sibetribeiowa

KU Pep Rally

2011-08-21T12:55:00.008-05:00

Granddaughter Lizzie attended her first KU pep rally last week. She loved the noise and the constant movement of people across her field of view. She even had a chance to meet the KU mascot known as 'Big Jay'.

citizen of Johnson County, KS

2011-07-01T15:29:00.004-05:00

After 26 years in Iowa, we sold our house and moved to Kansas to enjoy our new status as grandparents. Currently living in a condo in Overland Park.

WA/OR Volcanos

2010-08-10T20:17:00.003-05:00

See the road cut in the mountain about 1/3rd of the way down? That's where we were heading on the way to Paradise Lodge at Mt Rainier.

Winery near McMinnville

2010-08-05T19:37:00.004-05:00

After our bike ride ended on Saturday, July 31, Kitty and I rented a car and drove S from Portland to McMinnville. Noticing a huge number of winery signs, we decided to check out some of them, but they were all closed (it was after 5.30 pm).

I still don't understand the concept of not drinking wine on a Saturday evening, but that's the way they do it in Oregon. We were left to contemplate the peaceful setting and the afternoon sun working on the sugar molecules in the grapes.

Mount Rainier climb

2010-08-04T19:43:00.004-05:00

Pausing on the ascent to Chinook Pass (elevation 5432 ft.) It's about 1 pm and we have not had lunch yet. We have covered approx 25 miles of a 65 mile day. The first 20 miles were relatively flat. The pass is at mile 29, so I think we were at the midpoint of the climb. Kitty Sibold, Art Sibold, Richard Reed

Iron Horse Inn

2010-08-03T23:02:00.003-05:00

Bike ride 'Volcanoes of Washington & Oregon' with my sister Kitty...first day at Cle Elum in upper Yakima Valley. Our overnight stop was formerly the bunkhouse for RR workers in the late 1800s. The owners converted 3 cabooses into individual guest rooms (bed, bath, indoor jacuzzi). I did not get to stay in a caboose this time, but hope to correct that missed experience by a re-visit to the 'Iron Horse Inn' as part of a future vacation drive through the Yakima wine region. The RR memorabilia was great!!

Lunch on Whidby

2010-07-23T22:58:00.004-05:00

Lunch at Coupeville on Whidby Island. Christopher's was the name of the restaurant. It was just delightful and we received fantastic attention from the waiter.

Ft. Casey

2010-07-23T22:43:00.003-05:00

Visited Ft. Casey which is part of the defensive triangle of forts guarding Seattle from invaders by sea. Here our ferry is about to dock after transferring us from the mainland to Whidby Island. Our hosts and guides were Carrie & Dan Potter of Capitol Hill (in Seattle).

What To Wear?

2010-07-21T15:50:00.001-05:00

Trying to decide which bike jersey to wear for the first day of 'Volcanoes' ride. Here are my choices, which one should I pick?

Prince Edward Island- June 2010

2010-07-19T20:22:00.001-05:00

Last day in Prince Edward Island, Canada

2010-07-19T20:09:00.001-05:00

The little guy doesn't like to see a suitcase.

Signal Mountain Porters

2010-07-19T09:25:00.003-05:00

My 'Porter' cousins managed to assemble themselves on Signal Mtn, TN...had not seen some of them for many years....

Chattanooga Duck Pond

2010-07-18T20:56:00.001-05:00

Visit to duck pond at Chattanooga...this has been going on for 60+ years...this year we did not feed the ducks, and the ducks did not chase us.....

Trader Joe

2009-12-30T17:11:00.002-06:00

There is a Trader Joe grocery some four blocks from my sister's townhouse. The store has kind of a 'forbidden fruit' attraction for me, in addition to the different food products...which I normally do not find in my local grocery in Cedar Rapids.

Reggie's Racetrack 2009

2009-01-14T17:24:00.005-06:00

In the summer time I like to take my dog Reggie on a 20 minute outdoor walk. He insists on sniffing every 2nd tree or hydrant. But in the winter, I tend to shirk my dog-walking duty. So this year I decided to build Reggie a speedway for him to exercise. It is modeled on the famed Newton racetrack designed by Darryl Waltrip. In the photo, Reggie is inspecting the speed bumps at the entrance to Pit Row.

Training For Oregon

2008-07-10T12:16:00.000-05:00

My sister Kitty has organized a bike ride southward along the Oregon coast, from Astoria. I'm sure there will be lots of eating and and drinking (advanced hydration) involved on this ride. One of our stops is expected to be at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where there undoubtedly will be samples of various dairy products, for us to check out. So, to prepare for this adventure, I've been riding in the hot Iowa sun and not eating. Why just last week, about 20 of us rode west to Tama, for the purpose of not eating doritos and salsa.

Linn County Convention - Democrats

2008-03-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

The Linn County Democrats held their convention today. At the Iowa caucuses this past January, I was elected as one of the two pledged delegates to John Edwards, from Cedar Rapids Precinct 30 (Bowman Woods School - yea Lions!!!). Here I am with my neighbor Carolyn Sternowski, who has just given me the directive "hang tough for Edwards". We did hang tough and kept our block together at 18%, making us eligible to send 35 committed Edwards delegates on to the state convention.

Among the fun interactions which I fondly remember from today's session were entertaining debates over 3 platform planks:
1) favoring the rights of Iowa farmers to grow marijuana and hemp,
2) opposing use of gas tax money to fund ethanol (sort of a sacred cow in Iowa), and
3) requiring beer and wine to pass through state-controlled warehouses before we can drink it....
...oh yes, the Hilary Clinton people tried hard to get me to switch over....however, the Barack Obama supporters didn't even try to entice me. I guess the fact that they had already corralled 53% of the county delegates, made our little 18% John Edwards block just an afterthought!

3 dog Christmas

2008-01-02T20:17:00.000-06:00

Our daughters Carrie and Kristen visited us during the Christmas holiday, and each one brought their dogs. Two of the dogs (Frodo and Reggie) knew each other. Carrie's dachshound (Frankie) was a new entity. Here are Reggie (in green), Frankie (in yellow), and Reggie (in red) enjoying the winter sunlight.

Halloween

2007-10-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

I gave out candy wearing this mask. When the doorbell rang, I opened the door sloooowwwly and stuck my head out. Some of the little kids backed up two steps!! One teen told me "awesome mask, dude!!"

Whalen Pie Shop?

2007-10-17T21:29:00.001-05:00

Sherry and I visited Whalen, MN and the pie shop, where I had blackberry pie ala mode, and Sherry picked strawberry-rhubarb (also ala mode). The pie shop seemed to be the only enterprise open on October 13. The photo is at Lanesboro (4 miles away) and the bike trail runs along the rear of the waterfall.

famous "Standing Still" parade at Whalen, MN

2007-05-20T21:27:00.000-05:00

The parade marchers, and floats, and cars are stationary in one spot and the spectators move around. Above is a group of that was attempting to spell out "rhubarb". They did manage to perform the famous rhubarb pie jingle for us.

The photo below is the parade Grand Marshall - some Norwegian chick named "Pearl"

We also ran across a couple of guys posing as moonshiners. In this photo they are trying to use their phone - two tin cups and a string

Tipton Animal Shelter

2007-05-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

A group of my bike friends rode an 18 mile loop westward from Tipton. We were supporting the "First Tipton Animal Shelter Ride". They fed us brats and hotdogs after the ride. It was a doozy of a ride - strong winds (21 mph) from the east. We decorated ourselves in our "STRAY CATS" biking jerseys, and to emphasize the point, I am kneeling next to a real stray cat.

Backstory: There were probably 25-30 people who participated in the ride, including riders from Iowa City. We enjoyed the rolling hills and lovely scenery. The roads were exceptional: smooth and very little car traffic. I think there will be a bigger crowd next year!!

Lincoln Highway on a bike

2007-04-28T23:18:00.000-05:00

The road between Mt. Vernon, IA and Marion, IA duplicates a portion of the Lincoln Highway, which was the first paved highway coast to coast. 32 of us road it today on bicycles. We had a tailwind going to Mt. Vernon, and after we had tired ourselves out and weighed ourselves down with pancakes and sausages, we had to pedal into a 20 mph headwind for the 18 miles back to Marion. The bright sun and warm temperatures made the day highly enjoyable. Our group picture can be found at www.hawkeyebike.com . The backstory here is that I arrived at the departure point at 8 am, but the bike ride did not start until 9 am. Luckily for me, there was a newly-opened coffee shop at Marion Square. It is called Witte's End. Kristen & Carrie: next to Weber Paint & Class and Zoey Pizzaria. I had a latte and a maple nut scone.

Easter weekend at kansas city

2007-04-11T00:27:00.000-05:00

Sherry and I went to visit Kristen and Tim during the Easter weekend. Tim gave us a tour of Lawrence, KS and also the "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" campus of Kansas University. We ate KU food and shopped for KU merchandise. On Saturday afternoon, Kristen got us into the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at Union Station museum. The exhibit was just fantastic, and the discovery story was an amazing mixture of luck and hard, hard work.

Our meals included Thai, BBQ, and bourbon-soaked french toast, along with lots of chocolate!! Yippee!!

end of spring break

2007-03-17T03:58:00.000-05:00

this week was supposed to be vacation week for me. In one sense it was, because I went to Dallas for a 3 day wedding. The wedding didn't take 3 days, but Dallas did. The wedding was my neice Patti and her golfing friend Jason. The best thing is that both Kristen and Carrie showed up to dance.