What I need is a single line with little pieces
missing on the line.  Does anyone know of an easy way to do this in
inkscape?

The easiest way to do this, is really easy:

1. Give your path's stroke a color through the Fill & Stroke tool
2. Go to the Stroke Style tab and simply select something from the dashes drop down menu.

You can also configure stroke width and other options from the same tab.