Another visitor to Michigan

Besides my parents, one of my roommates from my first year LGO apartment came out to visit me here in Michigan.  I picked her up after work three Fridays ago and we made broccoli cheddar soup and some brownies together and then hung out catching up.  Saturday, we had two outings - one to an open house at GM's proving grounds which included a ride and drive (no banked turns unfortunately), but where we could drive around part of their facilities in our own car.  She test drove the Chevy Equinox and Traverse (bot LTZ versions) and I test drove the GMC Acadia and the Chevy Malibu.  She liked the Traverse more than the Equinox and I found the Acadia seats to be super comfy (buttery leather).  On the whole I'm not a big SUV/Crossover person, but those seats were awesome (I joked that I'd pry them out of the Acadia and try and install them in a different car that was more my style).

From the Open House, we went to the Meadowbook Wine and Food Festival right by my house.  I expected the wine and food to be roughly 50:50, but there was much more wine than food (which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it).  Either way, after two back-to-back events outside in 90F heat, we headed for a restaurant nearby to get more lunch of nice cold salad and WATER.  It tasted so good.  Once we got enough lunch, we came home and crashed.  It's wonderful how things like nap time are possible on Saturdays.

After we awoke, we got back to cooking, making 'Mediterranean Baked Feta with Tomatoes' from the blog Smitten Kitchen and roasting a chicken.  Those two with some crusty bread and wine were excellent.

One of the fruits of out labor

On Sunday, we went to the Detroit Zoo, a place even I had never been to before.  It was fun and we got to see a bunch of animals (In a zoo?  Go figure!).

Polar bear swimming in the distance

Lady lion just lazing around

Chimps!

The cutest tiniest turtle I have ever seen

Sunday night we cooked more, plus ate more tasty leftovers and got our fill of trashy TV.  NICE.  I didn't expect to have many visitors out here, so having another weekend to share Michigan with someone was pretty cool.  While GM put me in a two bedroom in case there were other female grad students working in the area (they usually put two grad students in a 2-bed apt), I have continued to be roommate-less through the summer (looking that way for fall, too).  In the meantime, I have been enjoying the flexibility having a spare bedroom has allowed.