Ann, that's really neat. I do that, too... I have a whole town mapped out for one novel I've been working on. It really helps me figure out things like, if the children walk from their house to the campsite by the lake, how long should it take? How many houses will they pass? How many trees? How long on a sidewalk before they reach the path through the woods, and then, how far in the woods? These are details that I struggle with visualizing until I take the time to build the path on paper.

Maybe next year I should add a mapping exercise or two.