Yummy...cheese curds and concrete shakes time!!!!

Very Original Welcome Sign!!!

Yes, I know it sounds weird, but after having such a wonderful time in Indiana, we headed more north than west to experience the wonderful food/ sites of the great state of Wisconsin.  This state was going to be a routine blip on the Foster's Odyssey but after experiencing the great city of Janesville, WI for one day, we decided we needed at least a long weekend here!

Surprise, surprise, first things first...let's eat!  On to Culver's!  Home to the World Famous Butterburger, cheese curds, and concrete frozen custard combo.  Wow... say that 3 times fast... or just shut up and enjoy the wonder that is Wisconsin delight!  This food was so good, we went back several times over the weekend.  Cheese curds (for the un-informed) are like tiny balls of heaven, breaded with euphoric pleasure and deep fried in paradise!  (or tiny mozzarella stick pieces) As for concrete frozen custard, simply put is an orgasm for the tastebuds, thick milkshake style!  Time for hibernation!!!

So after we awake from our slumber, it's time to experience Wisconsin to the fullest!  So....We went to the theater and watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes and had more cheese curds!!!

Next day....we decide to give our intestines a break and headed to the serene and peaceful Rotary Gardens.  Over 40 Acres of beautiful lush landscape that made us feel more like we were in Japan...not Wisconsin!  They even had a a huge Japanese wooden bridge I've seen in many movies and video games!!!  Laura took over 2000 photos of these lush gardens.  Simply amazing, who ever would of thought this would exist in Wisconsin.  Wow...I think I was walking around taking in all the beautiful sights and smells for about 5 minutes before my belly was calling for more curds.  It was about this time, I realized I needed to get out of Wisconsin, before I morphed into a curd!!!  See ya in South Dakota!!!

The Beautiful Rotary Gardens!!!

I could have fished off this bridge all day...and of course all the while, snackin' on curds!!!

Nature is awesome!!!

 

What a Great Quote!!!

Just another "Day in the Life of Joey & Laura!!!"

Indiana, Home to one "Larry Bird!"

Well, after our brief hangover in Ohio, it's on too greener pastures!  The great state of Indiana.  The birthplace of my favorite athlete of all time and also one of the most beautiful college campuses in the world.  I'm of course speaking of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

There was no way, we were gonna be this close to this historic of a place and not stop by for pictures and some lunch.  Notre Dame is by far one of the nicest campuses I've ever stepped foot on.  It's perfectly manicured and all the buildings are works of art.

Anyone could call this home!!

As we drove all around the campus, we were amazed by the sheer beauty of this university.  I feel like it would be impossible to not be on the Dean's List with such a serene area to study and to call your school.  If I could do it all over again, I would have loved to have attended class here.


Now with all that aside, there is also another really good reason to attend school here.

The Football Team and the history that comes with it!!!

The Gates to Greatness!!!

The Stadium!

Some Irish Swag!!!

The Ol' Ball Coach!

So after we had our fill of the sites and sounds of Notre Dame, we had a great lunch at "Legends of Notre Dame" Restaurant.  It was a well decorated pub 100 yards from the main entrance to the stadium.  As we were leaving I was looking at the trophy case and a guy asked if I'd like for him to take a picture.  I said sure and began to do my pose, when he said, "No, I mean with the trophy."  I was ecstatic, he was the General Manager and he grabbed his keys and opened up the case for me!  He gave me a history lesson on the Cotton Bowl Trophy and then handed it over!  Wow, it sure was a lot heavier than it looks on television!  To this day, this is still a great highlight of the trip for me!  I love this kind of stuff and it's small adventures like this, that is truly making this Odyssey the best times of our life!!!!

1993 Cotten Bowl Trophy!!!

On the Road again....

Buffalo Bills, always wondered if they existed!!!

Well, after our stay in Niagara Falls, it was time for us to move on towards Mt. Rushmore.  As we headed Southwest on the interstate, we ventured thru Buffalo, NY.  Home of the 4x Superbowl losers and supposedly the best chicken wings you can ever have in your life.  Laura and I continued on and headed into the not-so-great state of Ohio.

Now my goal was to drive straight thru because I had absolutely no interest in anything in Ohio.  The NFL Hall of Fame is the only exception.  Unfortunately we got hungry around the "great" city of Cleveland and had to make a Pit Stop.

What a surprise we were in for!!!  Now I'm definitely known in my inner circle to exaggerate just a tiny bit, but I promise this time I'm not.  As we hopped out of the Tahoe and took in all the bright lights of this Chicken Wing Shangri La, we were greeted by a young couple that had less teeth than our Jack-o-lantern had last year.  They were ecstatic we were dining at the Lube tonight and told us we would never forget it!!!  We felt like we were in a scene "From Dusk till Dawn." As we ventured in the doors, the aroma of 20 different wing sauces and 4 ft. beers was wafting thru the air.  I was in fat guy heaven, even Laura had the euphoric stare of a kid in a candy store for the first time.  As we were being seated, they told us it was all you could eat wing night and that there was a complimentary nacho bar that we could help ourselves too.  Ok....so maybe there is one good thing going for the state of Ohio!  So fast forward 3 hours later and Laura and I are doing the chicken wing wobble out to the car and we instantly decide, we need a room.  As we climbed into the Tahoe, we just sat there with a feeling of fullness that I'm sure is illegal in many countries.   So after a few long minutes, we jumped on the highway and we were on our way.  We made it a whole 6 miles, before we settled on a room and fell into a deep wing induced coma.  We would awaken many hours later and would head for our next destination, but not before both acknowledging that we couldn't have picked a better place to make a "Pit Stop" then we did when we journeyed into "The Lube!!!"

The Lube..best wings I've ever had!!!

Niagara Falls, New York

Guess who's back???  Wow, Vegas life is crazy but you won't know for several more blogs to come...instead lets back track to Laura and I heading out of the rolling hills of Granny Smith's house and heading North to the great state of New York and to one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. Niagara Falls! This place is absolutely breathtaking! When planning this trip, we had never even mentioned heading all the way up here, but after living in Amish country for three days, we had a renewed interest in landmarks of any kind and it was only 3 hours away.  When you plan on driving over 100 hours, what is 3 anyway?

So as we arrived at the state park, we were surprised it was all free.  That's a huge bonus when going on a trip of this magnitude.  So anyway after driving for 3 grueling hours we did what any american family would do...we had some "authentic" chinese food from the Yummy Hutt! It was a a quick bite of scrum-didily-umptious and out the door we went!  We quickly sized up the area map and began our ascent to the falls!!!

Wow is all I can still say, even after 5 months.  The sheer size and sound of the water crashing is both terrifying and mesmerizing!  The scene just captivated Laura and I and we found a small bench and just sat listening to the falls for what seemed like forever.  It was so peaceful.  To this day, this is still Laura's favorite moment of the trip...and to think, we almost didn't even come here!  After chilling out for about an hour we decided to brave the skywalk.  It's basically just a big concrete overhang for you to take marvelous photos of both sides of the falls. (US and Canada)  This was well worth the $2 and once again we found ourselves just frozen in time with nothing else in our minds but the sheer beauty we were taking in!

I now know it is places like this that not only laid the groundwork for us to partake in this Odyssey, but also to help provide everyone else to have the motivation to also get out and experience what the world has to offer.  We are not here long, so enjoy it while we are!!!  We love you guys!