what they do and their free versions let people try out some features before they know if the pro version will work for them.. But this isn’t about that.

The point that I was getting around to was that plugins are a bit like magic — they offer benefits but often come with a cost, some more than others.

When I’ve created a website for someone else, I add what’s needed and no more and I’ve had excellent results with fast websites. The problem is that I seem to want my website to be the Mary Sue of websites — that is, overpowered with ALL the features and none of the cost. Which is not realistic. Maps? Sure! Recipe plugin? Why not? A calendar in admin to keep track of all of the posts that I’m not writing now because the calendar plugin has slowed the admin area to a crawl? OK! I’m like a kid let loose in a toy store. But WordPress plugins are not toys! This is my inner mama speaking! Did I mention in was late at night now?

I’ve been using WordPress for a long time. I still cannot get over the tempation to keep adding “features” on to a website. I’ve questioned if it was just a way to avoid writing — but I ENJOY writing, photography, posting things. But adding to much has cost me greatly — in the sense that it has kept me at the desk much more than I would like and away from doing the things that drew me to blogging in the first place.

So I’ve had to consider what I actually want on this website and start to remove some things that were slowing the website down so I can get back to what I like doing most.

Chances are, this is your first time on this website. If not, you may notice some things looking just a bit different.

I won’t go in to great detail but I had to consolidate some headers and things that were customized for different kind of content to reduce queries to the database, if that makes any sense. And I’ve had to make the decision to remove some things that really weren’t needed.

Right now here are some things to keep in mind as you browse the website

• I’ve removed footnotes, due to conflicts with a plugin that would have me changing each and every occurence of them AND they were impacting site speed. I used to tend to write with copious amounts of footnotes so some posts may appear odd in certain places with symbols like this (()) or . I’m going through posts one by one to do some light editing but it may take a while to remove all these occurrences. For those in the know about WordPress, I am not doing this with a search and replace because, in some places, it would end in errors. (UPDATE — I keep updating this — I am bringing back footnotes with a different functionality. This will replace many existing footnotes, but there are some I’ll still need to fix by hand. For some things we would like to write, I find not having the ability to insert a footnote be…annoying).
• NOTE: this part was edited after the fact. I was going to remove the shop page and started to do so…but decided to keep it open at this time. But we’re starting over from scratch with what we’re listing and how we’re doing so. Stay tuned.
• I removed popups. In a few places where click to open information popups used to exist, they may not open anything until I can get to editing that page.
• I removed point systems and badges (but we are experimenting with how to re-implement this without a dramatic impact to how our admin area loads).
• We removed all sharing buttons except on certain gallery lightboxes. We found that while our sharing buttons used to get used, most people are sharing content now using the built in features of their mobile devices rather than website share buttons. I sort of liked how they looked, but they were one of those things that came with a cost with little benefit (other than showing that a few of our posts had a lot of shares).
• We removed the clickable shortlink at the post header. Also speed cost with little benefit.
• We removed the coffee cup post rating (NOTE Later: then we re-inserted it. We found that, though this makes a minimal impact on site speed, it was not the thing that was slowing our admin area and we like having the feedback and this way to do it, in particular. We recalled most of the ratings and have re-added existing ratings, at least as we recall them.)
• Because I’ve removed some features, some of the FAQs may be a bit out of date, but I will have to edit them as I get to them because I want to get outdoors and also back to adding content here.
• Because the ability exists and doesn’t really seem to exert and extra impact, I’ve added some groups and forums. While there’s already so much content online I don’t really expect that they’ll grow large, I like having forums for discussion and, at the very least, will offer another channel for subscription for people who don’t want to subscribe to email newsletters but want to keep posted on some types of content.

And what’s coming up? Here’s what I hope to do in the near future:

• Some PNW town profiles. Get back to writing about what we like. Local places. Occasionally travel. Doing things.
• Some videos, including some recent bike issues.
• More photo galleries.
• More photography posts.
• The first “quarterly” newsletter in a very very long time.
• AND we are trying to implement a way to at least offer some pay to guest authors for some types content. We originally wanted this to be a multi-author blog and initially had some guest authors, but went off the rails with other projects and things when the pandemic hit — which at this point was years ago. But we’ve dropped other blog and have realized we would like to continue this one.

Thanks again for visiting, and for sticking around if this isn’t your first time here.

Sigh no more!  Summer is coming.  I love being outdoors, and I love theater, so one of the many things I’m looking forward to this summer is attending some outdoor Seattle Shakespeare in the Park performances.

We’ve just updated this post for 2024 and are still adding more productions as we know about them — so it will be automatically updated as we add new plays.

Recently (or recently when I first wrote this post), I had seen Seattle Shakespeare‘s (indoor) performance of Shakespeare in Love at the Cornish playhouse.  Sadly, “Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter” shall remain one of Shakespeare’s um…lost…plays, but outdoor performances of his published plays abound in our area, including that of Ethel’s lesser cousin, “Romeo and Juliet”.  And many of them are, blessedly, free.

Seeing Shakespeare performed outdoors seems, somehow,  right. Performances for most troupes are during July and August to catch the good weather — though, around here, we never quite know what to expect.  Remember to pack your own seating and some extra layers for evening performances.  I especially love the mid-afternoon performances on a sunny day — a perfect time to pack your festival blanket and a picnic.

Free Seattle Shakespeare in the Park Productions

Put money in thy purse (but if you enjoy the show, consider a donation to the theater company).

Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival

The two-day Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival (mostly Shakespeare but with some other plays as well) festival is held annually in July in Volunteer Park.

GreenStage

GreenStage puts on several Seattle Shakespeare in the park productions — usually two full length productions and two abbreviated “Backyard Bard” productions — at parks around the Seattle area each Summer.

Wooden O

Wooden O is the summer outdoor Shakespeare branch of Seattle Shakespeare Company. They generally put on a couple of Seattle Shakespeare in the park productions each Summer.

Island Shakespeare Festival

The Island Shakespeare Festival is an annual event in Langley on Whidbey Island; performances are pay what you will.

Last Leaf

Last Leaf used to put on two one-hour versions of Shakespeare plays — but for 2023 they put on six productions of one play: The Taming of the Shrew…set in the 1950s. We’ll see what they have in store this year for their Seattle Shakespeare in the park productions!

Not free, but affordable and worth it

Outdoor Theater at Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend

The Key City Public Theatre in Port Townsend has put on several plays, not all Shakespeare, at Chetzemoka Park in years past.

Bainbridge Performing Arts performance at Bloedel Reserve

BPA puts on an annual Summer Shakespeare in the Park production at lovely Bloedel Park.

Shakespeare Northwest in Mount Vernon/Skagit Shakespeare Festival

Shakespeare Northwest in Mount Vernon annually alternates two Shakespeare plays each Summer.

If you can: Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Not in the Puget Sound area, but wonderful if you can attend: The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. This annual festival is HUGE. Many of the plays are indoors but be sure to catch an evening outdoor Shakespeare production at the Allen Elizabethan Theater. This theater was designed to be like a “Wooden O” type theater. It’s been modernized and improved in recent years. It doesn’t really look/feel like, for instance, the replica of the Globe in London, but it’s great to see a play there, the productions are wonderful, and in Ashland, the too-hot Summer days turn into just-right evenings.

While you’re there, take in the backstage tour, be sure to catch some of the street performances, and go to Lithia Park (but I’d avoid the “Lithia Water). Stay a while, stroll in town, and visit some of the restaurants. There’s also camping — about six miles up the road, if I recall.

Outdoor Theater List: Seattle Shakespeare in the Park, PNW Outdoor Shakespeare, and Outdoor Theater in General

The map followed by the events list is for future events inclusive not only of Shakespeare in the Park events but other outdoor theater events as well — in Seattle and in the PNW in general (but we tend to focus on NW Washington). It will fill up as we add events for this year, and then empty as the events complete. Recurring events will be shown more than once. That’s just the way it is.

Do you know of any other events? Add your feedback.

Do you know of any other outdoor Shakespeare performances that should be in this post?

If we missed anything (and likely we did) we’d love to add it. Or, if you know something that should be here, you can add an event.

Shakespeare Trivia Quiz

Just for fun, we added a Shakespeare trivia quiz here. You can also find it on its own post where you can find a leaderboard for the quiz.

For a log time, we’ve had a post detailing many of the summer Shakespeare in the Park events in the area. In updating it this year, we decided to go ahead and add a Shakespeare trivia quiz. But we put it in its own post as well, so it will appear in our trivia area. You can take it in either place.

About the Shakespeare trivia quiz

The quiz is 15 questions long which are drawn at random from our bank of Shakespeare questions. Which means that it may not be the same quiz if you take it more than once. Additionally, we may be adding more Shakespeare questions as time goes on. The questions are mostly multiple choice, but we may mix in a few fill in the blanks or text answers here and there and some questions may be choose ALL of the correct answers. Answers for multiple choice questions are randomly sorted.

At the end, if you pass, you’ll have the opportunity, if you are registered and logged in, to put a badge on your profile. We like our participation medals!

Take the quiz

Leaderboard

One good resource for some facts about Shakespeare’s life is the Folger Shakespeare Library. But don’t peek before the quiz!

Geeky might have been an insult when I was a teen…but it seems that geek culture has come into the (somewhat) mainstream and it’s easy to find events, merchandise, etc. on themes of everything from anime to comics to gaming. This is a list-type post of PNW geeky events.

A number of events on our calendar fall somewhere into the “geeky” category, so we thought we’d put together a specific post full of upcoming events from anime conventions to steampunk festivals to GeekCraft expo.

The map has the location of the various events in the list, then the list beneath it shows events in chronological order — future events only, so they’ll disappear from the list only to reappear again if we add the new date for next year to the calendar.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible for us to limit the recurring events, so if an event was submitted with multiple recurrrences, they’ll all show up here.

Do you have a favorite of PNW geeky events not listed here but should be? You can visit our submit an event page and make sure to at least choose the category “Geeky Events.”

Or you can leave feedback here and let us know more.

We just added this favorite PNW pie places poll to get opinions about your favorite pie in the Pacific Northwest for this post.

Our focus when we wrote the post was on the Seattle area and greater Western Washington. However, we’re interested in hearing about your favorite pie place in the PNW as a whole.

So you can enter your own response. Please just enter a custom response ONCE as we’ll need to approve it before it’s shown (we only want pie places on the poll, after all).

Spring is here at last! Bulbs are starting to bloom and some sunnier weather is hopefully on the way (at least, if you’re reading this post in the Spring). Time for some Spring festivals to start getting out and enjoying this time of year. This is a list post featuring any future event on our calendar tagged as a Pacific Northwest Spring festivals or events, but we always seem to have a focus on Seattle Spring events and those around the Puget Sound area where we live. If you want to narrow it down by location, the map shows the locations of the events in the list.

As it features future events, we may get more here as the year progresses, then the list may empty itself out, only to start filling up again for the next year.

As usual, the list will usually feature more events around western Washington as that’s our stomping grounds, but we’re open to events from Oregon, Idaho, and BC as well. If you know of any Pacific Northwest Spring festivals that should be here, you can submit it here and make sure to tag it as Spring Festivals or Spring Events.

Seattle Spring Events (and greater PNW events) Map

Seattle Spring Events (and greater PNW events) List

<br>What’s your favorite Spring festival or event in the PNW? Leave a comment and let us know. You can also leave comments on any of the specific events.

I’ll let on to what our favorites are: the Northwest Folklife Festival, Poulsbo Viking Fest, The Tulip Festival (can you tell?), or just about any birding event.

Also, not a festival…but viewing the cherry blossoms the short time they’re out is lovely. Some great local places to do that are the UW Quad, the Washington Park Arboretum or if you’re down there in Portland, at the Japanese Gardens, of course. Perhaps we’ll write a post about just that this coming Spring!

Do you use bike radar? Take our bike radar poll below and register your opinion.

You can find this bike radar poll, as well, in the following posts on the topic of bike radar:

• Do you need bike radar? (which also goes through many of the available devices.
• How to install the Garmin Varia RCT715 on places other than your seatpost.
• A review of the Garmin Varia RCT715

If you’d like to leave additional feedback, you can do so here.

Every February at the Seattle Conventions Center, you can find magnificent garden displays to remind yourself that Spring is coming and to ignite inspiration for your own gardening projects.

The Northwest Flower and Garden Festival is going on from February 14-18, 2024. I had the chance to preview some of the garden displays — the gallery below is a glimpse at some of the exhibits.

Of course, in addition to the wonderful displays which far exceed anything I plan to do with my own yard, you’ll also find a weekend full of lectures where you can learn an abundant variety of gardening skills as well as a full hall of vendors.

This year’s festival, as usual, has some astounding displays. There wasn’t an “extra” theme this year as there was in 2019 when I went to the festival to see the “Fleurs Coutures” exhibit (though I did spy one floral dress outside of the festival proper).

My favorite was The Secret Garden — a veritable fairyland full of little fairy doors and waterfalls, all housed in a giant stump. Perfect for those of us who love hobbit-y places.

2024 Northwest Flower and Garden Festival Gallery

Hover over the images in the gallery below to learn more. Click the image if you’d like a closer look. You can also view the gallery on its own, fullwidth, page here.

You can also learn more about each of these displays at gardenshow.com.

If, like me, you’ve tried using bike radar, you might find that you don’t want to ride without it. But if, like me, you get a new bike or modify your existing bike so that you find that you can no longer readily use your radar unit on your seatpost, what do you do? This post is about a couple of creative ways I’ve used for installing Garmin Varia RCT715 when I could not install it on my seatpost.

The Garmin Varia radar units (view on Amazon) come equipped with bands for installation on your seatpost. But what if, for instance, you decide to install a dropper post? And what if, perhaps, you also like to carry stuff on top of a rear bike rack that obscures your Varia unit?

The instructions for these units also specify a minimum height from the ground to be effective and also need to be installed straight-on, rather than at an angle.

There are, of course, workarounds for these obstacles, and it took some time to figure out what would work for my bikes.

Mounting options for Garmin Varia bike radar units

The Garmin RTL515 unit (view on Amazon) — the one without the additional video camera — uses the same quarter-turn mount as the Garmin Edge cycling computers (view on Amazon) and is, additionally, a much lighter weight device. As such, there are quite a few alternate mounting options including saddlebag clip-on mounts and saddle mounts.

However, I went all-out and got the Garmin RCT715 (view on Amazon). This is a larger, heavier unit because it includes a video camera ((I suppose in case someone kills you at least there maybe was a video of the accident. Very reassuring.)). And it uses a different mount than the smaller units.

The issues

My e-bike was the first to get the Varia. But there were issues.

If I used my Po Campo Vernon trunk bag, which I love, the unit would be obscured. And with the dropper post and the size of my rack, anyway, it didn’t work. If I strapped the unit on at the bottom of my dropper post, the rack obscured it, at least partially. And I couldn’t connect it to the stanchion of my dropper post for obvious reasons. I use a Brooks saddle. Connecting the unit to the saddle also didn’t work well and was still obscured if I use the trunk bag.

In the photo above, you can see that if the bag were fully loaded it would block a Varia in any seatpost or saddle mount. Mounting a Varia on the stanchion just wouldn’t work, and there’s no room to mount it below that as it’s blocked by the ebike battery.

Note that I DID try out the Varia on another bike with no rack by mounting it with the straps around the dropper post collar, and that did work. What you can’t see in this photo is that, in the back, the ebike has a wired rear light taking up the 50mm tail light bolt holes on the rack. As I don’t want to disconnect that, installing there wasn’t an option.

So what to do? It took some creativity.

Let’s look at what my solution was for installing my RCT715, as well as some alternate connectors for the other Garmin Varia units.

What the Garmin RCT715 comes with out of the box

Out of the box, the Garmin Varia RCT715 only comes with some collars to be able to attach it to a seatpost and some silicone straps to hook those on (The photo below includes a plate I detatched so I could install it using the method below, as well.)

Alternate connectors for the Garmin RCT715

When it comes to finding alternate connectors for installing Garmin Varia RCT715, the choices on Amazon are limited. You’ll find that they have a seatpost mount and a saddle mount.

The best solutions I could find for being able to tweak installation of the unit were from BUP Labs.

They make a variety of mounts, including some for installing Garmin Varia RCT715. These, combined with some GoPro mounts and arms, finally did the trick. I had experimented with 3D printing some RCT715 adapters. However, I found they were too weak for my comfort if printed with PLA. It wasn’t worth it to try printing with a new material when I could buy a mount from BUP.

Be careful when you’re ordering a mount from BUP. In most cases, you’ll need to get two pieces: the mounting base and the mount arm. However, with my ebike, I ended up not using their mounting baseplate. For my purposes, I just needed the Garmin RCT715 mounting arm so that it would connect with GoPro connectors.

If you have an available light mount on your rack, you can just get a GoPro-compatible rack light mount plate. BUP has one available on their website. Then, you have to get the mount arm specific to the RCT715. This part has the hole at the top to connect it to a Garmin mount. You then unscrew the default seatpost attachment from the plate that came with the Garmin and then attach it to the one you received from BUP Labs. You can kind of see this in the photos below.

But I had an issue: my light plate was taken up. Any place I tried to install the Varia was blocked or would end up being at an angle, or too low.

My Solutions to Installing Garmin Varia RCT715 on my bikes

Installing Garmin Varia RCT715 on my ebike

With my e-bike, what I finally did was this: get creative.

My bike rack is hefty and I found that the GoPro bike handlebar/post-seatpost mount with the smallest rubber shim would clamp on to the back of my rear rack.

Mounting the BUP Labs mounting arm directly via a Gopro connector and short arm would have resulted in it not being place correctly, so I used some HSU GoPro arms and adapters to lengthen the placement and put the Varia device into a straight-on position. This has held up quite well, and has stayed in place during rides and even in carrying the bike on the back of my vehicle (though I always remove the Varia before transporting the bike).

Installing Garmin Varia RCT715 on my gravel bike

At some point I wanted to go “analog.” Soon I was down the rabbit hole of building a bike from parts. However, I’d grown attached to traffic input from the Varia RCT715. I wanted to also use it on my new bike. In many ways, my new me-powered bike is set up like my ebike. It sports a Brooks saddle, dropper post, and rear rack. But my new rack also does not have an available spot to add the mount.

However, do not believe that I will be carrying a bag atop this bike rack unless it’s camping gear. In that case, I’ll be mostly off-road where the point of a radar device becomes moot. So, that opened up the possibilities for installing the unit closer to the saddle.

Because this bike also has a dropper post, a seatpost mount option was out of the picture. And, again, I have a rack, so mounting it at the bottom near the dropper post collar was out. The rack would, as well, obscure it. Additionally, the dropper post I am using is a RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR . Its battery compartment takes up quite a bit of space under the saddle. Between that and the width on the outer part of the Brooks B-17 carved short saddle rails, I could not use any of the available saddle mounts I could find. And, no, I’m not giving up my Brooks saddle!

Fortunately, Brooks saddles have those two little loops. And zip ties exist.

I used a bike rack light mount and zip tied it to the loops on the saddle.

Yes, it dangles a bit but, so far, it’s worked fine and the zip ties have held it securely.

Here’s a view of the BUP mounting arm for the RCT715 from the back:

Summary

If you’re struggling with installing Garmin Varia RCT715 because, like me, you like weird bike setups, don’t give up! Get creative and you’ll find somewhere to place it.

Bike Radar Poll

Have you found any other creative ways for installing Garmin Varia units?

If you ride your bike on roads often, especially in busy traffic, you’ve likely had some close calls — or at least some vehicles that have come a bit too close for comfort. A number of bike radar devices are available these days that are a bit like having eyes in the back of your head. They let you know via both a visual and sound alert on your phone app or bike computer that a vehicle is approaching behind you. Most, but not all, serve double duty as tail lights. One, the Garmin Varia RCT715 which we reviewed here (with some video clip included) will also record videos, either by choice or in the case of an incident.

This post is just about some of the various devices available on the market. We haven’t tested them all. And it includes some affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and make a subsequent purchase we may get a small commission that helps to offset the costs of running this site.

Incidentally, I decided to try my hand at AI image generation via Canva for this post as I didn’t want to use the same photo for everything. The text “Digital art style image with a woman on a pink bike with rearview bike radar and an approaching cute car” generated the hot pink featured image, rather than a woman on a pink bike, but I decided to just go for it.

Bike Radar Units on Amazon

Garmin Varia

The primary maker of bike radar devices is Garmin. And, as you can imagine, the devices pair well with the Garmin Edge series of bike computers. Using them with an Edge device allows you to both get alerts and to control the various features of your device. You can also do so by using the Varia app, though I don’t like its interface and feedback as well as other devices and apps.

You can also use a Wahoo bike computer with these, pairing them via ANT+ and a couple of phone apps — Ride With GPS and Cadence — will also pair with Garmin Varia Devices. However, you won’t be able to control the device features, such as camera or lights, from these apps.

Garmin Varia RCT715

Buy on Garmin | Buy on Amazon | Read our Review

We own the Garmin Varia RCT715 and reviewed it here, though we’re not sure we really need the video feature. This is the most feature-rich of Garmin’s radar devices, including both the light and a camera which will record still photos or video and has incident detection which is supposed to start saving a video clip if it detects an incident.

Weight weenies will note that it’s the heaviest and largest of the Varia devices.

You might also want to note that this comes with its own mounting system. Other devices like the RTL515 use the same quarter-turn mount that Garmin’s Edge computers use. Therefore, it’s somewhat easier to find alternate mounts for these devices.

If you use a standard seatpost and aren’t prone to stacking stuff up on the back of your rear rack, you’re in luck: it’s easy to install using the seatpost mount that comes with silicone straps — I believe all the Garmin devices come with a similar seatpost mount setup.

But if you have a dropper post, you may need to get more creative in your installation of this light. If you’re interested in that, read our post about how we mounted the light in different places on our two bikes which both have dropper posts and rear racks.

It’s also, of course, the most expensive of the radar devices, generally selling for $399 unless you can find it used or on sale.

Garmin Varia RTL515

Buy on Garmin | Buy on Amazon

The Garmin Varia RTL515 is much like the Garmin Varia RCT715 except it doesn’t have the camera feature, making it a bit smaller and lighter. In our review of the RCT715 that we mentioned previously, we have a weight comparison chart.

This one generally retails for around $199.

Garmin Varia Rearview Radar

Buy on Garmin | Buy on Amazon

This unit comes with a tail light device which you can purchase either on its own or with a head unit which will show you approaching vehicles if you do not have or want to use a bike computer or phone app.

The tail light alone costs about $199, while the package of both head and tail unit costs $299 at the time of this writing.

The tail light on this one brightens and flashes when it detects traffic approaching.

Garmin Varia RVR315

Buy on Garmin | Buy on Amazon

If you already have a rear bike light and don’t care about video features, the Garmin Varia RVR315 will give you the rearview radar in a smaller, lighter package.

And, of course, it’s more affordable. At the time of this review, it is retailing for $149.99

Garmin Varia eRTL615

Buy on Garmin | Buy on Amazon

I was curious what was “E” about the eRTL615. It turns out that it plugs into compatible ebikes so it keeps that light charged.

To connect it, you’ll need to purchase a compatible Garmin cable. The compatible bikes they mentioned are Bosch and Shimano ebikes. So you might have trouble connecting one to your Specialized Turbo ebike.

As it integrates with (some) ebikes, you can expect that it would be more on the pricey end of things. At the time of this post, it’s retailing for $299.99.

Other Brands

Not all cycling radar devices are Garmin. You’ll find other devices from one-off retailers. Note that we haven’t had the opportunity to test all of these devices ourselves.

Many of them cost much less than comparable Garmin devices. Most will also have the same issues with installation — for instance needing to figure out alternate ways to install them if you use a dropper post.

Bryton Gardia R300L

Buy on Amazon

As far as we can tell, Bryton makes but one radar device at the time of this writing and it’s the R300L.

This one ranges in price from $109-95 – $129.95 so it’s significantly less expensive than the comparable Garmin RTL515. It appears that the interface and alerts are also similar to the Garmin units.

While it says that it will pair with the Bryton Gardia app or a Bryton bike computer, responses from buyers on Amazon also indicate that it will pair with Garmin Edge computers as well.

The battery life on this may be comparable, or even better, than a Garmin unit…but that, of course, also depends on how you’re using it. The large Garmin RCT715, for instance, boasts video features that suck battery life out of it. This unit does not include that, so you can expect battery life to be better in comparison.

The rear light, I believe, is about 78 lumens — so pretty bright for visibility.

iGPSPORT SR30

Buy on Amazon

This one ranges from $139.99-$159.99 at the time we’re writing this post. Like most of the Garmin devices, this one has several different light modes that you can cycle through.

It pairs with the iGPSPORT bike computer or app — but it says that it will connect to any bike computer with “standard connection protocols.” So it should connect to your bike computer.

Reviews on Amazon have been very positive for this one, with many reviewers comparing it favorably with Garmin Varia devices.

Magene L508

Buy on Amazon

The Magene bike radar tail light appears similar to many of the other units in that it has several different light modes available.

It has fairly high reviews on Amazon but not quite as high as the other units mentioned here previously.

The light will flash to when it senses approaching traffic as an extra warning.

You can use Magene’s app or computer, but it also will pair with Garmin Edge devices, with Byrton devices, or with Wahoo Roam or Bolt devices (we’re not sure about the Elemnt).

Bike Radar Poll: Let us know your opinion!

Have you tried any other bike radar devices we haven’t mentioned here? Leave a comment and let us know!

If you ride your bike in traffic, be it for commuting, fun, or fitness, likely you’ve had close calls or have been nervous at some point even if you haven’t actually had an incident. Bike radar devices — usually in the form of a tail light — can help make you safer — or at least feel safer — on the road. Garmin makes many of these devices under their Varia banner. Put the device on your bike and it alerts you as traffic approches, both with an alert on your device and a sound. The Garmin Varia RCT715 takes this a step further — taking a video of the approaching vehicle.

I have a hard time giving stars or a numerical rating to a product. Doing so becomes easier when I’ve written several reviews about competing products. As this is the first time I’m reviewing a bike radar item, I just set up the review starts with my feelings about several salient areas in regards to the device. Sometimes it would be easier to give a product a simple “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.” As I’ve continued to use this device and put it on whatever bike I ride, now, this one deserves a thumbs up.

During this review, I’ve added a few short video clips to give you the idea of how some of the functions appear on different devices. Perhaps I’ll combine them into a full video review someday, but today isn’t that day.

If you’re interested in other bike radar devices that are available, we wrote a post about all of the bike radar devices that we know of.

This post has some affiliate links in it, which means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may get a small commission that helps to offset the costs of running this website. However, I AM an actual owner of this device and paid for it myself. This isn’t a sponsored post.

Garmin Varia RCT715 Areas Rated

Let’s look at the areas I discussed in the rating stars:

Reliability

If you’re using radar, you want your device to be reliable.

In terms of remaining connected to my device, the Garmin Varia RCT715 has been very reliable. Once set up, it was easily found by my device and turns on and stayed connected to the device — unless, of course, I let its battery run out.

As far as reliability in detecting oncoming cars, it’s also been pretty spot-on, at least with its yellow-zone detection of upcoming cars. There’s also a red zone for cars that are approaching quickly and seem like a danger. This has not been quite as reliable, more on the side of false positives than with any false negatives. Sometimes I cannot see why it thought the small car was a red-zone threat but not the huge truck that came too close for comfort and left me with a gust of wind in its wake.

But I’d never 100% trust my safety to an electronic device. I consider this a supplement to safety and not a replacement for both my mirror and a visual check.

Price

With its $399 price tag unless you happen to find it on sale or buy it used, this is the most expensive of Garmin’s Varia units. You’re paying for the extra video features, here.

Ease of Use and Installation

If you have a bike with a standard seatpost and don’t like to pile stuff on top of a rear rack, installation is very easy: just use the silicone straps that come with the device and fasten it onto your seatpost.

However, if you use a dropper post or you like to pile stuff on a rear rack that will block the device, you may need to get creative.

Other Garmin Varia devices use the same quarter-turn mount as Garmin Edge bike computers. Not so the Garmin Varia RCT715. It’s a heavier device that has its own mount with a push-down lever to secure it. And with my rear rack and dropper post, it was more difficult for me to find a way to install this where it would both both be high enough from the ground and not at an angle.

Read the post about how I got just a bit creative with installing the Garmin Varia RCT715.

Improves Safety?

The big question, here, is whether having a radar device on your bike actually makes you safer. Or does it just make you feel safer? Certainly, if a car veers off and hits you, there may be little you can do about it. I tell myself “well…at least maybe they’ll have a video so they know what happened…”

As I said above, I consider this a supplement to safety, along with a mirror and visual checks. I’m not exactly young anymore. For years I rode a drop bar bike without any mirror and was fine but, lately, I have some mild shoulder and neck issues. I still do a quick check before I move over, of course, but having a mirror and the radar device makes me more confident in my checks before moving over. I also find myself moving even more to the inside of the shoulder, if I have room, when it senses an upcoming vehicle.

In a quick search, I didn’t find any studies on the efficacy of bike radar devices, the same way I found evidence that, yes, wearing neon yellow DOES make you safer and more visible to traffic. But my feeling is that the device does improve my safety, at least by a margin. And anything helps.

Garmin Varia RCT715 compatibility with different devices and apps.

Here’s one of the device’s limitations. If you want to use a Garmin Varia device, you have a few options:

Garmin Varia app

The Garmin Varia app pairs the Varia device to your smartphone to alert you of approaching vehicles. You can also use it to control the camera or, theoretically, to view videos. However, I found that when viewing videos on the app, most were “locked,” and none would actually play unless I downloaded them first.

And here’s what I mean by download: it puts them in the “download” folder in the app. From there, there’s no link to actually download the video to your device.

Below is a brief video of viewing photos and videos on the Varia app. Once I reach the “downloads” folder, that’s it — there’s no link to actually download that video to your camera roll.

If you want to get videos off the device and save them on your computer, the best way is to plug the device into your computer, and you’ll then find them in the Garmin folder to save to your heart’s content.

Garmin Edge Cycling Computer

If you use a Garmin Edge cycling computer, you can also use that for alerts and for controlling your camera as well as the bike light modes. You can’t of course, view your videos on the device.

In the video, I had just turned on the device but even though it said that a light network was not formed, as you can see it was giving feedback. After you turn the device on and wait for a few it will say “light networked formed.”

Ride With GPS

I love Ride With GPS and use it with the Garmin Varia RCT715 for most shorter trips and rides, and I prefer its feedback with the Varia over that given by the Garmin Edge or the Varia app.

Using GPS on your phone, though, does suck the battery, so for longer rides I tend to use my Garmin Edge. One of the limitations of Ride With GPS is that — at least at the time of this writing — you cannot control the camera with it, as you can with the Varia app or the Garmin Edge. Nor can you control the light modes of the Varia. You’ll need to choose your light mode manually before you start your ride.

For the most part, though, I haven’t been actively controlling the camera, just trusting that the camera would take a video if there was an incident. Still, it would be nice if they could somehow include the ability to take a photo or intentionally record video with the camera as the only time I’ve had connection problems with the Varia is if I attempted to connect two devices at once. And, in my opinion, the Varia app leaves a lot to be desired but is pretty easy to use for snapping a photo or video and the Garmin Edge is cumbersome when it come to using the camera controls.

When I recently looked at the videos on the device, I had many from 2023…but none from my more recent 2024 rides. So, perhaps, I do want to clear that card occasionally and perhaps I do want a way to control that camera when I’m riding.

Cadence

I have not used Cadence, and so I do not have a video here, but it appears that, as with Ride With GPS, your feedback is both sound and a little line on the side with a car on it that turns yellow, red, or green depending on approaching traffic.

Does my Wahoo bike computer work with the Garmin Varia RCT715 ?

I do not have a Wahoo bike computer and it used to be the case that they were not compatible. But, now, you can pair your Varia device with their Elemnt computers using Ant+. I don’t have an example of the feedback provided by the Wahoo as I don’t have their Elemnt bike computer.

Battery Life

The life of the battery in the Garmin Varia RCT715 really depends on how you use it. If you use it with the light on solid and the camera on it will, of course, use the battery much more than if you turn the camera off and keep it on day flash mode.

This means that for long rides, you’d want to turn that camera off and have it in day flash mode — you might get 10 hours out of it if you start with a full charge. Garmin suggests that the battery life is four hours with solid on and camera enabled.

It also might eat up more of the battery life in the device to which it’s connected. On my ebike, I can just plug the device in to the bike to maintain power, or (theoretically) into my dynamo charger on my non ebike. I say this theoretically here as I just hooked up the thing and am trying to determine if I actually have the thing working.

But when it comes to a taillight, I can’t really plug it in on the fly. Unless, I guess, I had a power pack back there and a cord coming out of the bag. But having things like that behind me makes me a bit nervous and my only bike mishap occurred when I thought something had fallen out of a jersey pocket and I looked back to check.

Tail Light

With all of its other features, I almost forgot that the Garmin Varia RCT715 is also a tail light and not just a radar unit! The tail light has four modes that you can cycle through by a push of the button after turning on the device or by using the Varia app or your Garmin Edge device. As I noted before, you can’t control the lights within the Ride With GPS app.

Solid mode is 20 lumens, night flash is 29 lumens, day flash is 65 lumens, and there’s an 8 lumen “peloton mode,” so, I guess, you don’t blind your fellow riders. There’s not an option to have the light entirely off and still have the radar on. I have another rear light on my bikes, but I guess one more light doesn’t hurt.

I think that if the Garmin Varia RCT715 were my only light and I did much night riding — which I don’t — I’d likely want another, brighter, light to increase visibility.

Weight

Compared with Garmin’s other bike radar devices, the RCT715 is a heavyweight. But I’m no longer (much) of a weight weenie as I’m riding for fun, fitness, and transportation these days and not trying to race.

Based on the data on their website, here’s a breakdown of the weight of their various radar devices:

Garmin Varia RCT715	5.2 oz (147.0 g)
Garmin Varia RTL515	2.5 oz (71.0 g)
Garmin Varia RVR315 (radar only, no light)	1.8 oz (51.0 g)
Garmin Varia eRTL615	1.8 oz (50.0 g)
Garmin “Rearview Radar” (includes light and a head unit)	Radar display unit: 1.0 oz (28.5 g); Tail light: 2.2 oz (63.5 g)

“Additional Features”: The Camera

The special feature of the Garmin Varia RCT715 is its camera. The camera, from what I read, is continuously recording, but then saves a video if it detects an incident. You can access recent clips from the device by plugging it into your computer or by using the Varia app.

The best way, again, to view photos and videos is directly from your computer. The Varia app is, mostly, ok just for a quick viewing of the videos.

I haven’t had the chance, fortunately, to test the feature that saves a video during an incident.

You can’t expect the video from a device like this to be GoPro quality. This isn’t intended to be a high-quality video for your YouTube fans. This is for having proof that the idiot knocked you off the road into the ditch or worse.

But is it legal to record following cars? In the US, if you’re on a public road then, yes, it is legal to do so. From what I read, the Supreme Court has established that in the public space there is no expectation of privacy. So, yes, it’s legal here in the US to take videos with a Garmin Varia device. If you are worried about this, you should consult the laws for your country.

Below is an example of a video I downloaded from my Garmin Varia RCT715 during some errands. Wide-angle footage, shaky — of course — because it’s on a bike.

Summary

For me the Garmin Varia RCT715 has been quite a dependable device. It’s just a bit like having eyes in the back of my head, making me feel safer on the road. However, I’m not sure if I need the video feature. But if I ever do have an incident, perhaps it will be helpful. Maybe it would help to have a sign on my bike saying, “You are being recorded!” Whether that would encourage better or worse behavior from drivers, I’m not sure.

Bike Radar Poll

Below is a poll about your experience with bike radar devices in general. You can also find it on its own post.

If you’ve used the Garmin Varia RCT715 specifically, what has been your experience? You can leave feedback here or leave a comment below.

This is a list post of Pacific Northwest birding festivals. If that interests you, read on!

Have you been to any of these events? What did you think? Let future readers know which ones you’d recommend or any other details they should know. Alternately, you can visit the individual event and give it a rating.

If you love birds, going to a birding festival is a great way to learn more about the avian friends in our area, gain some photography skills, listen to some great lectures, and go on some wonderful field trips, including cruises in come cases.

Below is a list of the upcoming Pacific Northwest birding festivals that we know of; many are Washington State bird festivals.

Pacific Northwest Birding Festivals Map

The map is of the locations of these events, with an event list below it. It only features future upcoming events so as the event occur they’ll disappear off of this post, to show up when we’re able to post the date of the event for next year. The list doesn’t include ALL birding events that we may have on our calendar — just events that we’d call “festivals.”

Pacific Northwest Birding Festivals List

The list of events below shows events currently on our calendar in the birding festivals category. Rather than future events only, we’ve chosen to show all events in this category — so past events may be included. Most are annual events that we plan to update for the next year once we know the dates of the event.

Share your favorite Pacific Northwest birding festivals

Do you know of any birding festivals (PNW only) that should be here?

Or you can submit an event! And be sure to select the tags of birding festival or bird festival. We’ll also add more to the list as we find them!

Are you a bird nerd? Take our PNW bird identification trivia quiz and find out. You can find other trivia quizzes on our website here.

The quiz consists of 30 questions asking you to identify the bird. They are NOT multiple choice — you must fill in the answers. As such, they do require you to spell correctly, though we’ve made a few allowances and we’ve adjusted for some alternate common names for birds. You can choose their scientific or common name, but the scientific name will NOT score you extra points.

The top scorers will show in the leaderboard below. And if you pass (75%) you can get a “certificate” if you care about such things. Note that we have discontinued profile badges on our website as we found that the system was having a signficant imact on site speed and usage.

Many bird photos of our own. Where we did not have one, we’ve used photos from places such as Unsplash that are permissable to use.

PNW Bird Identification Trivia Quiz

Leaderboard: Top Scorers

Back in the 1980s, what is now the Taproot Theater in Seattle used to show double features. It was a favorite moviegoing place for teenagers as some of the seating in the back were on old, dilapidated double sofas. Otherwise known as “makeout spots” for some people. And you could get in and see two movies for cheap.

Some 25+ years later, I sit on a movie theater sofa to watch a movie again. Only this time, the sofas are eclectic and upscale — and in good repair — and they are located in a beautiful room on the upper floor of an old Port Townsend building. Next to them on the table is a craft beer, a local cider, and popcorn in a ceramic bowl with real butter (not the stuff that passes for “butter” at most mainstream theaters).

Port Townsend’s circa 1907 Rose Theater has long been a favorite of mine. Although I don’t live in PT, I don’t get there as often as I’d like. They’ve long had good popcorn — and good ambiance.

However, in 2013, they also opened the Starlight Room on the building’s third floor. A long staircase or elevator takes you up to the theater, where you’ll find, when you go in, a bar serving beer, cider, and specialty cocktails, as well as their excellent popcorn, candy, and hand-dipped ice cream bars.

As you step into the theater, a well-lit room with floor-to-ceiling windows offering breathtaking views of the water and the Cascades greets you. The seating arrangements are comfortable, with plush chairs and sofas. The room is already equipped with lush drapes, thanks to its previous life as a photography studio, making it a convenient and luxurious movie-watching spot.

As the showtime draws near, a sense of anticipation fills the air. The curtains are gracefully lowered, and the chandeliers dim, setting the stage for the main event. The screen descends in front of the front windows, and the announcer steps out. They share a few tidbits about the upcoming film, as well as a sneak peek into the other shows playing at the Rose Theater. And then, it’s showtime. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the unique movie experience at the Starlight Room.

Where is the Starlight Room?

You’ll find the Rose Theater and Starlight Room at 235 Taylor Street in Port Townsend. The map below is a static image. If you’d like to view the live map page, click here or on the map image.

Do you know of any other small, independent, unique theaters in the PNW? We’d be interested in hearing about them!

Love cycling? Here’s a list of Pacific Northwest cycling events with an emphasis on Washington State cycling events, as that’s where we live — but cycling events from Oregon, BC, Idaho are also listed and accepted.

The list, here, only shows future events — so it will empty of old events and only show upcoming events — which means that, at times, the list may empty out until we update the event with new dates when we know them.

The map shows the start locations of the various events to make it easier to find events near you and events in the grid are ordered by event date, not location.

Do you know of a cycling event that should be here? Submit an event! We’ll also add more to the list as we find them! Maybe you’ll even ride past me at one (if I get making progress toward my goals again after a recent bike accident made me hit the pavement!

Pacific Northwest cycling events map

Upcoming Pacific Northwest cycling events list

Our faves

To be honest, most of our longer-distance rides are somewhat in the past (though we’re trying to get back into it even if that means riding an ebike, though we have an acoustic bike, too). But we’ve been present, also, at some events.

To be honest, the most fun I’ve had at an event was when they used to do the Ride the Wave in Issaquah. I still have my “Ride Like a Girl” jersey though I need to get it to fit again and I’m riding just a bit more like an old lady now.

And to be very very honest, one of my favorite cycling events these days is INDOORS — the Seattle Bike Swap (pictured above).

We are VERY sure that there are some events we’d prefer but if you asked US to pick a few rides to do this year, these would be our choices:

Any Cascade Bicycle Club ride but especially…

Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle hosts many of the major rides including the Chilly Hilly and the STP. Any of their rides are well organized but I’d do:

Seattle to Portland

The annual Seattle to Portland ride is around 200 miles in length. Many riders do it in two days at a more leisurely pace but I know several who’ve done the one day ride, including my brother who said it was basically just keeping your head down and going all day — not my kind of ride.

Chilly Hilly

The annual February Chilly Hilly takes riders around very hilly Bainbridge Island. The ride is a bit over 30 miles — 33 or so I think. It may be hard to get motivated to ride in February weather, but there IS chili at the end. I’m guilty of often doing a non-chilly hilly (in July) by myself in the past.

The Emerald City Ride

They’ll be closing down the West Seattle bridge for the 20-mile Emerald City Ride in May (at least in 2024 when I’m writing this – I understand there was some flak about the closure) so it’s your chance to ride with some great scenery.

Tour de Lavender

I love the Olympic Discovery Trail and Sequim! The August Tour de Lavender takes you to a bunch of lavender farms in Sequim during prime lavender season and on part of the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Viking Tour

The Viking Tour takes you from Poulsbo around Kitsap County (depending on the length of your ride). It used to coincide with the annual Poulsbo Viking Fest, but was moved to later to avoid Viking Fest traffic. I’m partial because I live here and because of the word “Viking.” I feel like one should add horns to their helmet. You can also ride around Kitsap as an organized ride later in the year with the Kitsap Color Classic.

What are your favorite Pacific Northwest cycling events? Questions and Poll

What are your favorite PNW cycling events?

Leave a comment or take the poll. If there’s an event we haven’t listed here, we’ll likely look it up and add it to the calendar — and to this list!

Viking Cruise ads on PBS, with their image of their “longships” winding their way down rivers past castles and palaces, hooked my spouse who, for a long time, dreamed of going on a river cruise. Request more information, and your mail will be inundated with a steady stream of brochures cataloguing all of their river and ocean cruises as well as upcoming deals. Well, it finally worked on us. In 2023, we finally took the plunge and went on a Viking river cruise for our anniversary.

My spouse was all-in. I was excited but also a bit apprehensive. I’ve found that the trips I’ve enjoyed the most have often been self-planned excursions with mostly flexible itineraries.

Our cruise was the eight-day “Paris and the Heart of Normandy” cruise on the Seine. I’d been to Paris before but my husband suggested this specific cruise as it put us on the ship right by the Eiffel tower on our anniversary and I had been learning French so he thought it would be nice for me to go there again. We added on three days in Paris prior to the cruise– in part, to recover from the air travel so we could enjoy the cruise more and so we would have some time in Paris together (I’d been there before, he hadn’t except on a Eurostar trip there and back in one day).

Along the way, we found that many to most couples we met were combining cruises to visit more countries. When we would tell them we were just doing this one, we’d get the sad, knowing nod, “Ahhh…not retired yet, are you?” Ah, to have the type of retirement that allows you to go on two Viking Ocean voyages and then three back to back cruises!

But then, I’m not sure I’d want to –though I’ll admit I AM tempted by their Antarcica expedition for the nature photography aspect.

This isn’t a “trip report” (I may write one specifically about our cruise in a later post), but some things we loved (and didn’t love) about our experience. We all have different things we love. I’m an introvert and some of the things I enjoyed only in small doses — like dining with new people at dinner most evenings — are things you might love about a cruise like this.

Our opinions in a nutshell? My husband is eager to do another one sometime, but does admit he enjoyed our self-planned drive around the Scottish Highlands much more.

Me? There is so much to do in the world! While I cannot really say anything negative about the ships, the places, the food, or anything else, if I had to pick just a few places I could go or trips to go on again in my life, it would not likely be a river cruise — unless it was a cruise specifically geared toward, say, bird or nature photography or to a place I might otherwise not travel alone. So I AM tempted by some of their ocean cruises and would consider that next time over a river cruise.

Also note that we booked and paid for our trip ourselves. This is NOT a sponsored post on behalf of Viking.

Thinking about a Viking Cruise?

Do you enjoy meeting new people, visiting new places but are OK with only visiting them for a little bit of time? Do you love good food and dining? Have you not been to Europe (for instance) before and are nervous about travel and want a comfortable way to take your first trip abroad? Do you have mobility limitations, or are you traveling with someone with mobility limitations? Do you want to travel in a moving hotel that goes place to place without having to move your luggage? A Viking Cruise might be just the thing for you.

Are you someone who is obsessive about planning their own trip itineraries? Do you like to spend a significant amount of time in a single place or dislike group tours or group dining? Are you looking for a language immersion experience? Perhaps a Viking Cruise is not the trip for you.

What follows are my thoughts on some aspects of the trip, in random order. While I brought my camera on this trip, it was an anniversary trip with my husband so my attention was on togetherness vs. my photography habit, for the most part and I didn’t take videos.

But for those who want the short version, here’s my quick list of likes and dislikes (or pros and cons), also in random order:

What I liked on the Viking Cruise

• Sitting on our veranda, watching scenery, taking photos of the passing landscape or birds.
• Visiting some villages I likely would never have visited and getting off the ship to explore.
• Being able to go place to place with our stuff in the same room.
• Finding there was ample storage under the bed for all of my stuff.
• The food.
• The cappucino machine.
• Resting on the sofas on the top deck.
• The ships were very well-run and clean.
• Meeting some new people.

What I didn’t like on the Viking Cruise.

• Group tours.
• We found, sometimes, that we didn’t want to do group dinners and tried to find tables for two on the upper deck at meals.
• Viking-planned air travel.
• Limited time (the nature of a cruise) in the various ports of call.
• I’m not sure if this belongs on the “don’t like” list, but your fellow passengers are generally like you in that they were entirely English speakers and most of them from the US. Not great if you’re looking for a cultural/language immersion experience.

Dining and Drinking on a Viking River Cruise

I can’t talk about a Viking Cruise without talking about the food.

Oh, the food!

Viking plans menus around cuisine from the country in which you’re traveling; if you’re not getting off the boat to actually sample some local cuisine, you can feel like you’re getting a taste of the area you’re visiting.

All of the dinners were absolutely delicious. I eat mostly a pescetarian diet, but I decided, before I went, to eat whatever was on the tasting menu that night. I even ate escargot — something I thought I’d never touch. And it was wonderful! But I won’t be trying to make it at home.

Breakfast is buffet style but there was a terrific omelet bar and loads of options. Lunch was less formal than dinner, but still good. I gained weight.

Vegetarian and Gluten Free Options

This is the one area of dining about which I heard a few of our tablemates complain. The menus did offer some vegetarian and gluten-free choices — but extremely limited ones, and repetitive. One fellow cruiser found, though, that she was able to special-request some items to expand the foods she could get on the cruise.

Cappucino and Cookies!

Such a small thing, but such a pleasure! Our room was near the snack bar with a selection of cookies, tea, and pastry most of the time. But the star was the coffee machine which dispensed unexpectedly good cappucino. I’m generally not a fan of machine-made drinks but a frequent subject of conversation at the coffee machine was how one could get a machine like this (and how much it might cost).

Community Dining

Dinner aboard a Viking Cruise is a chance to meet your fellow cruisers. The ships are small enough that you see the same people regularly — possibly for better or worse. Our cruise director suggested that they could sort of discreetly arrange it so you could avoid certain people if you were having an issue. I’m not sure if he was joking, or not. I don’t think that he was. I didn’t meet anyone that I actively disliked aboard the cruise. Most people were very friendly.

And the adage that it’s a small world holds true. We were surprised by a couple of people we met on the ship and how, out of everyone in the world taking a cruise, we ended up on a cruise with them.

But us introverts became tired of constant introductions and wanted some alone dining time during this anniversary cruise, so we balanced eating in the formal dining room with eating in the less formal front deck dining area, where we could often find a table for two and were able to see the outdoors.

The Drinks Package

After our cruise I told my daughter that her father had “bought the drinks package.” Her response was, “well, of course he did.” And buying the drinks package — an extra fee that covers bar drinks and the better wines vs the standard table wine they serve during dinner (which, in my opinion, was fine) — is a “no-brainer” if you plan to drink and want the best. In our case, at least, it paid for itself and more.

We noted that the maitre d’ was very attentive to people with the drinks package, anticipating my spouse’s needs as he walked into the bar area and shewing away the servers who had dared to serve me the regular table wine.

There is a tendency, at least in my case, to have the, “I’m going to get my moneysworth!” attitude, which resulted in my drinking more than I, perhaps, should have as alcohol in general tends to disagree with me. I’ll keep this in mind on the next cruise, if there is one.

The Veranda and Rafting Up

All rooms have a view of the river. We had a veranda room where you could walk out onto a small deck where there were two seats and a small table.

I enjoyed having this immensely and found it worth the extra expense — it allowed me to shuffle down to the cappucino machine and then back, and slip out onto the veranda in the early morning if I was up before my husband or to find a quiet and private place to sit and watch the scenery go by as the ship was moving down the river.

However….

Do not expect that you will necessarily have a good view when the ship is docked. Often, the river boat cruises will dock up, due to available space, with one ship alongside another.

This was the view from our veranda on the first night of the cruise:

Not only that, but there were lights which seemed to shine from overhead right into the gap between the curtain and the window, which were keeping me up when I desperately needing sleep.

I understand the need for the ships to do this, and most of the time, our room faced the land side when we were docked, but it was an irritant for that one night, and something that prospective river cruisers should know.

Being on a river, we went through several locks along the way — if you’re smell-sensitive, you might want to close your sliding door for this. I was intrigued by the locks and tended to sit out on the veranda and watch the boat go up and down.

Should you let Viking Cruise book your airfare with your cruise?

Should you book air travel along with your cruise or manage your own?

In our case, if we go on future Viking Cruises, we’ll likely book our own airfare.

The air travel they scheduled for us included a very long layover in Montreal, which then turned into an additional nine hours of layover due to airline issues. By the time we got to Paris, I was extremely tired and irritable, and my husband felt sick. (Not contagious sick, air travel sick, but the delay and fatigue cut into our time in Paris more than expected.)

Viking wasn’t responsible for the additional 9 hour layover, of course. However, they were responsible for the initial long layover. And I get the feeling that layovers like this are commonplace.

Fortunately, if the unexpected occurs during your air travel, Viking has a 24 hour help line. I was able to communicate our issue to make sure that, at least, our pickup would be there at the right time to get us, and our luggage, to the hotel.

Of course, having Viking plan your airfare comes with its perks as well. You don’t have to plan anything and their transport van/bus is right there to pick up you and your luggage and take you to your hotel if you booked a stay in town with Viking before the cruise or right to the ship if you didn’t.

And they return you to the airport when your cruise is done. As we didn’t have a local stay planned after our trip, just before, this means that we were being picked up extremely early in the morning (fortunately, we’re early risers) and being whisked off to a scheduled departure that seemed too close for comfort.

We found that when we got to the airport, Viking had a rep there whose job it was to expedite us through the airport to our plane.

Having traveled through CDG on my own previously, my internal response was, “well…I don’t need this.” But it turned out I DID! The Viking rep was great, talking to security, getting us in the right lines and making short work of getting us to our plane on time.

As I said before, I’d likely book our own airfare if we do it again and try to 1) get a continuous flight and 2) go several days ahead of the cruise schedule to be able to deal with issues of jet lag and travel sickness.

In this case, I MIGHT just book the stay in town on my own as well and then go from there to the cruise. Though planning our own stayover prior to the cruise does not include any excursions, I’ve found I have the best time, often, when I find my own things to do (though, I’ll admit, the wine and cheese night in Paris was fun).

Should I dress up on my Viking Cruise?

I overpacked, a bit, for this trip. My husband took advantage of the on-cruise laundry, but I came equipped with several dresses, along with some casual clothes.

On a Viking Cruise, there are no formal nights like on some large ocean cruise ships but, per their information, they encourage you to dress up for dinner.

But I found that many fellow cruisers were pretty casual at dinnertime. Sure, no cut-off shorts, but I saw plenty of women in capris and dressy tanks.

Fortunately, most of my dresses serve dual purposes and are ones that I wear on an everyday basis and can be dressed up or down as I see fit. My dressier dresses never saw the light of day.

Will I have room for all my stuff on my Viking Cruise ?

One thing I was concerned about was storage spage. Standard rooms aren’t huge but the closet and drawers were plenty large enough for us to put our clothes in and the closet included a small safe.

The beds in Viking Cruise staterooms are built with storage space underneath. As I was going to have someone else transporting my stuff on this trip, I didn’t pack light. My large suitcase, backpack, and Pelican 1510 case for my photo gear all fit under the bed and on my side of the bed.

Your fellow cruisers

Viking Cruise “longships” are small compared to a large ocean cruiser. While I’m not sure exactly how many cruisers were on our trip, on average a Viking river cruise will have around 190-200 passengers. So there’s opportunity to see the same people time and again — for better or worse.

Fortunately, I didn’t meet anyone I actively disliked and enjoyed the company of most of the people I did meet. My spouse did make the mistake of informing some new friends aboard the cruise that it was our anniversary and we ended up with a surprise combo stealth attack of a round of “It’s Now or Never” sung by the staff and a special surprise anniversary dessert which looked delicious but that we couldn’t eat after all of the other food. It went into the mini-fridge in our room.

My husband advocated for this, specific, cruise as I’d been learning French AND the cruise started on the day of our anniversary. However, it seems that your fellow cruisers will be fellow English speakers.

Aside from a couple of English couples and an Australian couple, most of the passengers were from the US. I tried addressing some of the servers in French, with one funny server saying, “Honey, I’m Iranian. You don’t need to speak French to me. I speak it, but (shrug).” Much of the serving staff were not French — not a complaint, just a fact. I couldn’t bug the capitain with my bad French, and didn’t want to make a pest of myself by following the cruise director around, either. I’d later have the opportunity to inflict my French on at least a few people in the villages we descended upon.

We’re well into middle age and were among the younger people on the ship. There was a young couple traveling with their family, and a few others that seemed to be our age or younger, but for the most part our fellow cruisers were retirees. One laughingly told me he was “practicing for assisted living.”

Cruising and illness

This could go for any cruise, not just Viking river cruises, and travel in general. Our cruise was in 2023 and though we took a COVID test pre-cruise, I don’t recall being asked for it with our documents at this point.

Being in such close proximity to other people on the plane, at meals, on the boat, on the tour bus can put you at risk for catching things.

One of our cruise friends who sat next to me appeared ill and was coughing but reassured me “she’d get over it,” and the man behind me on a long tour bus trip was hacking and popping cough drops the entire way. When I came home, I was sick — though not with COVID, fortunately. Somehow, my husband managed to avoid it.

Viking Cruise Excursions

Most stops along a Viking river cruise will have at least one included excursion and some that incur an extra cost.

We did a couple of paid ones and a few of the free excursions and then ended up mostly ditching the tours altogether.

There was nothing wrong with the tours, per se. The guides were friendly and knowledgable and the tours can be a great way to see some sights in a place if you don’t have much time.

But they are slow-moving, you have to mostly stay near your group, and the pace, crowds, and heat were and issue for my husband.

Some places, you’ll get just a sample of.

Take the Versailles for instance. I’d been to Paris by myself and had taken the train to Versailles and spent an entire day on the grounds there, but it was among the places my husband wanted to visit.

There was a Viking excursion available but we also discussed the possibility of, during our few days in Paris, taking the train out there on our own. This was well in advance of our trip, but I was sort of balking a bit just because we had limited time in Paris and on my previous trip, I’d needed to change my plans due to a train strike. So we decided to take the Viking Cruise excursion, with me cautioning him that there would likely not be time to do the things he dreamed of doing like renting a bike on the grounds.

There certainly was not. We took the tour through the main part of the chateau and got to glimpse and take a few photos of the grounds, but that was it. “Is that all?” he asked. Of course it was all. The grounds of Versailles are immense. An afternoon tour wouldn’t, for instance, give you the time to see one of my favorite things there: Marie Antoinette’s farm.

Later, we’d go on a tour to Josephine’s house, Chateau de Malmaison, which was smaller in scale. While this felt less limiting than getting but a glimpse of Versaille, I would have spent more time there if I had not been on a group tour.

Our cruise went to Normandy and the bus trip out to the D-Day museum and beaches were worth it, and something we coudn’t have done on our own. We also enjoyed the wine and cheese night in Paris, which allowed us to get to know a few of our fellow cruisers before we departed on the ship.

Get off the ship!

Aside from the food and watching the scenery going by as the ship moved down the river, taking photos of birds, and talking about which riverside house in France we wanted to buy, my favorite activities were just getting off the boat and going into town sans-tour.

If you can, get off the ship and run around in town. Skip lunch aboard and seek out lunch in the little village where you just stopped. Go to a market. Take a stop in a cathedral or church. Some of my favorite memories of the trip were wandering into a quiet cathedral in the evening where we found a choir was practicing, walking around the orchard pathways and stopping at a boulangerie in a little riverside village, and walking up for an overhead view of the landscape from Chateau Guillard.

Daily Briefings

Viking Cruise requires you to attend a daily briefing or at least watch from the TV in your room.

Part of me balked at having to go to a meeting, but these are quite important. You need to know if they’re going to move the ship when you’re off the boat and in port. You don’t want to miss the boat! You’ll also get a daily itenerary. Make sure you read it and know what’s going on that day.

Accessibility

On our cruise, I noted that there was an elevator so passengers with wheelchairs or walkers could get between decks.

Viking doesn’t guarantee 100% accessibility, however, for special needs and anyone needing accomodations should check with them in advance.

I noted several passgengers utilizing, perhaps, a four wheeled walker onboard who needed a wheelchair for longer outings. In all cases that I could see, these people were traveling with a family member who was able to help on tours.

Some small villages, of course, have uneven pavement, cobblestones, and other features that may not be easily accessible by people with mobility devices.

On-board fitness

On our cruise, there were no fitness classes, yoga, etc. as you might find with one of the large ocean cruise companies.

The ship has an upper deck where you could walk or run around the perimeter and an area you could use for your own fitness practice if it’s available. One early morning when we went atop the ship to quietly watch the sunrise, we found a couple using that area for a recorded workout we labeled as “parkour fitness” (and made us feel bad for our slothfulness).

But, when you’re in port, if you’re like us you’ll put in lots of mileage walking.

Multi-cruising?

I was surprised — perhaps I shouldn’t have been — as I mentioned before, by the number of people who seemed to be taking back to back cruises.

In part, I was envious of this. Part of me sort of wanted to get off the ship or go home. If I ever I did this, I’d have to change the way I was eating and drinking (and maybe start doing parkour fitness on the top deck, too).

But if, in retirement, we had the funds and didn’t want to deal with the self-planned travel, I’d definitely consider this. At least you avoid having to fly back home, then return again later if you want to do a different cruise.

In Summary:

Would we do it again? My husband definitely wants to take another Viking river or ocean cruise — not necessarily in Europe, but somewhere.

Me? If he truly wants to do that, I won’t object. It was a good trip. But if I had a travel bucket list, I’ve now checked off, “Viking Cruise.” I love being on the water. But there are are so many places in the world to go, and so many ways to see them more affordably. Though, I’ll admit, way less luxiurously.

I’d recommend it if you love cruising, like luxury travel, want to be escorted around and toured, or aren’t able (or don’t like to) to do self-managed travel.

Yes, this is another list of holiday things to do…like you don’t have enought to do already!

Still, I find that going to some holiday events gets me in the holiday mood, where I might not be otherwise. And many holiday events make great photo opportunities for us who like to take event photos.

What follows below is a combination of holiday events that we’ve added or have been added to our calendar by community event organizers, divided up by type of event. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but does feature some of our annual favorites.

…and it (should) only feature upcoming events, which means it will grow more sparse as the holiday season goes on..but check back because may also add more events!

If you know of an event that should be here — for any December holiday — feel free to submit it to our events calendar.

Christmas Lights

Holiday Gift Shows

Christmas Theater

Holiday Concerts

Bring in the Solstice

Santa

Note that events listed below are ANY event on our calendar we’ve tagged as “Santa.” Some years, this may include kids’ Santa events, if we’ve listed any, but also may include adults-only activities like SantaCon.

New Year

The Practice of Contemplative Photography by Andy Karr, Michael Wood
Published by Shambhala on April 12, 2011
Genres: Photography / Techniques / Digital
Pages: 226
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

This book teaches us how to fully connect with the visual richness of our ordinary, daily experience. Photography is not just a mechanical process; it requires learning how to see. As you develop your ability to look and see, you will open, more and more, to the natural inspiration of your surroundings.

Filled with practical exercises, photographic assignments, and techniques for working with texture, light, and color, this book offers a system of training that draws on both Buddhist mindfulness practice and the insights of master photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

If you’re interested in either Zen or visual arts, you may recall Frederick Franck’s classic book from the 1970s called The Zen of Seeing. While I don’t have a copy in front of me right now, I seem to recall that it came from the perspective that the difficulty many of us have with drawing is that we are drawing an interpretation rather that what we are actually seeing. An idea of a dog, if you will, rather than the color, light, and shadow of the actual dog in front of us. And, in addressing letting your hand draw what your eyes are actually seeing, it introducing drawing as a meditative practice.

To me, contemplative photography seems to akin to this, only with the camera as the output rather than your hand and the pencil and paintbrush.

I first came across the book The Practice of Contemplative Photography by sheer serendipity, browsing my library bookshelves. I checked it out, then returned it, then checked it out again. And then again. Years later, I finally bought a copy. But, being a horrible student, coffee tabled it, not doing all fo the exercises.

I had to ask, though: what kept bringing me back to this book? Was it the pictures? An interest in Zen? Its presentation in nice, large, friendly paperback form?

I think part of the attraction, to me, is that I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with some aspects of photography. I love getting a great image, but I’ve long disliked how the attitude of wanting to “get” a good image or stopping to fiddle with camera settings takes me out of forgetting myself and immersing myself in my surroundings.

The technical aspects of photography are extremely important, of course, especially for some types of photography. You can’t get star photos or those lovely blurred waterfall photos without understanding the technical aspects. I’m not giving up on that type of photography.

But the approach described in this book and others like it mentioned in this post are about immediacy rather than technical know how. At least one of the authors of the books I mention below (Refocus) advises that for the photo walk exercises in her book you use a smartphone — or at least a camera that you can set up to point and shoot.

I recall a photography meeting I was at recently where the presenter said he’d started taking photos while hiking and then thought, “well, I can get better pictures if I buy a better camera…” and the room burst into laughter — both, I think, because most photographers have had the experience of wanting more and better gear AND the experience of that gear not being the most important thing that improved their photography.

The eye of the photographer is, of course, the most important thing. I’ve seen excellent photos taken with camera phones that put some of my photos to shame. ((But don’t take away my fast full frame camera!))

While photography, of course, requires a different skill set than drawing, good photography does require seeing. Many photography books will focus on rules, such as the rule of thirds, when discussing composition — things like that are important to know. And some wonderful, artistic photography requires much in the way of thought and advanced planning.

But contemplative photography seems to say “wait…let’s look at and see what’s right here in front of you with new eyes,” and encourages you to develop the habit of paying attention rather than just trying to “get the photo.” Which, in turn, will likely make you a better photographer.((I may have not phrased this well — I imagine photographers saying “No s*@#$, photographers DO pay attention…it’s what it’s all about! But, speaking for myself, I find I have very different attidues, frames of mind, and physical reponses depending what kind of photography I am doing and how I am approaching that photography.))

Contemplative (or mindful) photography has to do more with the mind and attitude of the photographer than the subject of the photo.

What is Miksang Photography?

If you start looking into contemplative photography, you’ll come across the Miksang method. Some books will refer to this method, others will not.

From what I can gather, Miksang means “Good Eye” in Tibetan and stems from the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa who, aside from being a Buddhist teacher, was a photographer in his own right.

Miksang is a trademarked process — the name of the method, its steps, its terms are all trademarked by the Miksang Institute of Contemplative Photography.

If you look at Miksang photos — or any “contemplative photography” photos, they tend to be simple, clear, and direct. They’re not (necessarily) photos of lotuses, or crosses, or other spiritual or religious subjects. They’re simple, everyday, immediate.

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While taking a Miksang class would be valuable for someone wishing to practice contemplative photography, many to most of the books here are NOT Miksang method…though I suspect many were likely influenced by it.

I think what’s most important is getting out with your camera regularly with a clear mind and the right attitude.

Some general principles of contemplative photography

What follows here is not a “method” per se, but a combination of what I’ve gleaned from reading books on the subject along with my own personal experience behind a camera.

Not all books I’ve perused on the subject of contemplative photography accord with each other in every respect. Some deemphasize focus on technical skill and composition and emphasize immediacy. Some do focus more on the “art of photography,” be it technical skill or composition principles.

Most to all of them, however, do emphasize:

1. Focusing on the ordinary

The ordinary is, often extraordinary. But we often demean ordinary things or activities with words like “just” and “only.” That is “just” a coffee cup; these are “just” some eyeglasses.

I first came across the ordinary as a consciously-stated approach to photography when I encountered the books the Practice of Contemplative Photography. It reminded me of couple of things: statements I’d encountered in Zen like:

Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense.

Shunryu Suzuki

Along with my own tendency to want to devalue the ordinary and grasp at something “beyond” that. ((Neither Zen practice nor its cousin of contemplative photography have “cured” me of this entirely. I have, right now, launched into building, from parts a better bike that I need with the idea that I’ll be able to do the STP next Summer and I still reach toward starting to enter my photos in photo contests. Nothing wrong with either activity — as long as I realize it will likely not bring permanent and eternal happiness.))

So contemplative photography is not just about taking photos of Buddhas, or lotus flowers — or crosses or prayer beads — though it CAN feature those subjects — but it’s also about capturing that quiet moment in time where the light shone onto the coffee cup just so while you were reading the newspaper or capturing those patterns and colors in an ordinary walkway that suddenly caught your eye.

2. Regular Practice

While I might say I love photography, I’m not a professional and other things seem to worm their way in and get prioritized over photography practice if I don’t set an intent and stick to it — hey, sort of like my meditation practice!

In Zen Camera, author David Ulrich suggests making a “daily record,” ideally with your phone camera since it’s with you and shooting a bunch of images every single day.

Doing something like this can help with developing your own “eye.”

However, I tend to put so many tasks upon myself that to devote myself to snapping photos every day may backfire.

I think, though, that devoting regular time in your schedule in a way that you can accomodate — be it daily, every other day, or weekly is essential — and one of the reasons I started a “group” here — sort of as a logbook or online journal.

3. Use that Phone Camera (or point and shoot or automatic):

But hasn’t learning about photography meant getting OFF auto and learning to shoot in different modes?

Contemplative photography does not suggest you throw out your fancy full frame camera.

But your phone camera has a few advantages: it’s always with you and it’s simple. And it can be a record, also, of things to return to and explore with your “good” camera.

If you choose to bring your interchangeable lens camera on your contemplative photo walks, commit to one multi-purpose lens and stay in automatic mode. Or AT LEAST put your camera on auto ISO and one shooting mode. But leave the full manual mode for other times.

And I would add:

4. Breathe

But I breathe all the time, don’t I? If you don’t understand the instruction to “breathe” this isn’t for you. Some of us tend to hold our breath when we’re stressed. Taking a deep breath can help to calm and “refocus.”

I’m not saying photography is stressful for me — it’s an activity I enjoy. But sometimes I come at it with the attitude that I MUST go home with some incredible photos. Perhaps that would be true if I were taking professional portraits, shooting weddings, or working in sports photography.

I enjoy wildlife photography, more than anything, which can be very hit and miss. I have to remind myself sometimes that a day outdoors IS a good day — even if I didn’t get the photo I wanted.

It helps me to consciously do some diaphragmatic breathing before I set out. Ultimately, good breathing helps me be more relaxed and, in turn, be more observant.

And one author, at least, suggests:

5. Print some images

Angela Goodhart suggests this one in her book Refocus –and the book, in print form, has a page for them. How often do we post our photos online or let them sit on a hard drive?

If your old (ish) like me, you might remember getting photos printed — or even printing them yourself.

Even if you don’t have a dedicated photo printer at home, a multi-purpose printer will do. Or you can find a lab with a quick turn around.

Refocus is a workbook. The author suggests putting your printed photos in the physical copy of the book with each exercise. I’m willing to give it a try, even though my journaling tends toward the digital these days.

Contemplative Photography Books

These are some of the many books on the subject. Some I’ve gone over extensively and feel that I can offer a review. Others I’ve just skimmed.

Each one has a blurb from the publisher — followed by my thoughts on the book.

My plan is to take one book at a time and actually do the exercises on a regular basis.

You’ll also find a couple of self-published contemplative photography books on Amazon. I didn’t include them here, but they have some intriguing titles. Throw Away Your Camera and Become a Photographer and Contemplative Vision: Photography as a Spiritual Practice.

But here are eight books to inspire you in your journey with contemplative photography:

The Practice of Contemplative Photography

The Practice of Contemplative Photography by Andy Karr, Michael Wood
Published by Shambhala on April 12, 2011
Genres: Photography / Techniques / Digital
Pages: 226
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

This book teaches us how to fully connect with the visual richness of our ordinary, daily experience. Photography is not just a mechanical process; it requires learning how to see. As you develop your ability to look and see, you will open, more and more, to the natural inspiration of your surroundings.

Filled with practical exercises, photographic assignments, and techniques for working with texture, light, and color, this book offers a system of training that draws on both Buddhist mindfulness practice and the insights of master photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

This book was my first introduction to the idea of Contemplative Photography. I found it by serendipity at my local library years ago and finally bought a copy.

It’s a large paperback with a nice, friendly blue and yellow cover. But there was something beyond the cover that made me go out and buy it.

I liked the emphasis on immediacy over technique — though the author DOES cover some technical aspects of photography. And I think I liked it because I always need reminders of the importance of the ordinary. I want MAGIC darnit! I want the BEST photo! But the urge to “get” and compete when it comes to photography sometimes destroys the magic of the present.

Looking and Seeing

Looking and Seeing by John McQuade, Miriam Hall
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform on April 30, 2015
Genres: Photography / Techniques / General, Religion / Buddhism / General
Pages: 194
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Looking and Seeing is an introduction to Nalanda Miksang. A combination of a philosophical treatise and a playful photography manual, this first volume of three starts the journey. Through studying looking and seeing, flash of perception, and synchronization, we explore structured assignments to free the eyes and mind through contemplative photography.

Looking and seeing is a Miksang photography book. The authors, John McQuade and Miriam Hall are both instructors in the Nalanda Miksang method. You’ll find fewer photos in this book than in The Practice of Contemplative Photography, interspersed with assignments using terms from the Miksang method and some personal experience stories.

Zen Camera

Zen Camera by David Ulrich
Published by Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed on February 13, 2018
Genres: Philosophy / Zen, Photography / Techniques / General, Self-Help / Creativity
Pages: 224
Format: eBook, Paperback
Source: Purchased
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Zen Camera is an unprecedented photography practice that guides you to the creativity at your fingertips, calling for nothing more than your vision and any camera, even the one embedded in your phone.

David Ulrich draws on the principles of Zen practice as well as forty years of teaching photography to offer six profound lessons for developing your self-expression. Doing for photography what The Artist’s Way and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain did for their respective crafts, Zen Camera encourages you to build a visual journaling practice called your Daily Record in which photography can become a path of self-discovery. Beautifully illustrated with 83 photographs, its insights into the nature of seeing, art, and personal growth allow you to create photographs that are beautiful, meaningful, and uniquely your own.

You’ll ultimately learn to change the way you interact with technology—transforming it into a way to uncover your innate power of attention and mindfulness, to see creatively, and to live authentically.

I’ve checked out Zen camera from the library and also have the Kindle version. The author, David Ulrich, also wrote the next book in this list, The Mindful Photographer. (though there’s another book of the same title by Sophie Howarth).

He emphasizes keeping a “daily record” with your phone camera and also seems to emphasize the technical aspects of photography more than some of the other books I’ve skimmed. Still, there’s something about this one to which I know I’ll return.

The Mindful Photographer: Awake in the World With A Camera

The Mindful Photographer by David Ulrich
on October 28, 2021
Genres: Photography / Criticism, Photography / Reference, Photography / Techniques / Digital
Pages: 208
Format: eBook, Paperback
Source: Purchased
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In The Mindful Photographer, teacher, author, and photographer David Ulrich follows up on the success of his previous book, Zen Camera, by offering photographers, smartphone camera users, and other cultural creatives 55 short (1-5 pages) essays on topics related to photography, mindfulness, personal growth, creativity, and cultivating personal and social awareness

The Mindful Photographer is also by David Ulrich, author of Zen Camera. I will admit that I have not read this one, but likely will at some point. It’s a collection of 55 short essays on topics related to photography and mindfulness.

Eyes of the Heart

Eyes of the Heart by Christine Valters Paintner
Published by Sorin Books on November 6, 2023
Genres: Religion / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth, Religion / Christianity / General, Religion / Spirituality
Pages: 143
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In this first book to explore photography as a spiritual practice from a Christian perspective, Christine Valters Paintner builds on the process of contemplative creativity introduced on her popular website Abbey of the Arts and in her book The ArtistA fs Rule. She considers how a camera can enable one to see with A gthe eyes of the heart.A h

Much of the verbiage in contemplative photography books seem to stem from Buddhist practices — definitely the Miksang method does, but other books as well…though, really, the practice of mindfulness is, really, not religious in nature and can be practiced by anyone.

However, Eyes of the Heart offers an exception to this: it explores contemplative photography from a Christian perspective.

I have not read this book, but it appears to be an attractive book with photos and exercises and I’m sure would be helpful to anyone wanting to explore contemplative photography from a Christian standpoint.

Refocus: A 30-Day Mindful Photography Journey for Beginners

Refocus: A 30-Day Mindful Photography Journey for Beginners: Workbook with Daily Prompts and Lessons + Reflection Pages by Angela Goodhart
Published by Independently published on March 14, 2023
Genres: Photography / Techniques / General, Self-Help / Creativity
Pages: 157
Format: eBook, Paperback
Source: Purchased
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I own the Kindle version of Refocus…but you might want to consider getting the physical copy if pasting photos into the pages appeals to you or writing in a physical journal/workbook.

One of the things that the author, Angela Goodhart, suggests doing is to make prints of a couple of your favorite images for each exercise — and the book has a place where you can paste in those photos.

The book offers daily exercises — possibly very useful for someone who wants, but is struggling, to develop a regular practice of contemplative photography. If daily doesn’t work for you, you can always choose to work through the book at a slower pace.

Little Book of Contemplative Photography

Little Book of Contemplative Photography by Howard Zehr
Published by Simon and Schuster on March 1, 2005
Genres: Photography / Techniques / General, Self-Help / Creativity, Self-Help / Motivational & Inspirational
Pages: 82
Format: eBook, Paperback
Source: Purchased
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          Restorative justice pioneer Howard Zehr is also an accomplished photographer. He begins his latest book with a confession—"I have written this book in part to encourage myself to slow down, to heighten my imagination, to renew myself while I gain a new view of the creation and the creator."           With this book, Zehr makes a gift to anyone who would like to couple photography with seeing and thinking more deeply. In each chapter he offers a Purpose, a Problem, and an Activity with a camera in order to "practice mindfulness."           You'll not need a fancy camera, but if you have one it won't hurt. Zehr's chapter-by-chapter exercises are aimed at heightening visual awareness and imagination—all while doing good and working for justice.           A title in The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding Series.

I haven’t read this one. I have to enter review stars, so I based my review stars, here on Amazon reviews. It’s a short book — and another one of the rare books that explores contemplative photography from a Christian perspective.

Contemplative Photography Retreat

Contemplative Photography Retreat by Catherine Anderson
Published by Creative Pilgrimage Press on June 1, 2023
Genres: Photography / Techniques / General
Pages: 78
Format: Paperback
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I haven’t read this one (yet) but it’s a small 78 page square book exploring contemplative photography through the four elements.

Contemplative Photography Group

When I first wrote this post, I started a contemplative photography “group” to go through and post exercises.

As I’ve been busy with other tasks, I was delinquent on posting to this group, so it’s on hiatus for a bit, but I plan to get back to it. It’s configured as a private group, however anyone who is logged in can join by request here.