Fife Lake, Michigan: Spring Lake State Forest Campground

July 2019, Weekday, 1-night, Campsite 16

We had previously seen the state forest campground signs for this park on our way north, and wanted to check it out to see if it had enough room for our 35' fifth wheel. We were traveling north with our boat this trip, and decided it was good time to see the park.

Overhead view of Spring Lake State Forest campground
Click on photo to enlarge it

Arrival and site availability

The entrance into the campground is pretty much straight in from 131. The road is not very wide, and someone in a truck who was leaving the park, pulled off the road, as we could not have passed each other while pulling our boat. The boat launch drive veers off to the right just before the campground loop. 

We arrived on a Wednesday shortly before 5 PM. There were several sites available; however, the lake overlook sites were taken. We chose campsite 16, which is about the largest campsite, so we would not have to unhook our boat. 

Campsite 16 at Spring Lake State Forest campground

Austin, Texas: Courtyard by Marriott Austin Airport

July 2019, Weekdays, 2-nights, King guestroom #402

Check-in and Platinum perks

I checked in online before I arrived, and I received a notification via the app telling me when my room was ready. As a Platinum guest, I received a breakfast coupon for breakfast both mornings. I had requested late checkout, as I had an evening flight the day of departure. The agent did not confirm this at check-in, although a different staff member did accommodate this request when I inquired the following day.

Guestroom diagram from back of door

Guestroom 402

This guestroom is at the end of the hall on the 4th floor of this 5-floor hotel. I did not hear any overhead noise, although I did hear a lot of noise from hallway activity the first evening. The doors in this hotel are quite heavy, and the late night guests were not as thoughtful as the early morning guests about letting the doors close quietly. The windows are well soundproofed, and I was not bothered by any airport noise.

Guestroom 402 view from in front of closet

The bed was comfortable, and the desk work area was sufficient. A panel under the desk slid out for more room. There were electric outlets at the desk, and next to the bed.

Desk/entertainment area (refreshment center on right) for guestroom 402

The guestroom contained a coffeemaker with supplies, ice bucket, glass glasses, a small fridge, and a microwave. There was a charge for the bottled water visible in the photos.

Bolingbrook, Illinois: Residence Inn by Marriott Chicago Bolingbrook

June 2019, Weeknight (Wednesday), 1-night, King studio #414

Platinum perks and check-in

I arrived before check-in time (around 2PM), and then waited in the lobby for about an hour for my room. This was not a problem, since I was able to work on my laptop, although it was surprising. Usually, after I have checked in on the Marriott app, I get a text early in the morning telling me my room is ready way before check-in time. Other than the standard Platinum bonus points, I did not receive any extra perks for my status. I received two candy bars, after I spun the wheel behind the check-in counter, and that is the space it landed on. All guests get to spin the wheel when checking in.

King suite 414 at Residence Inn Bolingbrook Chicago

Guestroom 414

I loved this guestroom. It was clean, comfortable, and spacious. The photos on the hotel website are a good representation of the actual guestroom.

King suite 414 at Residence Inn Bolingbrook Chicago

The desk area was large, and the view out the window faced northwest. The kitchen contained everything needed.

Hocking Hills, Ohio: state campground, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Old Man's Cave, hiking, and more!

June 2019, 3 weeknights, state campground site 58

You can find more photos from this visit in my Facebook album.

Sunset from campsite 58

Advance reservations and arrival

I made our reservation online through the Reserve America system, and chose our campsite. I had initially tried to reserve campsite 65 (I think); however, the system was malfunctioning that day, and I went with what had initially been our second or third choice. After arrival, we decided I had chosen the best site!

We arrived via Highway 664 from 33. This road is curvy and steep in spots. After arriving at the park, you just pull up to the window, if you have a reservation. The person we spoke with did not provide any park information, other than to tell us where to hang our tag, and where to put it when we checked out. She said the camper on our site had not checked out yet, and if they were still there when we got back there, we would have to come back to the front. We were glad the site was empty when we arrived, because the camp road in is also steep and curvy, with barely enough room for one large RV, let along two.

Hocking Hills State Park campsite 58

Campsite 58

This is a fabulous full hook up campsite, and we would choose it again. It is one of the most private full hookup sites in this campground. The pad for campsite 56 is not as close as it looks in the online photos on the website. Also, the dumpster in the area between site 58 and 63 was not close to our campsite at all (I was somewhat unsure about this when looking at their online photo beforehand). The campsites at the end of the road around the loop are actually more clustered, and that area was busier. Before we arrived, I had thought those sites would be in a quieter area, and that the sites would be larger, and they are not. Hocking Hills State Park is a large campground; however, this section where we stayed is the only area with full hookup.

Kalamazoo and Galesburg, Michigan: Markin Glen Campground, River Valley Trail, Bell's Brewery Production Facility, and more!

May 2019, Weekend, Two nights

Sharing a brief bit of information from our May stay. You can find more information in previous blog posts by clicking on the Kalamazoo label at the end of this post.

Campsite 19 at Markin Glen

Markin Glen campground campsite 19

This is a fabulous county park located less than 5 miles north of downtown. I like that you can request a specific campsite when making a reservation. There was not anything new in the campground from our previous stay, other than we were on a different site this time.  

Sunrise from inside on site 19 at Markin Glen

Campsite 19 is a site along the permitter, which we prefer over the center campsite we had last time. I was surprised how much we could hear traffic on G Ave, as we had not expected the road to be that well-traveled. This was not super bothersome; just surprising.

Kalamazoo River Valley Rail Trail

New River Gorge in West Virginia: Canyon Rim visitor center, hiking trails, Grandview visitor center and overlooks, Sandstone Falls visitor center, and more!

June 2019, 2 weekdays, traveling as a couple

In addition to this blog post, you can find more photos and information in the New River Gorge photo album on my Facebook page.

View of New River Bridge from Canyon Rim visitor center 
lower observation deck

Canyon Rim visitor center and New River Gorge bridge

There is no charge to visit any of the New River Gorge visitor centers. The staff member at Canyon Rim was an excellent resource for information about the areas we wanted to visit. He provided trail maps, trail information, and clear directions.

View of New River from deck at Canyon Rim visitor center

New River is visible from the back deck at Canyon Rim, and there are two trails that walk down toward the bridge. The main trail is handicap accessible to the first observation deck. There are many steps to the lower observation deck. Both decks offer excellent views.

View of New River Bridge from Canyon Rim visitor center 
upper observation deck

Beckley, West Virginia: Beckley Coal Mine Campground and area

June 2019, Weekdays, 3-nights, Campsite 11

Advance reservations, arrival, and check-in

This is a city campground located behind the coal mine attraction. Reservations are made over the telephone, and there is not a campground map available. I made our reservation as soon as they started accepting reservations in March. I did not receive a confirmation number, they did not require a deposit, and I was not able to request a certain campsite. I provided details about the size of our RV at that time.

Arriving was easy, and the directions are clear: check-in at the gift shop, if arriving before close, and there is someone at the campground for arrivals after close. There is plenty of room to turn around with an RV in the parking lot in front of the gift shop. When we checked in, I inquired again about the size and location of our campsite (from what I had seen on Google maps, it looked like site 11 is a smaller site). The person checking us in said that this was the largest site she had available. There is a locked cable across the front of unrented sites, so we needed to get a key with a $5 cash deposit. The total cost for three nights with tax (not counting the deposit) was $96.30. We were not given any information about the campground, and after we had set up, we learned we needed a code for the bathrooms. WiFi is not available in the park.

View behind campsite 11

Campsite 11

This campsite is located across from the bathrooms. It is a smaller site, and one of the worst sites in this campground. Our fifth wheel is 30', about 35' overall, which is the size I provided for our reservation with two slides. We were barely able to fit our truck onto the site on an angle in the small muddy grass area in front of the grill. The only good thing about this site were the nice trees along the backside. 

Leaning grill on campsite 11 filled with trash and cigarette butts

This site does not have a fire pit (all of the other sites that we saw had fire pits, and there was wood stacked by the tent sites), the grill was a mess, and there was debris on the site. You will need a long drain hose, as the drain is located at the back of the site beyond the tar. Our drain hose was not long enough, so we had to back up to the drain before setting up, and then again to dump our tank before departing. The area below the campsite is a local park with a swimming pool and a neighborhood of houses. We heard continual dogs barking, which we initially thought were dogs people at the park had left in their vehicles. Later, we decided maybe there is a kennel or similar located near the park.

Debris on campsite 11