The 800 Club

Hey, this is my eight hundredth post! But I can't say this is a special post in any other way. I didn't have a super eventful week—which was nice after the last several weeks have been so busy, and then this week will also be busy. 

When I have a free Saturday in the fall, I like to go on a long run. But yesterday, my default North Canyon and Mueller Park were hosting a race, so I wanted to avoid them. Instead, I decided to run to Dude Benchmark. I last went there almost two years ago. I don't go there often, because there is no shade, and there are some steep portions. I like to go via the Woodbriar Trail, which is nearly nine miles round-trip (yesterday's run was 8.82 miles). (There's a shorter way via Summerwood, but it has a dangerously steep portion that I hate with a passion.)

It was a windy day, which I could have done without. But that meant it wasn't too hot for a shadeless trail. For much of my run, I saw a mountain that was all dark, except where the sun was illuminating a golden grove of aspens.

I love seeing aspens at this time of year, and I usually see them in North Canyon, so I was glad I got to see one grove near the top.

It looked prettier in person

I took a lot of breaks as I was going up the steep parts, which makes me feel a little lazy—but since I don't often go here, of course it's going to be a challenge. I still did run the entire thing, even though I stopped sometimes. And I went very slow down the rocky, steep portions so I wouldn't slip. It's nice and satisfying to stand on top of the benchmark and see the 1950 USGS marker.

I almost had the trail to myself. I saw four or five people on the Woodbriar portion, but then I only saw one person on the farther portions of the trail. That's nice, but then what if I injure myself?

While I was out running, my mom found some old Christmas sugar cookies in the freezer, since we made an excessive amount in December. Of course, they're out of season. But I'm always looking for a loophole, and I allow myself to eat sweets that are made with our homegrown produce. We have a bunch of cherries in the freezer, so I made cherry buttercream frosting. I kind of messed up the texture, but the flavor was amazing! 

I also went on a walk to pull up goathead plants, and I was surprised at how many had their yellow flowers in bloom. I don't get out to eradicate them as often when I have less daylight in the evening. It's too bad such a diabolical plant has such charming little flowers.

This time of year is the best for watching spooky movies, and it's too bad it's also the best time to be outside, because who wants to watch a movie when you could be out in the lovely weather and trees? (OK, I know there's plenty of people who would rather watch movies.) If it's bloody and gory, I'm out, but I love silly spooky things. Here is a question I have always had: If a movie is spooky but makes no reference to Halloween, is it a Halloween movie? And the answer I'm leaning toward now is they're not Halloween movies, but they are Halloween activities, which is maybe not a helpful distinction. 

Last year I bought a DVD collection of Universal's classic monster movies, but the DVD case is horrendous. I don't need to bore you with the details, but I finally transferred them from the plastic case into one of those disc booklets. I really enjoy having this collection. This week I watched Phantom of the Opera from 1943 (not sure why they call it a "monster" movie, 5/10) and Werewolf of London from 1935 (7/10).

Other spooky and Halloween things I watched this week were Something Wicked This Way Comes (5/10), Halloween Baking Championship (8/10), episodes of the Beetlejuice cartoon (6/10), audio commentary for Over the Garden Wall (10/10 for the cartoon, though the commentary is dull), and an episode of the old Addams Family (6/10).

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Time for pumpkinundation roundup!

I've had Trader Joe's Pecan Pumpkin Oatmeal in the cupboard since last fall, since I mostly eat oatmeal before I go on a long Saturday morning run. It's fine. 6/10.

Nerds Candy Corn has a candy coating around a chewy center, but the center seems less chewy than ordinary candy corn. These seem like solid Pixy Stix. There are different flavors, and the coating is a different flavor from the filling, but I can't say I noticed the flavors. It's just sugar. 6/10.

I expected Good & Gather Caramel Apple Baked Bars to be something like Nutri-Grain bars, but they're solid oat bars. I really enjoyed them (much better than Bobo's Oat Bars), and they had a nice flavor. 8/10.

I had a JJ Donuts Pumpkin Spice Donut with Cream Cheese Frosting. It doesn't seem like there's any pumpkin in the donut, but it's still a good donut. (They had some that had pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting, but I've had those before, and this one just sounded good that day.) 7/10.

I thought my Iceberg Pumpkin Shake had a fruity flavor, and as I ate, I encountered a piece of peach (or some kind of fruit). I've had this shake before, and it was typical in the past, so it was weird to have a fruity version. I assume it was a mistake? 6/10.

I believe this is a Dunford Pumpkin Spice Donut, which I bought at a Holiday gas station. It might have had pumpkin in it, but I'm not sure. 8/10.

And my mom's friend gave me a Cutler's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is always a good option. I like it better than many other pumpkin cookies. 9/10.

At a dinner this week, I had Trader Joe's Petite Pumpkin Spice Cookies, which are fun but not too exciting. 7/10.