Amanda S. Creasey

June 2023
By Amanda S. Creasey, Outdoors Writer
We arrive at Civitan Park in Ewing, Va., at 10 a.m. on a Saturday. Including ours, five cars wait for their drivers to return from hiking to the Sand Cave in the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park.
My friend Jamie, my dogs and I have been planning this trip for weeks. “Can you do this hike in those?” Jamie asks, nodding at my Uggs. “I guess we’ll find out,” I say. I forgot my hiking boots....

Virginia and Maryland state parks offer something for everyone, in every season
by Amanda S. Creasey, Outdoors Writer
In the summer of 2020, Cole Jensen’s friend, Matt Sullivan, approached him with an idea: He wanted to visit every state park in Virginia. “I was instantly on board and fully committed to the concept. It was totally impulsive and spontaneous,” Jensen, a Virginia native, says.
The challenge to visit every Virginia State Park, formally known as Trail Quest, is open to everyone. P...

Writing Through the Apocalypse, Pandemic Poetry and Prose, is a collection of sixty-three essays and poems written by writers from all over the world who have been writing together on Zoom every week since March 2020.

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EXPLORE MORE Getting Out There by Amanda Creasey, Outdoors Writer Virginia hiking club encourages women of color to explore the great outdoors D “Being able to hike with a group provides a sense of safety for women of color.” – Nicole Boyd espite growing up in urban New York City, Nicole Boyd remembers experiencing the great outdoors during her childhood. She recalls riding her bike, playing basketball and going to parks. “Hiking, or ‘walking in the woods’ as I called it as a kid, was so...

A whitewater rafting adventure in Harpers Ferry
SEPTEMBER 2022
by Amanda Creasey, Outdoors Writer
On a Monday morning in late July, I drive my friend Caitlyn, my husband and myself to River Riders Family Adventure Resort in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., with a forecast for severe thunderstorms looming over our heads.
But no one has contacted us to say our whitewater rafting excursion has been canceled or postponed, and, when we pull into the parking lot, River Riders is bustling with people preparing...

All parents want the best for their children, and typically share the common goal of preparing their kids to thrive as productive and capable adults. One of the most important skills parents can impart to their children is financial responsibility. Allowing kids to manage their own money before they leave home can help them understand not only how to save it, but also how to spend it responsibly. Providing the opportunity for children to earn their own money also allows them to feel proud of ...

Dahlgren Lions Club Mud Run fundraiser is a family affair
by Amanda S. Creasey, Outdoors Writer
Saturday mornings are made for sleeping in, slow wakeups and relaxing, unless it’s Dirty Lion Mud Run Saturday and you’re either a Dahlgren Lions Club Lion or a runner.
Then, Saturday morning is made for rising with the sun, traipsing through the woods and splashing through the mud. This year, race day fell on June 25, the perfect kind of sunny, blue sky morning made for outdoor fun.
For Race Commi...

Visiting the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
JULY 2022
by Amanda S. Creasey, Outdoors Writer
As soon as we cross the bridge from the mainland, I sense a change. The land seems flatter, the trees shorter, the sky broader. I have never been to this part of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and my friends Ashley, Stephanie, Sarah and I have been looking forward to this trip with an anticipation akin to a child’s at Christmas.
After a quick lunch at our lodgings in Church Creek, my three friends, my ...

A bus ride up a mountain to see elk at Breaks Interstate Park
by Amanda Creasey, Outdoors Writer
At 4:45 on a Saturday afternoon in mid-March, I climb aboard a large, white bus idling in a parking lot on the Virginia side of Breaks Interstate Park. For a trip that begins at 5 p.m., I’m a little on the late side, and most of the seats are already taken, so I find myself a spot in the front, directly behind our driver. He introduces himself as Avery and speaks in a vernacular I’ve heard only in...

Dec. 11, 2021, is an unseasonably warm Saturday in Farmville, Va. Gusts of wind rattle the bare branches of the small trees in the town square behindWalker’s Diner, tousling the holiday lights draped around the robust Christmas tree keeping vigil over what would normally be a sleepy Saturday morning.
But there is no sleeping in on this day. A group of trail-runn...

The day is already hot when my parents, my friend, her son, my dogs and I board the Chesapeake Breeze in Reedville, Va., on a late August morning. The air is still and warm, the sun is strong despite the early hour and my skin is already sticky with perspiration. We settle on the second level, near the front of the vessel, and with a startling blast of the horn, it begins to lumber away from the dock.
After about an hour and a half, we dock at Tangier Island. A stark, white cross standing in ...

Colonial Heights High School

Colonial Heights, Virginia

Amanda S. Creasey, Teacher

I stand in the sunshine in the middle of School Avenue on a crisp Wednesday morning in October. The sweet scent of fall–leaves, campfire–slips its invisible fingers between my skin and my mask, and lets itself inside. I inhale deeply. Six feet ahead of me, one of my students shivers, arms wrapped tightly around herself, shoulders tense, trying to ward off the morning chill. Six feet in front of her, another of ...

History and mystery in reopened tunnel

For almost a century, trains rumbled through the Blue Ridge Tunnel, which opened in 1858 and closed in 1944 upon completion of a new tunnel capable of accommodating larger trains.

Today, the tunnel is once again open to traffic, but the only wheels that roll through its cool, damp corridor belong to bikes and strollers.

On a sunny day in June, my party is in Afton, Va., at the mouth of the tunnel’s eastern entrance. I exchange my sunglasses for a headlam...

With the dedication of Clinch River State Park in June, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation added its 41st park to its system. While all of the parks offer a variety of activities, we’ve highlighted some specific attributes of these spectacular parks. By no means are the opportunities limited to what is listed here; it’s just a representative sampling of attractions and adventures. In other words, Cooperative Living readers shouldn’t take our word for it; get out there and ...

This piece explains how to prepare for and enjoy stand-up paddleboarding with dogs. It also details five good places to SUP with dogs in Virginia.