75 percent English. 100 percent American.

This week wasn't super eventful, but sometimes that's nice.

Cats in boxes will never quit being the best thing ever.

One of my favorite days of the fall is the day we make grape juice using our own grapes. We already made some with our green grapes, but the juice is best when it uses our purple Concords.

On Wednesday, I went on a tour of good old Woods Cross High School, where I spent three years of my life. There have been many renovations, and parts of it aren't even recognizable. They got rid of the courtyard. But as I recall, the courtyard was locked in the winter, so it's not like it got a ton of use anyway. Doug's (the calculus teacher) room looks the same, though. There were parts of the school that seemed familiar. Like this vintage drinking fountain.

On Wednesday, I also got an email from Ancestry.com. It turns out that as DNA science improves, so does their ethnicity estimate. I got mine tested two and a half years ago, but I just got a new estimate. It's vastly different from my previous estimate. It's also much closer to what I know about my family history.

I find this time around, I'm not that excited about it. I think part of it is because of what I already knew: I'm very English, and frankly that's not very exciting. But part of me also looks at that margin of error. It's huge! From 11 percent British to 75 percent? If the margin of error is that big, I can't know how accurate it is. It has me at 9 percent Swedish, but I don't know of any Swedish ancestors. 

(Last spring, a man at the pool asked me where I'm from because of my hairiness. I told him Western Europe, but apparently I should have said England. Even though I'm really from the United States of America.)

On Thursday, I visited the Utah State Fair. I don't know why, but there's something fun about gathering to eat overpriced junk food and see overgrown produce.

That's the strangest cauliflower I have ever seen.

You thought that since August was over, I was done talking about my 2013 geology class. But nope! On Friday, my day off, I returned to Little Cottonwood Canyon, my old mapping grounds. I did it partly for nostalgia, and partly because I hoped the leaves would be lovely at the high elevations. Sadly, the leaves hadn't changed much. But it was still a fun run up there.

They built this bridge while we were there five years ago.

Our professor led us up this non-trail, even though we weren't supposed to go up it.

This is a sill, where magma inserts itself between the bedding planes of a sedimentary rock. I believe the sedimentary here is the Cambrian-age Ophir Shale.

I think this is a fault, though I don't remember it from my class. I remember hearing about a fault, but I don't know if this was the place. The dark stuff on the right is not part of the Tintic Quartzite on the left, but the change in rock runs perpendicular to the depositional layers of the quartzite. Hence I think it's a fault.

This I know is the Cambrian-age Ophir Shale (the outcroppings).

I remember our professor showing us some trilobite tracks in the Ophir Shale. I don't know if that's what's going on here.

This was our old campsite. So empty now, as it's closed to camping for the season.

I ran up to the ridge between Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons.

I love fall. But I find myself increasingly sad about early sunsets.

***

Pumpkinundation roundup has returned! I have been surprised with how popular this feature has been. In case you're a newer blog reader, every fall (since 2015) I document the various pumpkin, caramel apple, candy corn, and other fall flavors that dominate the food world this time of year.

Yesterday I spent $60 at Trader Joe's just on pumpkin stuff, and I avoided cakes, cookies, and ice cream. So I'll have plenty to show you in the coming months.

I technically had this Capitol Reef National Park Historic Gifford Store Pumpkin Butter before my official start of pumpkin season, but I couldn't resist when my mom's ministering sister brought her some homemade bread. I don't remember too much about it, but I remember the pumpkin butter being kind of bland. 6/10.

I had this EOS Natural Pumpkin Spice Lip Care leftover from last year. It has an artificial yet strangely comforting pumpkin spice flavor. 7/10.

I always like getting a caramel apple at the state fair, and this time I got a rocky road caramel apple. It was massive, and I felt sick afterwards. I liked it, but it wouldn't be my first choice again. 7/10.

I also got pumpkin fudge at the fair, and I didn't love it quite as much as I have in other years. Maybe because I already had too much sugar from the apple? Still really good, though. 8/10.

Sunbelt Bakery Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars are good granola bars, but they're not very pumpkiny, even though they use real pumpkin. 7/10.

Kellogg's Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes are new this year. I found them a little disappointing and artificial. 6/10.

My folks bought me this Franz Innkeeper's Pumpkin Spice Bread. The package says it's delicious toasted, but it's so soft and sweet as is that I don't see the point. It is wonderful. 8/10.

I brought this Kind Caramel Almond Pumpkin Spice bar on a short run. There is a little flavor of pumpkin spice, but it's mostly just nuts. 7/10.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios are the best pumpkin cereal out there, and they're certainly better than regular Cheerios. Dare I give them 10/10? I can't find anything to complain about.

I bought every non-coffee, non-dessert pumpkin thing I could find at Trader Joe's, including Trader Joe's Pumpkin Recipe Dog Treats. My sister brings her dog, Buddy, over enough that it's not a waste. I gave Buddy one of these today, and he was happy to eat it. But he also eats from the cat's litter box, so he's no gourmet. The ingredients are flour, pumpkin, molasses, cinnamon, and some other things, which is basically cookies, right? So I tried one. It was pretty hard. Also, it was bland at best. I couldn't finish it. 2/10.

The little yorkie on the box looks like Buddy.

Goal accomplished!

I have three weeks until my major birthday, and this weekend I met the goals I have been working for all year! I have visited all 29 counties and all 29 county seats while at the age of 29. Initially, I cared more about visiting just the counties, but later I decided I might as well do the seats as well. (Again, a county seat is essentially the capital of a county.)

In August, my old friend David (whom I first met on September 29, 1993) told me that it's his bucket list to climb the highest peaks in every county, and he still needed to hit San Juan County's high point, so he offered to come with me.

To make a long story short, I ended up requesting yesterday (September 8) off because I had already made arrangements to head down to my last two county seats: Moab (Grand County) and Monticello (San Juan County).

David and I left on Friday evening and spent a night in Price.

Saturday morning, we drove down to Moab. We didn't do much there; we stopped at the visitor center, and we looked in a bookstore, but I didn't buy anything.

Then we headed up to La Sal, where we hoped to find a restaurant, but instead we got sandwich supplies at the town's tiny "grocery" store.

This is the post office, but the store next door looked basically the same.

 Then we drove up a dirt road to La Sal Pass. It was the roughest road my Rav4 has ever been on, but only because I don't like driving on rough roads. I was surprised at the good condition of the road. I did have to ford one small stream. We passed various camping sites, and it was entirely lovely driving through the aspen forests. In two or three weeks, I can only imagine how positively gorgeous it would be.

Then we parked at the trailhead to Mount Peale, the highest point in San Juan County. The weather was mostly ideal for hiking the mountain.

I think these yellow flowers are some kind of groundsel.

I loved seeing the aspens starting to change.

 I don't regret doing the hike, but I don't know that I would say I enjoyed it. Mount Peale did not appeal to me. That may surprise you, since I love trail running. But the operative word is trail. Most of this hike did not have a trail, and it was straight up the steep mountain and talus fields.I only like trails, and I don't do well with steep.

 It was lovely, though. It was amazing to think that this alpine environment was in the same county as all of the red rock desert.

We made it to the saddle of the mountain, and I was a little chagrined when I looked at the ridge to Mount Peale. It was all talus, and I even saw cliffs. I don't do heights, even though it wasn't that bad. I was in physical shape to make it to the peak, but I was not in mental shape to do it, because I was already tired of all the talus and slopes. I could make it all the way, but did I want to? After some time hiking on the ridge, I made the decision that I didn't care to make it to the peak. I sat while David made it there. I knew I would be slow coming down, so I got a bit of a head start back.

(My lack of sleep last night messed with my emotions, so I'm trying to keep my FOMO from making me regret my decision not to go to the top.

You can see David on the top of Mount Peale.

We found a better route to descend than we had gone up initially, and we ended up in a charming aspen grove with a real trail! This was my favorite part of the whole hike.

Mushrooms!

We climbed 2,460 feet, and the hike took about five hours. I was worried about how late it was, and under different circumstances, I might have just headed for home. But I still had to visit Monticello--I had come too far not to visit it. So we stopped there for gas and ate at a restaurant. But I didn't get any pictures in Monticello; it was already twilight.

I must say I had a hard time enjoying my time in Monticello, because I was stressed out about my 4.5-hour drive home in the dark. But it's not like that's the only time in my life I can ever go to San Juan County. I hit it for my bucket list, but that doesn't mean I'm forever done with it.

But I did safely drive home in the dark. Once I hit Provo, a lot of post-game BYU fans got on the freeway. And I was disappointed with how speedy and even dangerous some of those drivers are. You can do better, BYU fans! I arrived home about 1 a.m. President Nelson was speaking at my ward today, but since I got to bed late, I didn't get up early enough for a good seat. I was 30-40 minutes early, but I was still relegated to the overflow in the Relief Society room.

And so, now that the county goal is accomplished, I will highlight the first time I visited each county, and the first time I visited its seat, since I turned 29 last fall. (I visited some of the counties and seats more than once, but I'm only documenting the first visit.)

I live in Davis County, so that was easy. I first visited Farmington on Halloween, when I bought pumpkin dishes from World Market and pumpkin socks from Old Navy.

I worked at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City, the seat of Salt Lake County, so I went there on my birthday last year.

I first drove through Utah County on October 7 on my way to Fish Lake. I visited Provo on January 12, when I had a job interview at BYU.

I also drove through Juab County on October 7, but I stopped in Nephi on a snowy March 15 after an interview in Manti. I was happy to get a leprechaun shake with my lunch.

I drove through Sanpete County on October 7, but I had an interview with a Manti newspaper on March 15. I didn't get that part-time, work-from-home gig, but they told me I could get a job if I moved to Manti. I didn't move to Manti.

I visited Fish Lake in Sevier County on October 7 to see Pando, the ancient, huge aspen grove that's one organism, and I ran along the shore of the lake. I ate dinner in Richfield on June 9 after coming back from Panguitch and Kanab.

I briefly passed through Piute County on October 7 on the way to Fish Lake. On June 9, I ate a popsicle from a tiny store in tiny Junction.

I ate a Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard in Scipio in Millard County on the way back from the Fish Lake trip. I ate a Bomb Pop at a convenience store in Fillmore on June 8.

To get in the Thanksgiving spirit, I visited Plymouth in Box Elder County and swam at Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville on November 18. I ate dinner in Brigham City on May 24 after visiting Spiral Jetty.

I drove through Weber County on November 18, and I stopped at the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum in Ogden on June 26.

I drove through Summit County on January 11 on my way to the Midway Ice Castles. I ate lunch in Coalville and saw Echo Reservoir on April 19 after an interview in Park City.

I went to the Midway Ice Castles in Wasatch County on January 11. On August 8, I stopped in several stores in Heber to find candy to review, but I didn't buy anything.

On January 29, I had a job interview at the military base of Dugway in remote Tooele County, and I visited the Hawaiian ghost town Iosepa. I ate dinner at American Burgers in Tooele on August 30 after visiting Great Salt Lake State Park.

I drove through Beaver County on February 17. I spent the night in a Beaver hotel June 8 and 9.

I went to the Cedar City Temple in Iron County on February 17 with my friend Susan.

Then we visited the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm in Washington County (February 17).

I went to Panguitch, the seat of Garfield County, for its annual quilt festival with my mom on June 9.

I ate lunch and went to the Little Hollywood Movie Museum in Kanab, the seat of Kane County, on June 9.

I went to the Logan Tabernacle and DUP Museum in Cache County on June 26.

I saw the Wilford Woodruff cabin and ate a gross vegan burger in Randolph, the seat of Rich County, on June 26.

I visited the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum on July 10 in Price, the seat of Carbon County.

Also on July 10, I visited the community museum in Castle Dale and went to the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry in Emery County.

On August 8, I ate lunch in Duchesne, the seat of Duchesne County, at a restaurant where two people were fighting and swearing at each other and a radio personality did a live radio spot for the county fair.

That same day (August 8), I stopped at the DUP Museum and Utah Field House Museum in Vernal, the seat of Uintah County.

I drove past Flaming Gorge and ate dinner in Manila, Daggett County, before driving home through Wyoming (August 8).

I ate lunch and admired the ward building in Loa, the seat of Wayne County, before visiting Capitol Reef National Park on August 14.

I stopped at the visitor center in Moab, Grand County, on September 8.

And finally, I ate dinner at a restaurant in Monticello after climbing up Mount Peale, the highest point in San Juan County.

I have really enjoyed having a bucket list for myself. It's been a great year.

The final countdown

Well folks, we made it to September.

That means I have less than a month before I turn thirty. Eek!

It also means that meteorological summer has officially ended.

But even while it was still August, I felt like it was already fall. We had some cool days, and everyone has gone back to school. Work was super slow this week. I wasn't even surprised to see changing leaves.

Fall is my favorite holiday, and I am excited for changing leaves, cooler temperatures, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and pumpkin spice everything.

But I have enjoyed summer more each year. I will miss long daylight hours, road trips, popsicles, lake excursions, and summer wildflowers.

I still enjoy baking with grapes. Last week I made grape oatmeal cookies. They were fairly good, but they weren't as good as grape bread.

I want to mention a few work incidents. I was in the Deseret News Print Shop one day, and a guest came in and started talking about the Book of Mormon. He asked me, "How long did it take to print the Book of Mormon?" I said I didn't know, and he said, "There's some homework for you!" Perhaps I shouldn't be, but I was decently annoyed. First of all, he's the one with the question, so why is it homework for me? Second, the Book of Mormon is a (1) religious (2) book published in (3) New York in the (4) 1820s. I work in a (1) state park's (2) newspaper shop in (3) Utah in the (4) 1850s. It's not even the same thing!

On Friday, I heard some kids approaching our barbershop, which has a striped pole outside. One kid proclaimed, "Is that Santa's house?" That same day, I said to a guest, "What brings you into the bank today?" and she responded, "Interesting. How are you?" That makes me feel better about the times I give an illogical response.

On Thursday, I headed out to visit another county seat, Tooele. I went to Tooele County back in January, but I didn't stop in Tooele itself.

On the way, I stopped at Great Salt Lake State Park, where I had never been. They had a small visitor center, and they had a marina for people who boat on the lake. There was access to the beach itself. I didn't swim in it, because I didn't have a swimsuit, and it wasn't worth buying one from the gift shop. But I waded in it. This part of the lake looked a lot murkier than at Antelope Island last week, and there were no showers. It also had a much more sulfurous smell.

You can camp at this park, but it's not very pretty (other than the lake).

This old soap dispenser was on the wall in the restroom. Took me back to elementary school.

Then I visited Tooele and got dinner. I didn't realize that Tooele was so far away from the freeway, yet it's still a sizable town. Now I only have two county seats left!

On Friday, I decided to visit Trolley Square Barbers for a haircut. (I really hate talking about getting haircuts.) I worried that I would be stuck with an intimidating hipster barber when I went in. But I just happened to get one named Dan who wanted to talk Church history! It was great.

On Saturday, my family headed down to Fillmore to visit family in Fillmore Canyon. When I was growing up, it was always a tradition to go camping in Fillmore Canyon on Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. After my grandparents died, the tradition became more sporadic, and we hadn't been there since Memorial Day 2012. We didn't camp this time; it was just a day trip. One of my aunts and one of my uncles were there with their families. There were lots of cute little kids.

I wore my running clothes on the excursion so I could take advantage of trying new trails. So I ran over to the Copleys Cove trailhead, which I have often seen growing up but never been on. After running 1.6 miles to the trailhead, I ran about 1.3 miles up. I was ready to stop then anyway, but the trail just vanished. It was difficult because it went up and up, and the trail wasn't well groomed. I don't think this trail is worth repeating, though I didn't try the Horse Hollow Trail.

There was watercress on this stream. In some of my research, I learned that the descendants of Jacob Houtz, a pioneer, were very proud of the fact that their ancestor introduced watercress to Utah. Never mind that watercress is an invasive species.

We were amazed at how dry Chalk Creek was.

Then we headed home. I requested that we stop for dinner at Nebo Queen in Nephi, which I discovered in March. Pumpkinundation roundup officially returns in two weeks--but since it is September and we don't live near Nephi, I cheated and got their pumpkin spice shake. It was similar to Arctic Circle's--the spiciness was reminiscent more of November than the day after August. 8/10.

I had a lot of ideas on where to take this post, but it didn't really go anywhere. Oh well! Happy September!