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

Kentucky: Middle Fork Campground at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Red River Gorge, and more

June 2019, Weekday-weekend, 3 nights

Below Princess Arch in Red River Gorge.

We loved this area when we visited in 2016. We stayed in Whittleton Campground then, and I previously provided a lot of information about that campground and some of the hiking trails. You can click this link for that blog post. I am providing new details in this post.

View from campsite B015 after most campers left on Sunday.
Click photo to enlarge it and see nearby labeled sites.

Middle Fork campsite B015

All of the RV campsites in this campground are the same as the ones in Whittleton with water and 20/30 amp power. Again, some of the hookups are quite a distance away, so extra hose and cord may be needed. 

Another view from campsite B015.
Our first evening before we purchased firewood!

Campsite B015 is in an excellent location on the stream, and would be a great site on quiet weeknights, or if you have kids who want to swim. We would never choose this site on a weekend again, because during our stay, the stream and back of our site became the local swimming hole. We enjoyed a peaceful Friday afternoon along the water when we first arrived, and again later in the day on Sunday after most people had left. It was very noisy on our site Friday evening, and when we returned from hiking Saturday afternoon. The road visible in the photo above only goes inside the park, so traffic from that road was not heavy or bothersome. 

Campsite B014

Plainfield, Indiana: Homewood Suites by Hilton Indianapolis Airport/Plainfield

April 2019, Weekday, 2-nights, King studio guestroom 318

Diamond perks and check-in

I did not check-in before my arrival because there were not any available room choices on the top floor away from the elevator (my preferred location, as it is usually quieter). When I arrived, I had been preassigned a guestroom on the second floor. The agent gladly changed my room assignment, after I inquired about a room in my preferred location. I received a small bag with bottled water, which I believe all HiltonHonors members received.

View from guestroom 318 at Homewood Suites IND airport

King studio 318

The view from this guestroom overlooks the outside patio and basketball hoops. The sunset was beautiful. The windows could be partially opened, which I like for the fresh air; however, it was quite filthy between the window and screen. I imagine the windows in this guestroom had not been opened for quite some time.

The furnishings consisted of the standard amenities in Homewood Suites guestrooms: kitchen area with full size fridge, coffeemaker with supplies, dishwasher with supplies, stovetop, small table with two chairs; living room sofa, coffee table, desk with chair, flatscreen TV; king bed with nightstands, and bathroom area.

Grand Rapids, Michigan: SpringHill Suites GRR Airport Southeast

April 2019, Weekend-Holiday, 1-night, Queen guestroom 312 and 309

Platinum perks and check-in

During check-in, the agent asked if I wanted bonus points or a snack from the gift shop, which was the extent of my member recognition. She initially assigned us guestroom 312; however, when we discovered the fridge in that guestroom was not cooling, she switched us to guestroom 309.

Typical provided amenities at SpringHill Suites GRR. This is queen guestroom 312.
The microwave time is incorrect; we checked in after 4 PM

Queen guestroom 312 and 309

As I mentioned in the previous section, the fridge was not cooling in guestroom 312. Neither my husband nor I could find a control knob, so I called the front desk. The agent said she would come up and look at it. When she had not arrived over five minutes later, I decided to walk down to the front desk. As soon as I exited the guestroom, I heard female voices in the corridor. After I walked all of the way to the elevator (room 312 is about midway down the hall), I found the front desk agent chatting with another employee in front of the elevator. She concluded her conversation when she saw me, and then followed me back to the guestroom. After looking at the fridge, she said that it sounded like it was on, and that must be how cold it gets. We had Easter dinner leftovers with us, and the outside temperature was in the 70s, so I asked her if we could get a different room. I returned to the front desk with her, and she reassigned us to guestroom 309 across the hall.

Sitting area in queen guestroom 312 at SpringHill Suites GRR

Both guestrooms were set up exactly the same way: with a sitting area, and a bedroom area with two queen beds. There were two closets in the bedroom area.

A microwave, sink, small fridge, and sink were located in the area next  to the sitting room. A couple of plates and silverware were provided inside the microwave.

Bedroom area of guestroom 309

After we settled into guestroom 309, I noticed that several amenities were missing. I went to the front desk to get coffee cups (there were none in the guestroom), regular coffee (only decaf was provided), and an ice bag. Only one coffee packet was available at the front desk, and the agent brought another one to the guestroom for me later that evening. After I got ready for bed, I noticed there was also no shampoo or bath soap in the guestroom (there was a bar of facial soap). I had packed shower gel; however, I had not packed any shampoo. Very frustrating!

Sagging sofa in guestroom 312

The work area in guestroom 309 was comfortable; however, both guestrooms showed visual signs of age. The sofa in the first guestroom had a huge sag, and the sofa in the second guestroom had a large stain on it.

Grand Rapids, Michigan: Embassy Suites Downtown

April 2019, 1-night, weekend, king balcony riverview #740

We had initially planned to stay at this hotel on April 19th with points after the grand opening. At the last minute, we won tickets to a show at 20 Monore Live, and learned this hotel was opening before the grand opening day with a staycation discounted rate for Facebook followers. We booked that rate, and stayed here the first weekend in April before the grand opening instead.

Looking out of guestroom 740 Embassy Suites Grand Rapids

Diamond perks and check-in

I was able to reserve a balcony riverview room with the promotional rate when I made the reservation. I chose my room when I checked in on the app before we arrived, although the hotel floor plan was not loaded yet, so it was difficult to decide which room to choose. I have included a room diagram photo farther down in this post for reference. The check-in process when we arrived was professional and efficient.

Bedroom and balcony guestroom 740 Embassy Suites Grand Rapids

King balcony riverview guestroom 740

We loved this guestroom! It was comfortable, well insulated, the view was fabulous, and it there are several extra features in the guestroom, and in this hotel.

Nightstand showing features in guestroom 740

Some of the cool features we liked in the guestroom: