Jeff and I teamed up to write a story about our favorite food stops after a day in the outdoors.

No fine dining here. Just fine burgers, fries, shakes and cherry pie a la mode (Twede's famous pie pictured to the right).

Check it out and see if your favorite was included. If not let us know about your favorite. We'd love to check it out.

(Picture by Drew Perine)

From Clean Water Classic Operations and Logistics:

Over the weekend of May 15-17, Westport, WA will welcome back the Surfrider Foundation for this year’s 8th annual Clean Water Classic—the largest surf contest in the Pacific Northwest. The event is a benefit for the Pacific Northwest chapters of the Surfrider Foundation and in the past has been awarded the Surfrider Foundation Chapter Event of the Year. The Classic is proud to announce Global Surf Industries (GSI) as the returning main sponsor for 2009. GSI President Mark Kelly describes one of the new twists for the 2009 event: “GSI will be launching a wild new surfboard design at the CWC this year. The Meyerhoffer, by Modern, is a surfboard that has been designed in conjunction with world renowned designer Thomas Meyerhoffer.” Check the preliminary information out on the board at www.surfindustries.com/modern. Thomas will be attending the Classic and GSI will be running a one design competition using this board. “We are all looking forward to the event. This is the third year we have been the title sponsor and just love being immersed in the surfing community of the Pacific Northwest,” said Kelly.

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Whistler Blackcomb’s stranglehold on the title as the Northwest’s best ski resort might be slipping.

At least in the 10-and-younger demographic.

My daughter, who has long considered Whistler to be the coolest place on earth, turned 10 last week so, as I gift, I took her with me on an assignment that included a stop at Silver Mountain in Northern Idaho.

“Dad,” she said during a ride on the resort’s 3.1-mile gondola, “this place is cooler than Whistler. When can we come back?”

Keep in mind this is coming from the perspective of a 10-year-old who probably wouldn’t place skiing in her top 10 required amenities for a ski resort.

The skiing at Silver Mountain above Kellogg, Idaho, is good, but hardly on par with Crystal Mountain let alone Whistler Blackcomb.

But what Silver Mountain does have is something no other Northwest ski area can boast – the ability to ski and surf before lunch.

In May, Silver Mountain celebrated its 40th anniversary by unveiling an indoor water park.

John Williams, marketing director for Silver Mountain, said the Silver Rapids Water Park has turned a ski area longer considered a “hidden gem” into a year-round resort.

“We get people coming here just to use the water park,” Williams said.

The park has three large water slides that require climbing 81 steps for a ride through the darkened tubes. It has three hot tubs, including two next to the bar where I was able to hang out while watching the NCAA Tournament regional finals last weekend.

It has tame slides for kids, a glass roof designed for year-round sun tanning and a 315-foot river you can float on an innertube.

Then there’s the FlowRider, a 60,000-gallon constant wave that’s kind of a treadmill for surfers.

Needless to say, all this waterpark fun made it hard to keep my daughter on the slopes.

“We get a lot of that,” said Neal Scholey, the resorts’ real estate director. “It’s like parents are having to make their kids eat their vegetables before they have their dessert.”

Sunday we are going to take a look at Movie's filmed in Washington's outdoors. While Washington's outdoor makes a glorious set for Hollywood flicks. We'll look at 12 places you can recreate where movies were filmed on Sunday.

Until then here are 15 other movies that are at least partially filmed in Washington.

Clearly Indiana Jones is the greatest adventure movie hero of all time. But what about movies about adventure sports.

Last year, we asked the Northwest's outdoor elite for their favorite adventure sports movie. The only requirement we gave them was that the movies have a strong adventure sport element. Whether the flick was a documentary or featured James Bond on skis, it didn't matter.

This, of course, left room for some serious creativity.

Jordan Hanssen, one of four University of Puget Sound grads who rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2006, had a list that included "The Princess Bride" ("Fencing, sailing, horseback riding and torture," he said), "Muppet Treasure Island" ("Sailing, swashbuckling and fuzzy critters") and "Casablanca" ("Drinking. Face it, adventure doesn't happen without it").

Surprisingly, none of the other 13 members of our academy recommended these movies.

Click below to see the top 10 PLUS their pick for the worst adventure sports movie of all time.

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Just got back from a quick trip to the ocean. Considering the unrelenting snow dumps in the mountains I expected the weather to be nasty. In fact, I’d heard it was snowing on the coast in Oregon earlier this week so I was hoping to see some white beaches.

However, with the exception of a stiff wind, the weather in Westport was quite pleasant. At least for the hour I spent there. Surprisingly I saw only one surfer at the jetty riding some fairly sweet waves.

While I didn’t see any snow on the beach, by dinner time I was teaching my son how to start a fire in the rain. Good enough.

A windy but lovely day at Westport …

… and on the beach south of Grayland.

Westport’s famous dummy cop keeping speeders honest.

Volunteers are heading to the coast this weekend to clean the beaches of trash like this. If you want to participate just show up at your favorite beach Saturday morning.

A deer prancing across the trail at the Westport Lighthouse.

Click here to watch video of the Coast Guard rescuing a stranded surfer.

The statement from the Coast Guard:
The Coast Guard rescued a surfer Sunday after he became stranded by strong currents in a cove near Depoe Bay, Ore. At 1:41 p.m., the Lincoln County, Ore., Dispatch Center contacted the Coast Guard to report a surfer in distress near Devil's Punch Bowl State Park.

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Mexico has been getting a lot of press lately as an adventure destination. Our top story in Thursday's section looks at some unique destinations for birding, fishing, climbing and hiking.

In my column, I urge the new Washington Coastal Cleanup Alliance to honor the man who got the Olympic Coast Cleanup started, Jan Klippert.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, consider going to Mount Baker to watch the Legendary Banked Slalom, the event that gave rise to the sport of snowboarding.

If you want to stretch your legs, give Mount Pete a try, it's our Hike of the Week.

On Sunday we'll be looking at 20 companies and park services that owe their existence to outdoor recreation. We asked them what they are doing to reduce their impact on the environment. The story relays what they told us.

So, what can you do to reduce your impact on the environment on your next camping trip?

Here are 20 suggestions:

1. Stay on the trail when you hike – even if that means walking through mud puddles. Cutting from one part of the trail to another on a switchback causes erosion that can damage plants. Walking off trail to get around puddles also damages plants.
2. Don’t use soap when washing dishes in a creek or lake. Wash dishes with a reusable cotton towel rather than disposable wipes.
3. Camp only in established sites. Cook over the fire rather than using a stove.
4. Use rechargeable batteries for all of your backcountry electronics. Solio (solio.com) sells universal solar chargers that work on cell phones and iPods.
5. Don’t use disposable dishes and utensils.
6. Bring your own firewood or collect only fallen branches. Check to make sure collecting fallen wood is allowed at your campground.
7. Reuse zip-lock bags and recycle empty stove fuel canisters.
8. Take bulk foods like trail mix rather than individually wrapped items like energy bars.
9. Turn off all your lights and appliances (other than the fridge, of course) before you leave the house.
10. Check your campsite for any litter before you leave. Then double check.
11. When nature calls be kind to the environment. Dig a hole to bury your business. (Note: This doesn’t work on snow. The snow melts leaving summer trouble.) Either wipe with something natural like moss, leaves or snow or pack out your toilet paper.
12. Buy a down sleeping bag and leather hiking boots instead of a bag and boots made of synthetics.
13. Print your maps at home and use one large sealable bag to keep them dry rather than laminating each map.
14. Buy a hybrid car or at least carpool and don’t over pack your ride with gear.
15. Boil your drinking water instead of chemically treating it.
16. Borrow or rent gear rather then buying new.
17. Ride your bike to the grocery store.
18. Stay in a tent rather than a cabin or hotel.
19. Don’t wash your car after your trip.
20. Be creative. I have a buddy that used his vasectomy sperm sample jar (he says he never used it that way) as a reusable mini peanut butter container. You likely have many things around your house that have multiple uses.

As we look back on the year, Jeff and I took a look at the places we've gone to bring you Adventure stories this year. Here are some of the highlights (a dozen from each of us)

Why do Washington surfers love Al Perlee so much?

Well, I found out during a recent visit to his Westport surf shop.

Perlee is a surfing legend and a beach philosopher incapable of giving a straight answer to the simplest of questions.

I found this out when I stepped into The Surf Shop last month to meet the former Stanford football player.

“When did you open this place,” I asked the massive man.

“I don’t remember,” he said.

No way I was buying that. “You own the state’s most famous surf shop. How can you not remember? You went to Stanford?”

“What was the date of your first orgasm?” Perlee asked.

OK, I gotta admit I didn’t see that one coming.

“I think you’ll agree that an orgasm is just about the best thing there is, right?” Perlee said. “If you can’t remember the date of your first orgasm, how can you expect me to remember the date of something as ordinary as opening a business.”

OK, next question.

I wanted to talk to Big Al’s son for a story on Westport Surfing, but when I asked for Dane’s number Big Al said, “no.”

Typically, I’d gracefully bow out at that point but I had a feeling Big Al was about to enlighten me again. So, I pressed a little bit.

“These things need to happen naturally,” Big Al said. “I didn’t ask you to come do a story on me and my business. You found me and that’s the way it should be. He might talk to you, but you have to find him on your own. That’s the way it should be.

“If he wanted to talk to you, he would have found you by now.”
Why does everybody love Big Al?

I think that question goes without asking.