I've been through every bit of the instructions I can think of, and I still
can't solve this problem. I'm becoming rather frustrated.

I'm coming from Photoshop 5.5 into CS for the first time, and I'm having a
heck of a time with the line tool. I draw a path, and all I want to do is
stroke the path. However, as I draw the path, it's filled in with color
between the points. From what I can tell, this is the vector mask.

If I delete it, the whole screen turns whatever color I have in my pallete.

I can hide it, but then I can't stroke my path.

All I want to draw is a simple line, and I can't figure out what I'm doing
wrong.

Also, is there a way to draw a path in one layer, and stroke it in another?
The path disappears when I do that, and I think it's that mask thing again.
How do I get rid of it?

Thanks for your help.