My name is Mike Zielski. I am the Quality Assurance Manager here at Red Wing Software. Red Wing Software has been my home away from home for the past 12 years. I am responsible for delivering quality software releases to our customers.

My daily commute to Red Wing Software involves a 30 mile trek from River Falls, WI, where I am originally from, and continue to live with my wife Kathryn and 8-year-old daughter Kadence.

When I am not stressing over a product release, I love to travel and cheer on my Wisconsin Badger sports teams. Some of our most recent trips have been to New York City, Washington D.C., Mexico and Pasadena, California for the past three Rose Bowl football games.

My last trip to the Rose Bowl was a hectic one, but as a big Badger fan, it was worth it!

My summarized itinerary…

December 31st:

• Took a flight at 5:00 p.m. (CST) from Minneapolis to Las Vegas.
• Rented a car and drove from Las Vegas to a hotel in East Los Angeles (about a 3.5 hour drive). I arrived about 11:30 p.m. (PST).

January 1st:

• Drove to the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California and parked my car at 5:30 a.m. (PST).
• Walked about two miles up to the Rose Bowl Parade and claimed my spot for the 8:00 a.m. Rose Parade.
• Watched the parade until 10:00 a.m. and walked back down to the Rose Bowl Stadium.
• Watched the football game.
• Left the game about 6:00 p.m. and drove down to San Diego (about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive) to stay overnight at my brother-in-law’s apartment.

January 2nd:

• Caught a flight back home from San Diego at 9:30 a.m. (PST) with a layover in Denver.

…whew…

Our next big adventure is a trip to Disney World in Florida in March. Wish us luck!