We had a houseguest last night. My mother escorted Emma down from Vermont yesterday, and spent the night with us in the Airstream. She’s only the second guest we’ve had overnight — the first was back in Tucson when Andy visited. As before, it was no problem having a guest, but we’ve found that it takes a while for people to get used to the small space. We’ve learned how to move around without bumping into each other, and we’ve gained a sort of awareness of what other people are about to do before they do it. This allows us to move efficiently, but when a new person is added to the mix it gets a bit tricky, even humorous, as people crash into each other and say “Oh, excuse me!” a lot.

Today we needed something kid-friendly to do, so after dropping off my mother at the airport for her return flight home, we took in the Museum of Science and Industry. This one is great for little kids since it has an entire building filled with an exhibit called “Kids in Charge”. It easily kept Emma (and us) occupied for a few hours. And once again, we got in free with our ASTC Travel Passport. Today’s admission would have been about $56 for the three of us.

I hate to admit it, but we’ve been parked within a hundred feet of a heated pool in the beautiful Florida sunshine for nearly two weeks and we haven’t gotten in the water yet. So tonight we all jumped in for a while before sunset. They keep the pool well at about 80 degrees, which is fine this time of year. In the photo above, you can just see an Airstream at the top. That’s us.

A pool is one of our favorite modes of exercise. Emma always makes friends with the other kids too, and there are several here who are her age. I expect the pool will be a daily visit from here on in.

We are debating where to go from here. Right now the leading contenders are Hillsborough River State Park (not far off), and then Kissimmee for a visit to Sea World. We promised Emma she would see Sea World in San Diego and then we forgot … so this would be a chance to make good on that promise. I’d also like to drop in on Blue Spring State Park, and perhaps some place in the Cape area on the east coast. Eventually I think we will work east to St Augustine and then up I-95 to the Region 3 Rally in Myrtle Beach.