From Yorkshire to the USA, with Helene in tow

This summer girls from Girlguiding North Yorkshire South were selected to take part in a trip to America, and Helene came along too!  It was a long journey to get there: we took a train from York to Manchester, a plane from Manchester to London and another plane from London to Boston but we finally arrived late in the evening. Our first impression was the heat, it's a lot warmer than the UK in America!

On the first day we went on a Duck Tour.  A Duck is an old World War 2 tank, we were driven around the city by Captain Duck Tape and then the tank magically drove into the sea and we had another tour by water (we also got the chance to try driving the tank).

That evening we took a bus to Hartford in Connecticut where we met our host families.  We spent two days with our families and visited the local sights like the local Navy submarine base, the beach and aquarium. We also had a pool party in the evening where we met up with all the Girl Scouts who we had stayed with.

On the Sunday morning we all excitedly packed up our bags and headed to Summer Camp. We were taking part in the Girl Scouts of Connecticut International Camporee.  There were lots of international Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from Japan, Ghana, Nigeria, Canada, Australia and the UK, and of course lots from America.  

Throughout the week we took part in traditional American summer camp activities including archery, boating, canoeing, swimming in the lake, crafts, tie-dye, camp fires, cook outs, etc.

 On the Wednesday we held an International Day for all the local Girl Scouts to come to visit.  We met Daisies (like Rainbows) and Brownies who had been too young to come to camp.  We put on a display about our country and Girlguiding UK.  We also made cream teas and put on a sketch.  The camp was visited by the Senator for Connecticut and the President of Girl Scouts of Connecticut.

Camp ended all too quickly and we said very sad farewells to all the new friends that we had made.  We then took a bus for the final part of our trip, a visit to New York City.  We had a fantastic three days in the city seeing all the famous sights such as the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge etc.  We also did lots of shopping including making many of the special edition Girl Scout Build A Bears!

It was then time for our trip to end and we packed our bags for one last time and headed home.  We have so many fantastic memories from the trip and have made so many new friends that we hope to keep in touch with.  Hopefully we will meet up again at another international trip some time in the future.

 PS Fancy going on an international trip yourself? Ask your County International Adviser what's coming up (or if you're a young member, ask your Leader to find out for you!)