Autumn adventures

I just love this time of year! I continue to enjoy evening trail runs, even if it means taking my headlamp to run in the dark. 

On Tuesday, I drove up to Ogden, because my state job had a walking tour of 25th Street. We had a local historian share the histories of the various buildings—an astonishing amount of which used to include brothels. There was even a bar that uses the old "bedroom" doors as tables, and an employee let us in to see it. But I think prostitution is sad, at best, so I don't get why there were so many jokes and things that seemed to glorify it. It seems very antifeminist to me. We also had lunch in the old Union Station, which was once a train station but is no longer. There was a time when I only cared about nineteenth-century history, but I'm getting more interested in twentieth-century history.

One business made lots of tiny Weber State uniforms for these miniature skeletons

I like that my state job has field trips.

On Thursday, I was able to make our fifth batch of grape juice for the year! And I think that's finally the end. I can't ever recall making so much juice. 

Another unusual fruit crop this year is apples. Our neighbor's apple tree hangs into our yard, and we regularly pick them. Their tree does not have any fruit this year. We have an apple tree too, but it usually doesn't produce much fruit. This year, however, it has produced more apples than I can ever remember! I just hope I have time to pick more of them before they all fall off.

Yesterday (Saturday), I went to help my stake with a service project. Back in 2018 and 2019, I used to help tutor Tongan youth at a church in Salt Lake. In 2019, that Tongan ward switched buildings. I was surprised to see that the building they switched out of is now a community center rather than a church building. 

I helped get rid of unwanted plants at someone's home. There were some so-called trees of "heaven" down in a window well with an active colony of yellowjackets. One of the yellowjackets stung my eyebrow, and I didn't really want to work in the window well more than I had to. (Luckily it didn't hurt very much.) 

Then in the late afternoon, I wanted to go on a trail run. I went to Mueller Park, and I noticed that the gate was closed on the fee area, and the fee box was covered up. So I thought I could legally go into the fee area without paying a fee. I wanted to explore the new portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail there.

Part of the new trail was closed for construction, and the new portion was very short. I found myself at the Kenny Creek Trail, where I went on Memorial Day in 2017. As I headed up the trail, I remembered why I haven't been back in more than six years. It's very steep and uneven, there's a lot of overgrowth, and sometimes it's hard to follow the trail.

I made it up to the remains of an old cabin. I don't know how old it is, but it's obviously pretty old. Props to whoever took their building tools up so high, because it's not an easy hike! 

On my way down, I went on the new BST, because I had seen a cyclist at the trail intersection. He had taken the closed portion of the trail up. But when I went down, there wasn't a sign saying it was closed. This trail was much better than the old trail. If I ever decide to go back to the old cabin, I will have to take the new trail. It's twice as long but so much easier!

The cabin has deteriorated noticeably since I went in 2017

I went a little past the cabin so I could see some aspens

I went 7.7 miles, and it took two and a half hours. Usually I can go that distance in less than two hours in North Canyon. It was good to change things up, but there are better trails.

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It was a fun week for pumpkinundation roundup.

I've been getting Planters Pumpkin Spice Almonds since 2015. They actually are made with pumpkin powder. I have even bought some on clearance so I can have them at other times of the year. I like them. 7/10.

It's hard to go wrong with Frosted Flakes, so I like Kellogg's Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes. However, while they are grrreat as Frosted Flakes, they just aren't very pumpkin spicy to me. 7/10.

It's fun to see some of the lesser fall flavors get to shine, so I was eager to try Baskin-Robbins Apple Cider Donut Ice Cream. It has chunks of donut in it and a nice spice flavor. It doesn't taste like apple, but neither to actual apple cider donuts. 7/10.

Sweet Cake Bake Shop is a gluten-free bakery in Bountiful, and I wanted to try their Sweet Cake Bake Shop Pumpkin Blueberry Cupcake, because I have never had those flavors paired before. I expected them to be mixed together, but as far as I could tell, it was just a pumpkin cupcake with blueberry frosting. But I still really enjoyed it! I don't know if they really go together, because the blueberry was the dominant flavor. But it was still a tasty treat, and you would never guess it was gluten free. 8/10.

At first, I questioned why the Twisted Sugar Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie needed frosting. But then I learned. The cookie was dry and didn't have many chocolate chips. Disappointing. (Also, do you like my hairy knee in the picture?) 6/10.

I also didn't love the Twisted Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie. It was a sugar cookie with a pumpkin cream cheese frosting and whipped cream. Maybe I was sugared out, but it wasn't great. 5/10.

Sugar Fix cookies are sold at certain gas stations in Utah, and I like to buy them, even the nonseasonal ones, because they are made by a gay couple. The Sugar Fix Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cookie is a pumpkin cookie with brown sugar frosting. Refreshing not to always have chocolate chips. 8/10.

Planters Apple Cider Donut Cashews have a nice, sweet glaze, and they are actually reminiscent of donuts. 7/10.

I think this is a Lee's Pumpkin Spice Donut. They said pumpkin spice was their donut flavor of the month, but in the case, they weren't actually labeled. I just tasted fried goodness. 6/10.

I was eager to try Reed's Dairy Pumpkin Spice Milk. I don't think it had any actual pumpkin in it, which is disappointing. But its spices tasted amazing, and it was reminiscent of eggnog. 8/10.

Trader Joe's Harvest Chili has various autumnal ingredients, and it's vegetarian. To me it seemed more minestrone than chili, but I still liked it. 7/10.

I liked the Grounds for Coffee Pumpkin Hot Cocoa, but it was more cocoa than pumpkin. 6/10.

They asked me if I wanted the Grounds for Coffee Pumpkin Sweet Roll heated, and I declined, which was a mistake. It wasn't very pumpkiny. It was OK. 6/10.

Living with senior citizens, I am surrounded by nutrition supplements. These Bariatric Pal Caramel Apple Calcium Citrate Soft Chews are better than they have any business being. They remind me of those little square caramels in the clear wrappers. 7/10.