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Will Hess

Will Hess

traveled in 15 countries Read more🇺🇸Wisconsin
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    • Will HessTravelerNapa Valley
      Very early
      Top speedMedium speedThe jade pond at Chateau MontelenaChateau MontelenaTasting time!

      Arrival in Napa Valley

      March 23, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

      Up bright and early, with minimal grumpiness. Left the hotel immediately to head to the park and ride to drop the car and jump on the train. Naturally, the blue line trains were stopped, so we waited until the CTA said it would be quite a while before they resumed and we gave up and called an Uber.

      Still made it to the airport with plenty of time for coffee and a quick bite. The flight was uneventful -- Laura schnoozed, and I tried but failed. We landed in SFO, grabbed a car, and started the drive north to Calistoga. We switched to have Laura drive after we got out of the city -- I managed to schnooze through a beautiful drive, I'm told.

      Got lucky that we were able to check in early, so we dropped our gear, took a quick power nap, showered, and then hopped on the bike to head to a drop in wine tasting at Chateau Montelena. We walked around the gardens, admiring the swans and ducks while we waited for our turn to head into wine room. The first Sauvignon Blanc was bright, tart, and delicious. The second Chardonnay was good, not my favorite style, but one of Laura's. A Pinot Noir followed that was a bit meh, but the showcase 2006 Cabernet was phenomenal. It was a choice between sweet and savory for the final wine. We elected to have the opposite of each other so we could share and try both. The sweet one was bleh, IMO, and the savory one meh. Still, it was good overall.

      Went to Goose & Gander for dinner one town over, where we shared a salad and a dry aged steak that was perfect after a day of lighter fare.

      Off to bed from there -- both wiped after a long day.      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerNapa Valley

      Night in Chicago

      March 22, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 39 °F

      Trip kicked off with a scramble to get out of Madison before the traffic got too bad. Mira will be staying with her grandparents, and she watched us pack up and load the car worriedly.

      Though we stepped out of work early, we had to make a pit stop (a wallet was left at work -- for once it wasn't mine) we weren't quite successful and hit slow-going traffic pretty immediately. We realized that making our 7pm dinner reservations in Chicago wasnt realistic, cancelled them, and settled in for the drive (meaning the girls napped).

      3.5 hours later, we pulled up to the hotel that Caty and her dad would be staying at and handed her off. Hope she has a great time!

      While Laura performed the handoff, I parked the car and hauled our luggage to the Chicago Athletic Association and rejoined Laura. Unfortunately, her license was needed to check in. Which was in her wallet. In the car. Leaving her wallet behind might be the theme of the trip.

      We had dinner (and cocktails) at the Cherry room in the hotel, as we didn't feel like going too crazy given that we'd need to head to the airport at 4:30 the next morning...      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerDisney World

      Epcot

      October 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

      Last day! We made a beeline to Soarin' the main ride for which we didn't have a FastPass. I had never been on it before, and it was pretty darn cool - a hit for the whole group.

      Caty loved Mission: SPACE, though our group elected to do the more mild version that didn't involve a centrifuge. We designed our own concept car before hopping on the Test Track and speeding around. Our sports car design didn't have much in terms of efficiency, but it made up for it with raw power. Last, we rode spaceship earth in the "giant golf ball".

      Spent some time in the Innovention center so Caty could get her science on. They had a pretty cool color exhibit. The presentation was hokey, but the interactive paintbrush part was pretty interesting.

      It's food and wine festival at Epcot right now, which seemed fantastic, but drew a huge local crowd that made lines off-puttingly long. I did manage to get a flight of craft beers, the best of which was a chocolate stout.

      We opted to push Caty around in a stroller for the day, and we made the international loop before calling it and heading back to the apartment for a pre-dinner nap.      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerDisney World

      Animal Kingdom

      October 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

      Another early start, getting to the park right as it opened and hustling over to Pandora from Avatar. The line for the signature attraction was already 150 minutes, so we opted for the visually impressive boat ride instead, which was super cool.

      Our fastpass selection was less efficient than it was in Magic kingdom, so had to bounce back and forth between the different areas to hit them.

      Catys found her favorite ride of the whole trip -- Expedition Everest. Had such a good time that she dragged Laura back into the line for a second go immediately after the first, and would have happily done a third had the line not started to grow.

      We had time to kill before our last FastPass, so we went to do the Safari, which was actually a good conservation, to our relief. The animals seems very happy, and they had a fair amount of space to roam. We got to see pretty much everything. Caty liked the baby giraffe, Laura and I liked the rhinos.

      Other stuff we hit before calling it a day and going back for a nap and the pool:
      It's tough to be a bug! (I got "stung", and practically jumped out of my seat)
      Kali River Rapids (I was the one who got soaked)
      DINOSAUR (Just a smidge too scary for Caty)      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerDisney World

      Magic Kingdom

      October 25, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

      Day one spent at Magic Kingdom. Got an early start, and made it through the gate slightly after the doors opened. Went straight to Space mountain, easily Caty's favorite ride if the day. In fact, she liked it so much that we went back later in the day to ride again. It was faster than all of us remembered!

      Splash mountain closed down due to mechanical issues, so we were refunded a fastpass that we spent on some other ride. Turned out to be a stroke of luck, as splash mountain reopened right when we were in the area, so it was a short wait.

      We had accomplished pretty much everything we wanted by 2pm, and Caty was running out of steam (she passed out while I was carrying her back to the parking lot), so we called it a day and headed back to our apartment. Aftera quick nap we went to the pool to soak up the sun and have a much needed cocktail.

      Cooked in the apartment, and called it a night early -- another big day tomorrow.      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerDisney World

      Flying down to Orlando

      October 24, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

      Met my mom halfway to hand off the pup this past weekend. She'll be living it up with her, Ryan, and (most importantly) her playmate Posey while we're out of town.

      The trip didn't get off to a great start. Work was a bit of a scramble trying to wrap up many, many loose ends, which was aleviated slightly by our first flight being delayed. We got a little cocky with how closely we timed our airport arrival, and a sanfu with semi-linked tickets and restrictions around check-in for a minor resulted with us nearly missing our flight.

      A crying nine year old does wonders to motivate airline employees though, so rules were bent to get us through security and hold the plane until we could get on. Two flights later, and touchdown in Orlando!      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerFly-In Fishing
      Mr. Bear

      Full Day of Fish

      September 7, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

      After watching the sun rise with a pot of coffee, we are breakfast and bundled up for the fridged ride over to the prime fishing spots. We did okay in the morning, catching enough for shore lunch, but watched some other boats haul in more fish which got our competitive spirit going to land lots and land big in the afternoon.

      Shore lunch was divine, with a delicious chowder that accompanied the fresh fried walleye. Mr. Bear smelled the cooking oil and paid us a visit, and posed for a picture (though we were careful to keep our distance).

      We killed it in the afternoon -- I don't think we caught a walleye smaller than 20", and Dad landed some large Pike.      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerFly-In Fishing

      Arrival at Oak Lake Lodge

      September 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

      Another early start to the day. Stocked up on snacks, and quaffed a few cups of coffee before heading to the air field. Lots of fog over the water, so we had to wait for the sun to come up and burn it off. It set us back about two hours, but the ride over was pretty killer.

      When we got to the lodge, it was a mad scramble to unpack so we could get on the boat in time to catch some fish for the shore lunch. Forgot to bring my phone, but we snagged two or three keepers pretty quick which ensured that we didn't go hungry. Fried walleye and French fries hit the spot, and it was back on the boat to catch another half dozen walleye each before we switched to trying for Pike on the ride back. Dad caught two of those, and I snagged one to cap off the day.

      It's the end of the season and we're one of the few guests they have, so we have massive four bedroom cabin to ourselves      Read more

    • Will HessTravelerFly-In Fishing

      Heading north

      September 5, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

      Started the morning early flying out of Madison. Met up with Dad at the Minneapolis airport, and took another short flight to International Falls, MN. The float plane leaves tomorrow morning, so we killed the rest of the day with a nap, some beers outside in the sun, and eating barbeque at a food truck (the only food option for many miles) in fort Vermillion. Off to bed early so we can get up early to catch the plane.Read more

    • Will HessTravelerSpring break in Spain

      Flying home!

      April 2, 2018 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

      Flew back to Rome yesterday to be ready to grab Caty in the morning and start the journey back.

      Laura and I weren't feeling so hot on our last day in Barcelona, so we stayed close to the hotel (doing a bunch of reading and relaxing) until it was time to head to the airport. It was an uneventful flight, and we got a few hours of sleep in a nearby hotel.

      5am rolled around pretty early, but we're ready to come home! Happy to have Caty back with us -- sounds like she had a blast.

      On our way, Mira!      Read more

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