Marvelous Monday: Week 37

It's Marvelous Monday! Here we go:

1) My long run yesterday was marvelous because I discovered a new trail!  I wrote on Saturday that before that race I had never been on the running paths at Harriet Island, just over the river from downtown St. Paul. My curiosity was piqued. When I was planning my route online yesterday morning, I tried seeing where I could go if I continued on the paths along the river. It turns out that the Harriet Island-Lilydale trail connects to the Big Rivers Regional Trail in the Dakota County park system, which takes a runner or cyclist all the way to Fort Snelling (and links up to the side of the Mississippi River to which I was trying to get back).

It was awesome. This is kind of a funny analogy to use, particularly because I'm not a big video game player, but finding this trail was like unlocking a new level with tons of cool features to explore. For all the miles I've run on the river road, I should clarify, I've never known how to connect to Fort Snelling. Now I do!

The other perk is that the Big Rivers Regional Trail is just a lovely trail to discover. Every few minutes, I'd come across a sign with really interesting information about the geological or cultural history of where I was running. Obviously, I completely loved this trail and will return to it in the future. It'd be a great bike loop for a fall weekend, too.

2) Hello, Rocky Top win over the weekend! They're 2-0. Big game next week when Florida comes to town (Tennessee's town, not mine) for the SEC opener.

3) My household has been all about the soups lately. Last week we were all about this tomato chickpea pesto soup recipe I clipped from an old Runner's World article. Over the weekend, the crockpot churned out squash stew. (High marks to both recipes, by the way.) This week, I'm planning a black bean and pumpkin soup project. Is soup my favorite category of food? It might be.

4) My brother brought me cookies yesterday! They are the classic chocolate chip, with Andes mints chopped up in place of chocolate. Yum.

5) At the library over the weekend, I stumbled across a book I've had on my list for a long time: Through No Fault of My Own: A Girl's Diary of Life on Summit Avenue in the Jazz Age. which takes place in St. Paul (in case you don't live in Minnesota and the Summit Avenue reference didn't connect). I'm about halfway through - it's really short - and it is absolutely wonderful. Its title stems from the passages detailing the mischief Coco gets into, with many of them beginning "I am in deep trouble through no fault of my own." I very highly recommend this one. It's a hoot.

Hey! What's marvelous about your day, Reader? What are you reading? What are you cooking? Did you make any discoveries this weekend?