As you may remember, my husband and I have two Girl Scout troops. The younger one serves Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors. We begin talking about the annual Junior trip during our Cookie Sale planning. It is just one of several activities we do with our Cookie Sale Profits. The Daisies and Brownies have their own 5 hour party.
This year the Juniors voted to go to Phoenix, Arizona. Many of our California desert girls have never been out of the state, so the idea of Arizona was immediately exciting. It's just over 4 hours driving time. We took 12 girls and 5 adults. For some girls it was their 3rd Junior Trip, for some it was their first.
We left our meeting place at noon on Friday, and stopped just over the Arizona border for McDonalds ice cream. Since the temps have been hovering just over or just under 115 degrees, the refreshing treat was a good pick-me-up. Once in our motel rooms - after a huge mix up with our reservations - the girls cooled off with a swim in the pool. While we were waiting for our pizza to be delivered they strung their own beaded necklaces in our troop colors to go with their troop t-shirts.
The girls voted to wear their troop shirts the next day, and save their uniforms for Sunday. We ended the day with our "Rap It Up" session. Each girl got to say one good thing about her day, one bad thing, a just because thing, and ask a question if she had one. After the girls talked each adult also had a turn. We ended with a friendship circle and taps. The room had just a hint of an echo, and the girls sounded so beautiful.
Saturday we started with the complimentary continental breakfast at the motel, then drove the 2 1/2 hours to Kartchner Caverns. The girls were totally awed!! Some were nervous, but all were amazed. Not one of them had ever toured a cave before. They were full of oohs and ahhhs. One girl thanked us for taking her on this trip. "I would never have got to do all the amazing things I did today," she said. Another was still talking about how beautiful the cave was the next day. "I would never have believed water could make something so beautiful," she told us about twenty times.
The Kartchner Caverns State Park has short trails that we passed on due to the 117 degree heat. It also has a short video, hands-on museum, gift shop with items worth buying, and a great Junior Ranger program that we were able to complete in less than an hour after our tour. All of the girls received Junior Ranger buttons. It was a good thing we had packed lots of cool water, juice, fruit, and mini-candy bars. We needed them to rehydrate and keep our energy up.
We had dinner at Denny's - and the manager gave us all the girls meals free! We went for another swim, before holding our "Rap It Up" session and taps.
On Sunday we slept in a bit, then went to a different Denny's for brunch. They took 20% off because we were all in uniform. Then we headed for Wildlife World Zoo, just outside of Phoenix. Even for us desert rats it was HOT! 117 degrees hot. We thought the girls would want to call it a day early, but no-ooo, we closed the park at 5:00 pm.
The girls hand feed Lory Parrots and giraffes, spent forever at the monkey cages, oogled the reptile building, and watched the short wild animal show. Heat or no, they wanted to go on the outdoor rides. So the other adults sat in the cool cafe while my husband and I took them on the park train and short river rides. Again, because we were in uniform (and it was so hot), the operators of both rides didn't charge us a dime. All together, because we were Girl Scouts in uniform, we saved about $150!! I'm glad we went on the rides. The animals were close enough to touch - from ostriches to antelope to a black swan who was very mad at us. We barely had time to shop in the zoo gift shop before the park closed, and there were several things the girls want to go back and see another time.
We stopped for McDonalds dinner about halfway home, and droped the last girl at her door just before 10:30 pm.
I really believe in trips like these for Scouts. The girls learn so much: planning and budgeting, make compromises, learning to work as a team, seeing sights they would not otherwise see, feeling good about belonging, learning life lessons . . . We give two girls charge of the room keys, have other girls call for a wake up call each night, let the girls decide how much to tip, let the girls decide when and where to eat, etc. Even the decision of whether or not to brave the heat to take the train ride was a growing and learning experience for them.
Once again, I wrote a novel. It was such a good trip, though. We didn't have any huge problems, and the girls were all so excited. They made us proud all weekend.
Love your novels. Bring back flood of wonderful memories of my Girl Scout Days.
Thanks. It really was a lot of fun, and we didn't have any major problems.
I should have mentioned that between the planning and the actual trip the girls earned either On My Way or Traveler Badge, depending on whether it was their first or second Junior Trip. We also worked on requirements from several other badges.
Although I am not a leader anymore, I am accompanying the junior troop on a trip to the NY side of Niagra Falls August 8-10. I know I will have a novel to write when i come back. Most of this troop are immigrants and they are excited to see anything American.
