Road Trip Report 9: Las Vegas with Kids
One thing I liked at the Hoover Dam: Those cool 1930s Art Deco towers. What to do in Las Vegas with kids? First of all, I must say Las Vegas, i.e. the Strip, is not my kind of place. So what to do there? Visit the Hoover Dam, I was told. We did that. We went, we saw, we [...]
MFA Q&A: Was it worth it? – Answers from Fellow Alumni
This installment on the value of an MFA offers answers from some of my fellow alumni from the MFA in Creative Writing program at Queens University of Charlotte. Q: How has the MFA credential helped advance your career? Have you been able to quantify it in terms of more money made, more work, etc.? Val Nieman: My Queens MFA [...]
Road Trip Report 8: Wild Horses near Las Vegas
Early morning drive north on SR-160 to US-95 in Nevada My daughter's number one wish for this road trip (every family member got one) was to see wild horses. I was nervous about that - after all, they are wild, and you can't schedule seeing a wild being. I did a lot of research: [...]
Road Trip Report 7: Death Valley Photo Essay
Driving into Death Valley from the east on SR190 at sunrise - about 5:45 a.m. Going lower. Badwater Pond - salty rather than poisonous as it is fed by water leaking from an aquifer that picks up minerals before it pools at this lowest point in the Western Hemisphere (282 feet below sea level). Rare snails live here. View [...]
Road Trip Report 6: The Canyons
I haven't quite figured out yet what it means to visit great places like Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park a second time, except that it is a privilege. I was fortunate enough to visit these national parks again, now with my family in tow, after having seen them 22 years ago when I did my [...]
Road Trip Report 5: Rafting the Colorado River Triggers Childhood Memory
View from the Glen Canyon Dam down to where to floats disembark One way to keep family members happy on a long road trip is to ask beforehand what each one of them would most like to see or do, and then to plan for that. My husband's "must" was a trip down the Colorado River. I knew we [...]