Kansas State Capitol

Governor's Ceremonial Office

Toured the Kansas Capitol located at Topeka.  The building was restored a few years ago, and the results are beautiful.   The building is constructed of limestone blocks.

There are five floors.   The capitol building also houses the original Kansas Supreme Court, and has ceremonial offices for the governor to issue proclamations and such.  The secretary of state also has a ceremonial office in the capitol building.

The building also houses offices for the legislators and meeting rooms for legislative committees.

Since the governor was not in the building on the day of our visit (August 27), we got to take over his desk!

Kansas Capitol - House of Representatives

A view of the House chamber, from the visitor's gallery

A view of the dome, from the 5th floor of the state capitol building.

In the 1880s, the political battle between the establishment Republicans and the populists became so intense that each faction elected its own legislature.  One group commandeered the legislative chamber, and the other group broke open the chamber doors with a sledgehammer (shown here).

Crystal Bridges

Sherry and I made a two-day (weekend) visit to NW Arkansas, in late October 2016.  We enjoyed beautiful, mild, autumn weather.

Our first destination was Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.   Financed by Sam Walton's daughter Alice.   Located in Bentonville.  Admission is free to the museum and grounds.

We spent about 3 hours strolling through the four galleries.  The galleries were organized to provide a progression from early nineteenth century portrait and landscape painting, through the twentieth century with its modern art and mixed media pieces.

Each gallery featured a timeline of social and cultural events, which provided context for the exhibited artwork.

There were several startling exhibits - mixed media that were amazing lifelike.  Sherry and I were both stunned by this suspended fellow on the right.





The last gallery highlighted the period 1940 to today, which matches our lives.  This huge wall mural was called Moses and the Burning Bush.








In the second gallery, we noticed two landscapes of Yosemite, a national park which Sherry and I toured last year.

These landscapes were done in mid-1800s.  I don't recall the artists.


   - Art -

Arenal Volcano - Costa Rica

Feb 2016 getaway to Costa Rica.... a nine day trip.

We spent two nights at a resort located at the base of Arenal volcano.   Our room at a beautiful, direct view of the volcanic cone.  The volcano seemed to be active, emitting puffs of steam from two vents near the top.  No visible lava flow, however.

This part of Costa Rica is on the dry side of the central mountain range, at this time of year.   During our two days at Arenal, we visited the town of Cano Negro and enjoyed a river cruise near the Nicaragua border.

Groundwater is heated naturally by lava and is piped to a number of spa locations on the grounds of the resort hotels around the base of Arenal.  Sherry is enjoying the spa with some of our travel companions.

Prior to reaching the volcano, we spent two nights at Monteverde cloud forest which is on the wet side of the central mountain range.  At Monteverde, I was able to do the zipline course.

  - Art -

France Magnifique tour - Sept 2015

Two nights in Paris, two nights at the Normandy coast, two nights in Loire valley (city of Tours), two nights at Avignon, and two nights at Cote d'Azure (Nice & Monaco).  Included in our tour was a TGV train ride.   The remainder of our travel was on a tour bus.  We had a wonderful group of 40 people; strangers at the start and friends at the end.

Sherry and I especially enjoyed Avignon, famous because seven popes resided there during the fourteenth century (approx 1309 - 1377) at the invitation of the French King Phillip the Fair.  Palace du Papes is an impressive and intimidating structure, built atop a rock outcrop on the east (left) bank of the Rhone River as it descends from northern France (Lyon) and empties into the Mediterranean.  The palace took some thirty years to build.

Avignon is a walled town from the medieval period in French history.  Except for Palace du Papes and papal gardens, the town is mostly flat and at riverbank level.  Very walkable.  The bridge (Pont St. Benezet) originally extended all the way across the Rhone (1177 - 1185), but was abandoned in 1680 and fell into disrepair.

Parrot friends at Topeka Zoo

Topeka Zoo is a small zoo, located about 60 miles W of Olathe.  We took grandaughters Lizzie (age 4) and Ainsley (age 3) on an exploratory trip.  They had a great time.  One of the exhibits was a hands-on parrot experience....feeding time!

To top off our visit, we rode the kids train, which runs on a one mile loop.

Great Allegheny Gap bike trail

April 2015 - my sister Kitty invited me to ride on the famous GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) bike trail.  Kitty was preparing to go on a self-supporting bicycle ride along the Rhine in late summer, and she wanted to do a shakedown ride using her Bike Friday and all her travelling gear, including panniers.

The GAP trail is a crushed-rock and packed-dirt trail built along the right-of-way of the Western Maryland RR.

I met Kitty and her Rhine group (friends Susan, Mark, Chuck, Helen) near Pittsburgh.  I rode with them for 3 days.   They hauled all their clothing/personal gear on their bicycles, which created a 30 lb load for each rider.

Because I was supported by my wife Sherry and a vehicle, I only had to haul myself.   (We drove from Olathe, KS to join the bike ride).   While I was riding with Kitty, Sherry was able to do a bit of sightseeing (Falling Waters, Ft. Necessity).

Overnight stops were at Ohiopyle and Meyersdale in Pennsylvania, and Cumberland in Maryland.

On the third day, I broke off from the shakedown group and rode ahead, biking across the eastern Continental Divide and through the Big Savage Tunnel riding NW to SE, then downhill to Cumberland, MD where I met up with Sherry.

On the downhill leg, I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, from Pennsylvania into Maryland.   The M-D Line is beautifully marked on the bike trail.

    - Art -

Rudolph's story

As part of our family Christmas celebration this year in Virginia, we participated in a talent show, staged at McCrillis House.  For our part of the show, Sherry and I excerpted 32 couplets from the original 1939 story (87 couplets) Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer.  The book contained beautiful illustrations.  We found some props on a recent trip to Branson MO.  I provided some musical accompaniment to the storytelling.

Gingerbread village

Daughter Carrie has plans to keep a few chickens in her backyard on the island....to prepare for the chicken launch, she helped her niece Lizzie construct some gingerbread buildings, including a chicken coop.

We added a toy train to commemorate our recent visit to KC Union Station's model train exhibit.

Musicians at work

weekly band rehearsal...we both showed up wearing identical T-shirts from June 2012 baseball game giveaway....I swear we didn't coordinate our outfits....John Kelly (percussion and alto saxophone) and me (alto saxophone)....

Gettysburg survivor?

Martin Luther Sibold (on the left) was my (paternal) great-grandfather.  He was a private in 24th VA Infantry Regiment, Pickett's division, Kemper's brigade, Confederate Army, which made the famous assault on the Union Army 150 years ago, at Gettysburg.

We believe the 24th VA regiment was positioned on the far right of the Confederate assault line, as it advanced E across the Emmitsburg Road, that afternoon of July 3, 1863

Of 395 men available to the 24th VA Infantry regiment at the time, some 165 survived the battle.  However, we descendants don't know for sure that he was on the field with the 24th VA, at that particular battle...we have not yet found a roster/muster list showing survivor names.

Martin survived two more years of war with 24th VA regiment, was captured at Five Forks, VA (April 1865) and later paroled after the war ended.  As a result of his durability and good fortune, in my generation I have 2 brothers (Brian, Stuart) and 3 sisters (Ann, Katherine, Lucy), plus 3 cousins (Tweedie, Woody, Harry) living today.

Martin was born in 1844.  This photo is tagged 1880.

 --  Arthur Pleasant Sibold 3rd

Day trip to Amelia Earhart birthplace

Atchison, KS has the house where Amelia Earhart was born and spent much of her childhood.  The house was her grandparents' home (her grandfather was a judge) and is sited on a limestone bluff, facing east, and overlooking the Missouri River.

Amelia's father was a RR lawyer and at the time, he and his wife lived in Kansas City itself.  The house is now a museum featuring Amelia's life and aviation exploits.


The Earhart house looks down on the old (1900) steel truss RR bridge across the Missouri River.   The swing span of the bridge is at the right side of the photo.  The view is towards the south (downriver).

The Missouri River starts to bend northwest at Kansas City, and Atchison happens to be the western-most bulge of the river.  Upriver of Atchison, the river trends briefly NE, then continues decidedly north, so Atchison landing became a convenient place jumping-off town for the 1800s western migration!   Merchants made a lot of money selling supplies and tools.

Mr. Lavender

Ingwerson Lavender Farm near Topeka.  The owner has a couple of acres planted with two varieties:  grosso and provence.   Plants take 3 years to mature, and have a productive life of 5-7 years.   After that, a new plant must be cultivated.

'Mr. Lavender' extolled the many beneficial qualities and effects of lavender oils and seeds.  I bought a lavender-scented insert for my pillow to help me deal with stuffy nose at night, and it has helped me!

Playground Outing

First playground outing (ever) for Ainsley.  We had a rare warm afternoon in March, so we went to Buffalo Meadows playground, located in western Lenexa.  I like this particular park because it is normally not crowded, and it has two separate jungle gyms for kids to play on.  Each gym set has unique tunnels, ladders, and slides.

Ainsley got to try the 'small kid' swing, which she liked.  She got to try the slide, which worried her a bit.  However, I have high hopes that she will enjoy the slide next time, because she will get some 'indoor' practice on the small slide in our basement family room prior to our next playground adventure in April.

Finally, Ainsley got to try the elevated tunnel, which she really liked, because it had strong wire mesh which she could grab.  The 'see-thru' structure did not bother her a bit.

February Surprise

Last winter (2011-2012) we had very little snow.  This winter we were hit with 2 heavy snows (14 inches and 6 inches) about 5 days apart.

The crew that cleared our driveway had to pile the snow atop the stone steps that led down to our lower-level patio....which meant that I couldn't do my Sunday salmon grill for about 3 weeks.  The first snow was Feb 22, and the melt off finally finished on March 13 when we had a record 81 degree temperature.

McCrillis House

Sherry and I drove to Arlington, Virginia for Christmas this year.  We went via Chattanooga and picked up my aunt Josie, so she could celebrate with us.  Trip routing via St. Louis MO,  Paducah KY, Chattanooga TN, Bristol VA.   1400 miles and 3 days of driving.   We ate a lot of McDonald hamburgers and french fries!

Josie has not been to McCrillis House, since the construction  period 2005 (late summer).  At that time the roof was being still installed, and the living room and bedrooms had only been framed out.

This year the Pennsylvania Sibolds (brother Stu, Donna, Rachel, Xavier, Sara Ann, and Tim) joined us from Holidaysburg.  The Torlas from Falls Church (sister Ann, Toby, Daisy, Margaret) also joined the celebration and provided the dessert (charlotte russe).   We all enjoyed a new board game 'Wits and Wagers'.

We gave out gag gifts of headlamps to a few people that we thought needed them.

My sister Kitty put up Josie, Sherry, and myself at her Alexandria townhouse.