Are your girls excited about travel? Are you looking for the “next step” for them after taking local field trips? Or looking for an inexpensive “practice trip” before you take a regional trip to San Francisco? This is the ADVENTURE for you!!
THE DATE: Saturday April 18th, 2026 8am-6:30pm, Starting and Ending in Oceanside at the train station.
THE GOAL: The goal of this trip is to give your girls some experience planning a trip, budgeting and taking public transportation together. Try to spend a few meetings figuring out what you’d like to do, where you’d like to eat and how to get there and back from Los Angeles Union Station at 800 North Alameda Street in the given time, using public transportation. Have each girl help plan part of the trip so everyone gets to lead at some point.
THE PLAN: We will meet at the Oceanside Train Station at 8 AM. The Metrolink train leaves at 8:27 AM and arrives in LA at 10:30 AM. Coming home we will gather at the Downtown Los Angeles Union Station at 4:00 PM we will leave at 4:27 PM and arrive in Oceanside at 6:35 PM. You’ll have five hours in the city to explore!
THE PROGRAM: There are so many fun things you can do in LA! Program options might include – badges or journeys, college or career emphasis or just go for the fun of exploring the fashion district…there are lots of great possibilities! You will plan your itinerary for the day by troop, we will only be traveling together as a group on the train. Some ideas might be:
1) Fashion Career (Learn about careers in fashion at ASU FIDM , Then spend a few hours at the Fashion District. Practice shopping on a budget: Plan an outfit for school. What could you find for $20? $40? $80? No purchase necessary. Or visit one of the fab thrift stores to see what vintage finds are there.)
2) It’s Your World – Change it! (Science and Technology: visit the world famous La Brea Tar Pits or see the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center or see a fascinating new dinosaur hall at the LA Natural History Museum.)
3) It’s Your Planet – Love it! (Practical Life Skills: Breathe – Learn about Urban Gardens at the Natural History Museum. )
4) It’s Your Story – Tell it! (Adventure: explore Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo and Olvera Street try some exotic foods and experience other cultures and discover your cultural roots or explore a culture you are curious about. There are some wonderful ethnic museums, grocery shops and restaurants in the downtown area.)
5) College Exploration (seniors or ambassadors- visit one of the colleges in the LA area, get a tour, eat lunch on campus, meet a Girl Scout who attends: USC or CSULA. Find out about the application process.)
6) Chef Career or Cooking Badge (take a cooking class in Los Angeles maybe at East LA HipCooks, visit a big Farmer’s Market or Grand Central Market, visit a Chinese market in Chinatown, try Dim Sum or Korean Barbecue! )
7) Movie Career (interested in working in Hollywood? Learn about careers at USC or ASU FIDM, Visit a production studio, TV studio or game show, arrange to meet a woman director or producer.)
8) Art Career (Explore the free exhibits with a timed ticket at The Broad Museum, or one of the many art galleries. Take a class and create something. There are plenty of museums with free admission, check them out.)
9) Rose Parade Float (learn about the history of the parade, talk to one of the groups that make the floats about the plans for the Rose Parade Float, learn how the floats are constructed and come back to volunteer to help in December!)
10) Photo Bug (explore downtown LA through the lens of your camera. See the Fashion District, Chinatown, the big buildings and freeways in a new way. Frame your favorites and have an exhibit when you get back to San Diego. Do a money earning project proposal and sell your prints to your family and friends and make some money for your troop!
11) Visit the American Girl Store and make something for your doll in one of the fun craft workshops, tour the store, eat in the cafe!
11) Other Ideas?? (you figure out what you’d like to do! Research it, map it, plan it and DO IT!)
(You might consider networking if you plan to visit ASU FIDM, USC or CSULA or a museum to get a group tour or rate! Contact me and I can connect you with other interested leaders)
THE COST: The cost for the round trip Train trip on Saturday on Metrolink is only $10/person and it includes metro or bus rides in Los Angeles for the day! You’ll buy the tickets using a troop debit card on the app or at the kiosk that morning. (You can’t purchase them ahead of time, they have to be purchased on the Saturday that you travel.)
***Metrolink’s Kids Ride Free on Weekends deal means every weekend, up to three children ages 17 and under can travel anywhere on the Metrolink system with a paying adult. (but I THINK then you have to buy the bus and metro passes in LA, if you’re planning to use them. Let’s check)
You may have other costs to put in your budget:
- Parking – at the Train Station in Oceanside is free!
- Bus/Subway – Also free (if you paid the $10 Metrolink fee) ride the metro or bus or plan to walk around the downtown area – check the map!
- Admission – to museum, program, tour or event. Or plan to explore on your own for free.
- Food – Chinatown, Olvera Street food vendors are inexpensive options near Union Station. Research on Urban Spoon or Yelp. Or bring a brown bag lunch. You may want to eat breakfast bagels while we wait for the train in the morning and have dinner before we get on the train in the afternoon.
- Additional Transportation – if you want to take the Amtrak train from Santa Fe Depot to Oceanside, there is a train that leaves at 6:01 AM and arrives at 6:55 AM in Oceanside. The fare is $18/person each way. If you miss the return train in Los Angeles, there is an Amtrak train that leaves from Union Station at 5:10 PM. The fee is $28 per traveller. You can pay for tickets on the Amtrak app. The train will arrive in Oceanside at 7:04 PM.
- Patches – We’re making some fun patches that you can purchase for $3 each, as many as you want for girls or adults. Order them when you let us know you’re interested in going and you can pay for them later and pick them up on the train. The patches are optional.
Metrolink says: You are welcome to pack a snack and water bottle for the train trip or a brown bag breakfast to eat on the train but please bring a trash bag to dispose of your trash when you’re finished without overstuffing the trash bins on the train.
INTERESTED? Please fill out the Train Trip Interest Form below:
THE PAPERWORK:
Activity Approval (because you’re travelling outside our council, 1 month before) Use this portal when your troop does an activity that’s not routine or the activity has a higher risk according to the Safety Activity Checkpoints (SAC).* (English or en Español). *This is a new SAC document with more information to help in your activity planning – check out “Travel/Trips”.
Make a List of Participants on the Troop Contact Log to submit with your activity approval and to give to your in-town contact with emergency contact info (by day of travel)
Fill out a Trip or Event Permission Form (English or en Español) to give to parents to sign and activity consultant (1 month before)
Itinerary where are you going how will you get there? (one to Deb Lechner one to your in-town contact, by day of travel, copies to the girls in the troop and the adults on the trip)
Girl Health History and Annual Permission (English or en Español) (you’ll keep those, collect anytime) and Adult Health History Use this form to collect troop volunteer health info – y aquí está en Español. (you’ll keep those, collect anytime)
Note: This Day Trip is recommended for Brownies and up who have done some field trips. Full-day trips may be challenging for Daisies, especially for kindergartners who have not experienced field trips. Make sure to take some field trips before progressing to a full day trip.
TRAINING AND PREPARATION You should have a minimum of two, level trained, unrelated, registered, background checked adults with your troop, one should have first aid/cpr training and have a small first aid kit.
You don’t need to have Troop Tripping for this trip but it’s recommended as you start to travel with your girls! Please review the Let’s Go resource and planning guide for great tips to help plan this day trip.
Emergency Card (Español) Provide this card to any troop volunteer to have on hand, including those transporting girls.
**We will have a pre-trip orientation on zoom February 2nd from 6-7 pm for all adults who have signed up. Zoom link will be sent to you by email. We’ll cover:
- Itinerary basics
- Health, first aid, emergency procedures
- Basic operational procedures (buddy system at all times) and behavior expectations on trains
- Safety in big cities
- What to do if separated from the group
- What to do if something significant is lost
- What to do if emergency help is needed
- How to navigate a large crowd (if you’re going to the Fashion District)
- Contingency plans if you miss the train
**We’ll have a check-in/Q&A zoom March 3 6-7 pm to see how you’re doing on your itinerary and to answer questions about paperwork and plans for the travel day. Zoom link will be sent to you by email.
SAFETY: Safety Management – All adults who drive the girls or have direct contact with girls have a completed background check with GSSD and have completed a Live Scan Fingerprinting if necessary. Go over Safety Activity Checkpoints for travel and any other relevant checkpoints. Adult to youth supervision ratios will be met during your individual troop activities. The activity(s) are appropriate to the Girl Scouts’ age level, skill level, experience, and their physical and emotional readiness. All girls should have a card with adult contact name, troop # and cell phone number for emergency. Talk through the Emergency Action Plan with adults and girls who are coming on the trip (The Emergency Action Plan is now included in the Activity Approval Portal and is no longer a separate form to be filled out. When you fill it out in the portal it will be emailed to you.) Where is the nearest hospital? What would you do in an emergency? What if there’s an earthquake? What if someone gets separated from the group? What if someone feels sick? What are other problems you might encounter and how can you be prepared for them?
Basic Field Trip Safety – Use the buddy system. Pick a meeting point in case you get separated. Plan what to wear & what to take in your purse or daypack. (snack, water, sunscreen, walking shoes, map/itinerary, matching shirts for the day? uniforms? etc, Remember, no names visible on shirts or hats.)
Good girl scout travel behavior & manners – Stay together, no running or being loud on the train, decide on rules for personal electronic equipment, leave a place cleaner than you found it, say “thank you”, be sensitive to others’ needs, habits and customs, practice the girl scout law you’re representing Girl Scouts!
Money Safety – You can’t ask that parents send a certain amount but you may set a limit so girls aren’t carrying large amounts of cash. Discuss limit with parents and girls. Talk about not flashing around your money in public. Use a safety pin to close backpack zippers. How to hold your purse/backpack in front of you when you’re in a crowd.
Contingency Plans – The Metrolink train that we are scheduled to take is the last Metrolink train of the day. If you miss the 4:27 PM return Metrolink train (no fee, the $10 weekend ticket is for round trip), you will have to purchase a ticket and travel on the 5:10 Amtrak Train. The fee is $28 per traveller. You can pay for tickets on the Amtrak app. The train will arrive in Oceanside at 7:04 PM. Once you’re on the train let Debbie Lechner 619 869-9734 and your in-town contact know about the change in plans so he/she can let the drivers and other parents know.
Not Available on this Date? Or is the trip full? – This trip can be planned by your troop!! You don’t need to go with this group on this date (although we’ll have fun going together!) Use this information to plan your own troop trip! You can even order patches for your troop, just let me know how many you’d like.
QUESTIONS? contact Debbie Lechner debbie.lechner@gmail.com or 619 869-9734