Mia and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this past week.  I wanted to surprise Mia, so I had the idea to take her SUPing (stand up paddleboarding).  Mia has wanted to try it for quite some time and my interest has grown over the past year or so too.

So, I did a little research and found Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe in Bend, OR.  This knocked off a few things on what an anniversary getaway needs to be.

1. It’s in a fun and romantic place
2. Plenty of food choices
3. Good weather

We had all three in abundance this past weekend.

First off, the romantic was accomplished with the Pine Ridge Inn which is up on a ridge (duh!) looking down on the Deschutes River.  This place was pretty spectacular, and to satisfy the accountant in me, it was reasonably priced.

huge king bed

sweet views

We knocked off the second criteria simply by choosing Bend.  There are so many breweries, coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries to choose from it is almost hard to choose.  Thanks to advice from the Manvilles we had breakfast at two great places.  Saturday was a stop by the Victorian Café which was just a short 1 mile walk from the Pine Ridge Inn.  Sunday was breakfast at Jackson’s Corner.  I don’t say this next partly lightly…..Jackson’s may hands down be my absolutely favorite place ever for breakfast.  The food was excellent, the vibe was cool, and it just had this ambiance about it.  If I was going to open a breakfast place, this is pretty close to exactly what I would want to emulate.

We also hit up Thump Coffee, Deschutes Brewery, and La Magie Bakery. For the bike geeks out there, Thump had a signed jersey by Ian Boswell.  Deschutes had the most decadent dessert Mia and I have ever seen….chocolate cake, bacon, pale ale caramel, and pretzels.  Simply put, awesome!  La Magie was a simple granola and fruit parfait for me and quinoa salad for Mia.

Finally on the way home we stopped at the original Sister’s Coffee in none other than Sisters, OR.  They are quickly becoming my favorite roaster out here.

Third criteria, the weather…….We had loads of sunshine and temps in the upper 70’s for the weekend.  Gorgeous!

I think the part about Bend that really sticks out for this NH boy is that it sits at 3500 feet in elevation.  Right here in Portland we’re at a gasp inducing 250 feet above sea level, and I think our condo back in Concord was at just over 100 feet above sea level.

Saturday we did a great road ride with views of the 3 Sisters,  Bachelor, Mt Jefferson, etc.  It was my first ride in a desert (ever).  I wish the photos could do it justice.  Just like last weekend’s Rainier trip, this one is hard to convey the beauty with my little point and shoot camera.

Lots of this during the ride

Cows and 10,000′ peaks

And finally on Sunday we had our introduction to SUPing.

Sue our instructor was awesome, the weather was warm, but not too hot, and it was just plain fun.  We’re not ready yet, but I could see a few additions to our sporting gear before the end of next summer.

Getting the hang of it

Wicked fun

Keep your balance Mia

off we go

Bend, is a great town, we will be back!

Thanks for reading

-Pete