Second in a series of articles from Christopher Guerra, La Mirada Boy Scout attending the 2010 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia

 It is 9:00 pm on July 21. I am sitting around the airport near the check-in area with my troop. Scouts around me occupy their time with crossword puzzles, phones, iPods, and lots of chatter. The air is heavy with excitement as take-off time draws near. At 9:15 pm, we took a group picture and said goodbyes to our families as our leaders moved us to the security check area. This will the longest and farthest I have ever been away from my parents. Despite the time and distance, there isn't a scout that isn't looking forward to what's to come.

We boarded the plane and took our seats. As the plane started climbing, I took one last glimpse of the lights of Los Angeles, California. I won't see them again for 16 days. I looked over our itinerary for the next few days and it looks like they have us up and running from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm every day.

As the plane reached cruising altitude, scouts soon succumbed to sleepiness including myself. Five hours later, I woke to a beautiful sunrise on my left and an even more magnificent city to my right. We had arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

As I exited the plane, I thought to myself "One small step for a scout, one giant leap for Christopher!". We walked out of the airport and met Howard our tour bus driver. We loaded our small duffel bags in the bus and climbed aboard. We didn't get food on the plane so the bus was filled with moans of hunger. I looked out the window as we rolled along taking in the city. Picture Los Angeles with more greenery, fewer skyscrapers, and open spaced, less crowded neighborhoods and you got Philadelphia.

We stopped at the Bagel Factory where we had a hearty breakfast. It was pointed out that we were standing on a street that was used in the film National Treasure. After breakfast, we met with our Phily tour guide Joe Becton; a very charismatic man with a mine load of information in his noggin. We started our tour with Independence Hall perhaps the most important building in America because this was where our country was born. Mr. Becton told us many interesting stories about this historical landmark. The tour continued with a look outside the First Bank of the United States where we viewed one of the earliest versions of the National symbol. We also witnessed the symmetry in all the architecture inside and out. Of course, no tour of Philadelphia is complete without a visit to another famous symbol: the Liberty Bell. Let freedom ring!

After lunch, we visited the "Rocky" steps. As I climbed them, the Rocky theme song played in my head. We were moving so fast we didn't get a chance to get a picture with his statue. From there, we visited Benjamin Franklin's printing press shop where a ranger demonstrated how it worked. Before we left, he recited one of Ben's quotes "Do something worth the writing or write something worth the reading."  This is now my new favorite quote.

We finally made it to our hotel around 10:00 pm where we checked in and began the recovery process. Our hectic schedule doesn't give me much time to put my stories together but I will try to put down some quick thoughts about what I am seeing and doing and send them in when I can.