"Friction!!"

Sorry! Not sure why this didn't post last night as scheduled. Crazy.

After the whirlwind days on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday was going to be a welcome respite. We slept in a bit, but still had breakfast at Starbucks and then headed to the Detroit Zoo. You might think "Detroit Zoo! Why the hell go there??" Well, I find that it's comparable to the Brookfield Zoo if you've been there, and in most ways it's actually better. They do some smart things there like they donated their elephants to a preserve because that felt it was inhumane to keep them in a smallish space (even though their elephant exhibit was as big as any I've seen). There is also lots and lots of shade available at the Detroit Zoo. Big trees provide ample relief from the sun and misters are frequent for a little cool down. Our only complaint was that the beverages were too expensive for what you got and the 20 oz vending machines (which were reasonably priced) weren't working for the most part (one out of four were working).

All in all it was a good trip and we ended up being there for almost four hours.



Here's a peacock at one of the aforementioned vending machines. The poor guy kept seeing his reflection in the machine and would peck at it. Or maybe he was thirsty....I don't know.
















You'll have to click on this one to see the Meerkat sitting up for a photo-op. Funny little fella.

















Anteaters are always a favorite. This was one of the rare spans of time that one wasn't trying to hump the other. More than one family ushered away their kids hurriedly before they had to explain what was going on.







After the zoo, we headed back to the room for a shower and quick nap before meeting my childhood babysitter (from when I was about 1 til I was 6) and her husband for dinner. Their daughter, Katie, lives near me now and is a frequent blog reader. We had a fun dinner and thus ended a whirlwind trip to Detroit.



This sign was in the Starbucks bathroom in Troy. Nice of them to demonstrate CLEARLY how to properly wash your hands. I told LL about this and she had a surprise response. Apparently in her medical travels, she had dinner with the foremost expert on hand washing. I didn't even know there was an expert, but apparently there are and this guy was tops. He was, of course, French. "Friction is the key. Friction!"