Vacation: Shenandoah National Park

We spent the first three days of our vacation driving to our first major touristy stop. Along the way, we spent a great evening with a friend of mine in Tennessee visiting with her and her children. Mom really wanted to take my friend's son home with her!

Our first destination stop on our vacation was Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Mom and I had never been to this park before. It was established as an "Eastern park in the Western tradition" and features the Skyline Drive. The park's creation forced the people who lived in the area to be relocated, so the park is "still recovering" from human habitation.

The views of gaps and hollows along the drive are lovely … when the weather is nice.

The first full day we spent in the park began slightly overcast with a bit of a drizzle. And the day only got worse. Thick fog, freezing cold and rain. It even sleeted briefly!

But before the weather went downhill, we saw some beautiful sites.

Mountain laurel, which was planted in the park by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, was just beginning to bloom in the mountains.

But then the fog started rolling in,

and we had to be careful about deer on the side of the road.

Our second day in the park was gorgeous! The sun shone, and the skies were bright blue.

I hiked down to see the Dark Hollow Falls which was described as having "steep sections." The trip down was great, until I ran into another hiker who told me that the bear he saw at the "metal part" might still be there. "Great, thanks," I said with some trepidation. He reminded me that people were more dangerous than the bears. I agreed and walked on keeping my eyes and ears open for the bear. All the while I was thinking people may be more dangerous, but I can maybe outrun a person – or at least outfox one.

Fortunately, I didn't see a bear. Also unfortunately, I didn't see a bear. Even though I would have probably fainted if I came across a bear on the hiking trail, it would have been neat to see!

Nevertheless I continued on the hike until I got to Dark Hollow Falls.

And then I had to hike back up the trail to the parking lot. Straight up! Those steep sections? The entire trail!

And along the way I got a phone call from a friend. That was so odd. Right after I hung up the phone, I had no service.

But Mom and I continued on our way, and we did see a bear! It was calmly walking through the woods on the side of the road. I couldn't get a great picture of it, but here's what I got. Can you spot the bear?

Mom and I both hiked along the Limberlost Trail which was described as a gentle stroll. I'm pleased to report that it was a gentle stroll.

Although Mom still needed a break.

The wildlife we saw on this trail were squirrels, an Eastern Towhee

and a chipmunk.

More gorgeous views could be seen on the drive.

Our final hike was the Fox Hollow Trail which was named after a family that had lived there before the park's establishment. Evidence of the family's life in the hollow could still be seen in the rockpiles

and the cemetery.

While we were hiking this trail, a thunderstorm developed. We got caught in the rain and were drenched. Fortunately, we weren't struck by the lightning we saw.

More pictures of Shenandoah National Park are on my Flickr page.

Our next stop was Antietam National Battlefield.

It's Vacation Time

We're on a road trip this year. We're seeing some historic sites and parks and other fun things. Among the highlights I'm looking forward to:

seeing a friend of mine in Knoxville, TN

going to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC

attending the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, MD

seeing Antietam Battlefield

touring Hershey, PA

seeing James Dean's grave in Fairmount, IN

It's going to be a great trip. This year will be different as I can update the blog as I travel (as long as I have free wifi).

The first leg of our trip was today. We drove through Louisiana and most of Mississippi. We haven't really stopped to do anything yet, so it's not too exciting.

The fun begins tomorrow!

Finished the Class

I completed the Anastasia Suen writing class I took. I enjoyed it. Each week I had to read three books - which wasn't difficult - and then do the homework assignment. We analyzed first chapters, themes (which I was never good at in high school but have somehow figured out) and voice.

My favorite lesson covered story beats. When I do my own writing, I don't outline. I find outlines restrictive, and I never end up following them anyway. I was always the person on school who wrote the paper and then wrote the outline when one was required. That just worked better for me.

But the story beats were different. They function as an outline but can work equally well for forming the structure of the book. I'm going to go over some of my writing and apply a "beat sheet" to it. Just another way of polishing.

I plan to take the second half of the class beginning in June. I'm already looking forward to it.

Writing Class

I signed up for an online class from author Anastasia Suen. The class is the first half of her children's chapter book workshop.

I'm looking forward to it. I've never taken anything remotely resembling a creative writing class. The only real writing class I took was a newspaper reporting and writing class in college.

I think that news writing class is why I tend to write short. Newspaper articles are generally short. I think I internally edit before I even get the words on page.

When I finish writing a book, it's never long enough. At least not in terms of word count - which is nebulous and not a hard-and-fast rule but try pitching a "short" book to an agent or editor. As I revise, I find myself adding words - details, character development, dialog, subplots.

Everyone else in my critique group has to delete words in their works. I felt like some kind of weird writing freak.

Until I went to the SCBWI conference in Austin in January.

The author Sara Lewis Holmes was speaking with her editor, and one of the things Ms. Holmes said was that she was a writer who had to add words. I wanted to leap out of my seat and cry, "Me, too!" I was so thrilled to find out I wasn't alone.

I even emailed her to thank her for the hope she had given me. She wrote back to me and told me she had a similar reaction when she heard another author say the same thing.

Learning about other author's work and methods and habits make me realize that my own haphazard, strange approach to writing could actually work.

Here's hoping!