destinations 2007

This summer, three (3) girls from Girl Scouts of River Bluffs Council had the chance of a lifetime to be part of a destination. What an amazing opportunity! Check out their adventures...........

This year I got the chance of a lifetime, I got to go to Space Camp. Before I tell you anything else, you must understand that I have been in awe of space for as long as I can remember. Going to Space Camp was my dream. Girl Scouts has encouraged me immensely to follow my dreams and goals.

On my first day of camp, we got to know each other. We played games and had a few long briefings. During one of the briefings, we each chose a track: space, aviation, or robotics. Depending on the track I chose, I got different jobs during missions.

On day two, we trained and went over our jobs for our first mission. The job I was training for was Station Commander on the International Space Station (ISS). After training, we all rode the gyroscope. The gyroscope is what space camp is known for. It is a simulator of an airplane spinout. It has three big rings with a chair in the center. You sit in the chair as the rings and you start spinning. I only rode for 40 seconds. It was awesome! Then we went on our mission. On the mission, we got left behind on the station. In the end, we broke the air lock on the Space shuttle, jumped through space to get back on the shuttle without space suits, and survived. When we got back on the shuttle, the payload doors were left open and we blew up the atmosphere. I love space camp!

On day three, we completed the mission we trained for the previous day. On this mission I was POD/Mission Scientist. I was in charge of the ISS and I was the only one allowed to talk to the ISS as well as plan their mission and help them out of their problems. Under my supervision, the ISS crew survived. After the mission, we made parachutes. Mine had a pattern of a star which I called the 3 Aces. We then did a space walk. The space walk is a simulator of walking on the moon.

On day four, I was the pilot for the mission. As a pilot, I didn’t really fly, the commander does that. Our flight went smoothly until landing. During practice, we never made it to the runway so I didn’t know how to put the landing gear down or deploy the parachute, so we crashed on the runway. Oops! Then came my favorite part, patrol. During patrol, we practiced what we would do if we were at Aviation Challenge (AC), which is a boot camp for kids. AC is the other side of space camp. We learned the signals involved and the correct way to perform patrol. After that we made bottle rockets.

On day five we survived our first mission. This mission I was the Flight Director. Then we went to the AC to take the plunge. The plunge is a helicopter simulator. We were lowered in to the water and exited in the order we would in real life if our helicopter crashed in to the ocean. It was fun! Then we went swimming, played games, and learned about food in space. Then we hit Skylab, which is a model of the night sky that you can crawl in. We then did team building with the boys group and had an Amazing Race competition.

On day six we went to Land Survival where we learned what kinds of berries, plants, and animals to eat and how to get them. Then we rode Space Shot (where you feel weightlessness), G-Force (where you feel three times the force of gravity), and MARS (a simulator and tour of Mars with a twist). We also did water survival and what to do if we got stranded in the middle of the ocean. We also watched "Walk to the Moon", a film about Apollo 15 and completed a GPS search.

On day seven, we watched an IMAX on birds and flight, and we trained for our Extended Duration Mission (EDM). It is a six hour mission. We got to eat supper in the shuttle and played games such as Family Feud and Jeopardy, which tested our space knowledge. After that came the exciting part, the Extended Duration Mission. I was the pilot. During the mission, we had some issues. We had two cabin leaks and then the ISS caught fire. We crashed in Columbia and the Mission Control had to come find us. Oh well! We then had a speaker who talked to us about following your dreams.

On day eight, we all cried because we had become such good friends and hated to say goodbye. We then had a graduation and each group was recognized and we received our wings. We all wished we could of stayed longer. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. I thank Girl Scouts for helping make my dream come true!

The first two days at camp consisted of packing, making friends, and getting to know the people that I would be hiking with. I also went with a good friend of mine, Kaylee Schmitz. I ended up liking the camp right away. There were lots of awesome and hilarious girls there. The camp has counselors from a host of different countries, and girls from all over the USA and a few other countries.

After a full day of driving, my group reached our destination: the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Then we start hiking. For those six days, we carried everything on our backs: clothes, personal items, food, supplies, sleeping bags, and tents. Surprisingly, I did not get very tired. Backpacking seems to not be as strenuous as you might think. The trails we hiked were, for the most part, beautiful, with some sort of water feature in view at most times. We hiked along Lake Superior’s coast for a good part of the time, and we were rewarded with some of the most stunning sunsets that I have ever seen. The group enjoyed wonderful scenery, companionship, loads of wonderful mishaps, and jokes, and of course, the satisfaction of sleeping in a tent and eating food that you had just carried seven miles on your back.

After six days we had finished the trail. I was happy and sad about this because although the hiking was getting tiresome, I would miss the quiet charm of the forest. We headed to Mackinaw City, did a bit of exploring and shopping in the town and stayed the night there. We also got to eat pizza and ice cream, which was a glorious change to the food we had on the hike. When we arrived back at Timbers, we cleaned and returned supplies. We also climbed a high ropes course for the first time and we had a dance (with a DJ), where we danced the night away.

The last day was a sad and happy one. Because the trip I went on was the longest in the camp, most of the friends I had made were in the last days before leaving. It was sad to leave them so soon. I also miss my counselors a lot. But, I was happy to get home. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about the fun I had!

I had a really good time in Michigan and met several new friends. There were five girls in the Porcupakin group and we had two counselors. We were out hiking in the mountains for a whole week without electricity and running water, but it was loads of fun and the sites that we saw were absolutely beautiful. Each morning we woke up, had a breakfast of oatmeal and raisins, and went off hiking to see new places. The only animals we saw were black squirrels, two deer, and an animal we called a squitmunk. We called it that because although it was definitely a chipmunk, it had a very large bushy tail and was quite large. Although we never came across a bear, we took no chances and hung our food up on a bear pole every single night. We got to see some amazing creeks and ponds, and while we were camping along Lake Superior, we saw a most gorgeous sunset. I had a really good time hiking and saw some of the most amazing sights ever.

When we got back to Timbers after backpacking, we got to try out the new High Ropes Course. We had to walk on a pole, swing from ropes, walk over wooden planks, and hook our harness to a giant swing! That night was full of goodbyes and swapping of e-mails and phone numbers. I had a really good time at camp and I would suggest that any girl that likes to rough it would also enjoy the camp. The girls and counselors that I met were great. My time there is something I will never forget!