Overview

Goal of this Website

having fun waiting for the BART Going to San Francisco to "bridge" to the cadette level is one of the highlights of being an older girl scout.
The NorCal Girl Scout Council recognizes that and sponsors an annual day, in May, to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the symbolic transition from Junior Girl Scouts to Cadette Girl Scouts.

Travel helps to give the girls something really "cool" to tell friends about scouting. We hope this website gives your girls the tools they need to plan their trip and to develop skills in decision making, planning, evaluating, budgeting, self-reliance and safety and to have fun!

Trip Planning Timetable
September	research lodging (council properties 6 months ahead), Parent meeting #1 (collect deposit), activity approval in to council volunteer support coordinator, (when deciding if you are taking all adults remember that this is the girl’s trip: too many adults limit their life skills learning opportunities.)
November	Register for event 11/11/2013 at 11am
Nov-March	Plan where to go, what to see, where to eat, make matching t-shirts or hats, collect second installment, communicate regularly with parents, sell nuts and cookies!
February	Cheapest airfare will be 3 months before the event on a Tuesday.
March - April	Get BART tickets, confirm with lodging, make packing list, arrange transportation to the airport, Parent meeting #2 (collect final payment adjusted based on money earned from cookie sales)
April	Collect permissions & health histories, confirm details with girls and parents
May 3rd	Attend Bridging event!

Costs estimates

Low of $250 – high of $450

Our troop per person: $275

$138 flight from San Diego to Oakland
$10.70 adults, $4 kids (special red tickets) BART travel pack from Oakland Airport includes airport shuttle to the BART station
$25 spending money
$7 Friday lunch dim sum
$7 per person for groceries: Fri dinner, Sat picnic and Sun breakfast
$7.50 Saturday dinner Sushi Boat restaurant
$1.00 per day min for kids(.50 per ride plus transfers), $3 min for adults transportation on muni system
$5 per person to ride the cable car once, one way
$4.50 bag of fortune cookies and a photo at the factory
Boudin Bakery (kids free, adults $3)
$17 Bridging event (incl. bracelet, bus, activities and patch)
$15 commemorative SF bridging t-shirt
total about $275 per person

High $450 (things that add on costs) from another troop that went the same year

Rented a bus to drive up and drive around town
4 days instead of 2 ½
“All About Chinatown” tour
Winchester Mystery house tour
gave the girls Cadette vests to wear for bridging

Other troops:
Hotel $149/4 people per night (Hotel Whitcomb) others stayed near the SF airport and rode 45 min on the BART each morning + cost for that.
Alcatraz tour
Ate at Bubba Gumps or Hard Rock Café
Tour of San Francisco
Having to eat all meals at restaurants
$42 City Pass to see attractions

What to Pack

You’ll want to “rough it” in the wardrobe department. You will be carrying your backpacks all day on Friday, so you want to keep them extremely light!! Girls all over the city are wearing their GS uniforms, you’ll be able to see each other better if you make your own t-shirts or hats to wear on the trip. We tie-dyed bright pink and purple shirts to wear. You’ll wear one pair of jeans all 3 days, we wore our tie-dyed t-shirts one day and our bridging t-shirts the next and the cleanest one of the two for the ride home. We took one warm sweatshirt w/hood (it could be as cold as 45 degrees out on the bridge) and windbreaker or warm jacket (fog or rain are a good possibility) 2 pairs of undies and 2 pairs of socks, we wore a pair of good walking athletic shoes. Since the bathrooms will be in the hall at the hostel it is a good idea to have a pair of pj bottoms to wear with your t-shirt to bed. I’m brought a plastic grocery bag to put all my clothes in, so I could use the backpack on Saturday and leave the clothes in a locker at the hostel. You can put all the “clothes bags” in one or two lockers, Take a few locks to lock them up. Take a camera (disposable or inexpensive, extra batteries or film if needed). Ziploc bag with toothbrush, little or empty tube of toothpaste, little soap & motel room size shampoo, hairbrush & hair ties. Towels, linens and pillows are provided, no sleeping bags needed. Another Ziploc baggie for spending money, few tissues, and chapstick. A water bottle (leave it empty till we get through airport security then we’ll fill it up at a drinking fountain) and lightweight paperback book or magazine, deck of cards, pen and paper, sudoku sheets..whatever will keep you entertained on the flight. Probably a granola type bar would be good in case you’re starving and a brown bag breakfast that we can eat at the airport or on the flight. That’s it!! girls with their backpacks

ipods and phones

Speaking of entertainment..we didn’t want to be responsible for MP3 or CD players and phones, but the girls insisted that they must have them and that they would be really careful with them. I think they would have survived for a weekend without, but we left it up to the parents, if the parents felt comfortable with them taking electronic equipment that might get lost, then we let them. You will be traveling for 5-7 hours and music will help the time pass.

They need to know that they are totally responsible for their players and phones and should keep it with them at all times, in their backpacks. If you feel uncomfortable about that, please have them take a book instead!

Our rule was that when we were in the city, exploring and seeing the sites that the cell phones and ipods got turned off and put away. That way we could be assured that the girls would be focused on safety and enjoying the whole experience.

Some parents wanted to get a phone call or email each evening to hear about our day and I didn’t have any problem with that. There was internet at the hostel and we paid the $2 for 20 minutes so everyone could send a quick message home. One adult kept her cell phone on all day in case we needed to get any emergency calls and there weren’t any.

Forms & Permissions

You need to start planning a year ahead and you should begin by sending an activity approval to the activity consultant or volunteer support coordinator and taking "Troop Tripping" through council.

You need to buy extra insurance (3P) from your council.

You need permission slips, health histories for girls and adults and medication permissions.

You need an adult who as completed the appropriate training “Let’s Camp” and a first Aider

Swaps

swaps hat Many troops brought bags of swaps to exchange at Crissy Field. Plan for hundreds if you like, I’m sure you could swap them all! It’s fun to wear a hat or necklace that you can pin them to! It’s great if your swap can reflect something about San Diego instead of San Francisco because the girls who collect them will be interested in finding swaps from all over the west and troops from San Diego have come a long way! Include a troop website or email address in case you’d like to have a new pen pal and keep in touch with new friends.