Gandolkf
Site Supporter
moving a few things around.
looks loke i'll be able to attend
looks loke i'll be able to attend
Prayers for KTD1911 (Karl)
- Thread starter STraymond
- Start date
The Cheese
Driving will probably be best. I'll head out in the morning. Car for me too.
Muchmore
Train killer
We will be there. There are 5 of us carpooling from KC.
lddave
been there
Met Karl in Russelville at TexSTOC I remember having a great conversation with him about his choice of bike he was riding.
Sad to see of his passing.
Sad to see of his passing.
Gandolkf
Site Supporter
So is the Days Inn.
In Lawrence the place to stay?
In Lawrence the place to stay?
The Cheese
We are thinking of meeting at The Pennant after the memorial. 7:00pm.
The Pennant of Topeka
915 S Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66612
(785) 286-6808
Three of us are at that Days Inn. We are about 30 mins away.
The Pennant of Topeka
915 S Kansas Ave, Topeka, KS 66612
(785) 286-6808
Three of us are at that Days Inn. We are about 30 mins away.
Shuey
Site Supporter
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2007
- Messages
- 2,101
- Location
- Niceville, FL
- Bike
- FJR1300 ES, 2018
- SPOT
- LINK
- STOC #
- 7005
It was a really nice visitation time. Great to meet and hear stories from Karl's relatives and friends and the picture gallery his daughter put together was just great. Like most funerals and weddings, the good part is seeing friends and making new acquaintances as stories are shared. Learned a lot about Karl's many lives other than riding. A young actor involved in many plays and enjoyed sharing that love with his oldest daughter as she found joy in high school drama, a small town police officer, a park ranger, a large town police officer and a cancer fighter who never gave up on living life to the fullest.
Departed Lawrence at 6am yesterday, had a wonderful drive watching the roadside foliage change from full Fall color to it not arriving yet as I reached home at 10:30pm.
RIP Karl,
Shuey
Departed Lawrence at 6am yesterday, had a wonderful drive watching the roadside foliage change from full Fall color to it not arriving yet as I reached home at 10:30pm.
RIP Karl,
Shuey
The Cheese
I've been putting this off since I got back. Telling myself that I was too busy working on other things. Which is mostly true. I have been. Fact is making this summary post, to me at least, feels like one more step closer to forgetting my friend. Which I do not want to do. Karl passing has hit me harder than expected. I'm not sure why. Karl was lucky to live as long as he did. Lucky to have as much time with his family. Lucky to get to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Not tied down by a job. Able to go to his daughters plays. Or take off for some part of the country. He was certainly aware that most people could not live his life.
I only knew him a short time. 8 years. I meet him at the Blue Ridge Gathering in 2012. The second time I saw him he was rolling around the road after wrecking his ST1300. His get off had literally just happened. Dust was still in the air. Bike had just came to a stop. We still arn't positive what happened. My guess was wet leaves or paint washed the front out. Karl's only concern was that he was holding up the group ride. Constantly apologizing for ruining the day. He was not concerned with himself, or his bike. Just focused on others. It set the scene for the rest of our friendship. Nothing with him was simple, or easy. Never boring and always an adventure. He certainly did whatever he wanted, never timid. He just went for it. Or said it. Whatever came to mind was blurted out.
I took my wife's car to the memorial service. Planned on riding but the weather reports convinced me not to. The night before we got hit with a hurricane. It brought down 3 trees on the lot next to us. There was leaves, pine needles and small branches all over the road. This was the norm for about an hour. It wasn't until I got an hour and half south of me till the roads cleared. I found many intersections where the traffic lights were out. I stopped counting at 14! One thing is clear. Today's drivers do not know to treat a non working traffic light as a four way stop sign. Was almost hit at a few of them. Drivers blowing through it without stopping was common. At one point I was cut off by a car with a personal tag, "KARLS". Came darn close to hitting me when they jerked it over in front of me. No reason to. I'm still confused as to why. At this point I think Karl is telling me to stay home! Rain was still holding out. After getting on the other side of Atlanta things calmed down. I was able to get to Nashville and pick up @Nashcat without much drama. After ATL the rain was mostly gone. Only patches of mist giving way to hard rain.
The weather was fabulous. Pic below was taken in Chattanooga TN. 60s. Partly cloudy. I had not seen rain for quite some time.
After picking up John we set out for Paducah KY. That was the first overnight stop. Also where we would meet @Shuey. Weather was mostly the same. Overcast and 60s. Not seen rain for awhile. Things were looking up...Till Shuey called. He was already at the hotel and was wondering when we would be. Because of several factors I got a late start. We were behind schedule. But it wasn't raining at least! Well, not yet. When he called Shuey told us of rain that was in between us. We were heading right for it. It has hard rain too. I was certainly glad I was in a car. After construction on the intersate and the hard rain delayed us, we finally got to the hotel. The three of us went out for dinner. Local Mexican place. Was nice.
Friday morning the 3 of us set off. John and I in my car, Shuey following. Weather was a little cool, but clear! Noting to report happened till lunch. It was a travel center with fast food attached. One thing stuck me as odd here. This gas station in Kingdom City MO sold hard liquor. A whole isle of booze. This doesn't happen in the south. You want liquor, you must go to a liquor store. Strange for me to stumble across it here. Guess what was on sale. Jim Beam Honey. One of the common drinks for Karl. I bought it just to say I bought Jim Beam Honey at the same place I filled up my car, and got lunch. We would later share this in our hotel room after the memorial. Nothing interesting happened after lunch.
We got to the Hotel in Lawrence KS and meet up with @The Dan. He drove straight down from SD. After the memorial he would drive straight back too. Not something I would like to do.
After getting ready we set out for Brennan Mathena Funeral Home in Topeka KS. The group meet @Muchmore and @Gandolkf there. It was nice to meet his family. They had put together a few picture boards, had his police gear, American flag, and a urn on display. His Spyder was out front. His daughter plans to keep it. I hope we see her out at a rally in the future. She is a member here, but did not remember her screen name. A few of us shared some good times we had with Karl. Paid our respects.
Afterwards a few of us meet at a local restaurant. The Pennant. This place had 4 bowling lanes, a full bar, and great food. There were arcade games somewhere. Upstairs I guess. I never saw them.
The next morning, Saturday, Shuey set out for FL early. Can't blame him. Long drive ahead. John and I went for Emporia KS. To meet another ST-Owner member. @roginoz had some ST1100 stuff for me. It would turn a long day into a longer day. Especially so when I broke a rule of travel. Never start a day with a almost empty fuel tank. I knew we were at a 1/4 tank and just assumed there would be gas along the way. Well there might have been some somewhere. NOT along I335 where I was. When the low fuel light came on I began to understand our situation. I had not seen fuel since getting on in Topeka. Google maps said next gas was 27 miles away. Our range said 7. Whoops. I slowed down and drafted behind a semi truck. While that would buy us some miles, would it be enough?
We panic searched along our route for gas sooner. Nothing. At this point I knew I could not turn around and make it back to the place I last saw. So ahead we went. I had left in time to make it to our apportionment on time. Adding in a gas stop would not make us late. This however might. 60 MPH behind a semi while the speed limit was 75 was slow. Seemed even slower when trying to find gas. I just knew we would not make it. At the next exit was something called "MFA Oil Petro-Card 24" according to Google Maps. Our best shot. Even if it wasn't a gas station, maybe there would be somebody. Anybody. It was 17 miles away. Our range said zero. IN fact it was zero for 10 miles now.
Taking the exit and paying the toll was exciting with the threat of the car ceasing to function at any minute. Damn KS. The nerve of putting a tollway interstate in and not one service station on it. Even of we found one, you would have to pay the toll when getting off, then get another ticket getting on, then pay again when exiting. Would it have been such a bother to put a service staion ON the toll road? Anyways. After paying and getting free of the toll booth, I drove gingerly to MFA Oil. Praying. At this point the joking of running out of gas wasn't funny anymore. It had become likely.
Out in the middle of nowhere freaking Kansas is the most beautiful thing I ever saw. At the intercestion of Hwy 99 and Road 330, was a gas pump. A lone gas pump. It took credit cards and had no attendant. Three grades of go juice. Only one house next door. Surrounded by fields. Pics below. It will remain the most beautiful thing I saw in KS. It will also likely be the only gas pump I have kissed. I was so happy to see it that I kissed it. No shame here. Like I said, it was beautiful!
After gas we easily made our meeting. Only a few minutes late. Had breakfast at a fast food place. Had to eat in the parking lot. Inside was open, but dining was not. Go figure. Seems the malarkey was over tho. After that it was boring drive back to Nashville. Nothing to report there. Stayed the night at John's house and set off for home Sunday morning. Made it home early evening.
I know this is a long post. I tend to drone on. Thanks for reading it all. It helps me come to terms with losing Karl. If we meet up in the future I'll tell you rest of the story over a few beers.
TL;DR I had an adventure going to and coming back from a memorial in Kansas. Nothing with Karl was straight forward or simple. Fitting this would be hectic.
I only knew him a short time. 8 years. I meet him at the Blue Ridge Gathering in 2012. The second time I saw him he was rolling around the road after wrecking his ST1300. His get off had literally just happened. Dust was still in the air. Bike had just came to a stop. We still arn't positive what happened. My guess was wet leaves or paint washed the front out. Karl's only concern was that he was holding up the group ride. Constantly apologizing for ruining the day. He was not concerned with himself, or his bike. Just focused on others. It set the scene for the rest of our friendship. Nothing with him was simple, or easy. Never boring and always an adventure. He certainly did whatever he wanted, never timid. He just went for it. Or said it. Whatever came to mind was blurted out.
I took my wife's car to the memorial service. Planned on riding but the weather reports convinced me not to. The night before we got hit with a hurricane. It brought down 3 trees on the lot next to us. There was leaves, pine needles and small branches all over the road. This was the norm for about an hour. It wasn't until I got an hour and half south of me till the roads cleared. I found many intersections where the traffic lights were out. I stopped counting at 14! One thing is clear. Today's drivers do not know to treat a non working traffic light as a four way stop sign. Was almost hit at a few of them. Drivers blowing through it without stopping was common. At one point I was cut off by a car with a personal tag, "KARLS". Came darn close to hitting me when they jerked it over in front of me. No reason to. I'm still confused as to why. At this point I think Karl is telling me to stay home! Rain was still holding out. After getting on the other side of Atlanta things calmed down. I was able to get to Nashville and pick up @Nashcat without much drama. After ATL the rain was mostly gone. Only patches of mist giving way to hard rain.
The weather was fabulous. Pic below was taken in Chattanooga TN. 60s. Partly cloudy. I had not seen rain for quite some time.
After picking up John we set out for Paducah KY. That was the first overnight stop. Also where we would meet @Shuey. Weather was mostly the same. Overcast and 60s. Not seen rain for awhile. Things were looking up...Till Shuey called. He was already at the hotel and was wondering when we would be. Because of several factors I got a late start. We were behind schedule. But it wasn't raining at least! Well, not yet. When he called Shuey told us of rain that was in between us. We were heading right for it. It has hard rain too. I was certainly glad I was in a car. After construction on the intersate and the hard rain delayed us, we finally got to the hotel. The three of us went out for dinner. Local Mexican place. Was nice.
Friday morning the 3 of us set off. John and I in my car, Shuey following. Weather was a little cool, but clear! Noting to report happened till lunch. It was a travel center with fast food attached. One thing stuck me as odd here. This gas station in Kingdom City MO sold hard liquor. A whole isle of booze. This doesn't happen in the south. You want liquor, you must go to a liquor store. Strange for me to stumble across it here. Guess what was on sale. Jim Beam Honey. One of the common drinks for Karl. I bought it just to say I bought Jim Beam Honey at the same place I filled up my car, and got lunch. We would later share this in our hotel room after the memorial. Nothing interesting happened after lunch.
We got to the Hotel in Lawrence KS and meet up with @The Dan. He drove straight down from SD. After the memorial he would drive straight back too. Not something I would like to do.
After getting ready we set out for Brennan Mathena Funeral Home in Topeka KS. The group meet @Muchmore and @Gandolkf there. It was nice to meet his family. They had put together a few picture boards, had his police gear, American flag, and a urn on display. His Spyder was out front. His daughter plans to keep it. I hope we see her out at a rally in the future. She is a member here, but did not remember her screen name. A few of us shared some good times we had with Karl. Paid our respects.
Afterwards a few of us meet at a local restaurant. The Pennant. This place had 4 bowling lanes, a full bar, and great food. There were arcade games somewhere. Upstairs I guess. I never saw them.
The next morning, Saturday, Shuey set out for FL early. Can't blame him. Long drive ahead. John and I went for Emporia KS. To meet another ST-Owner member. @roginoz had some ST1100 stuff for me. It would turn a long day into a longer day. Especially so when I broke a rule of travel. Never start a day with a almost empty fuel tank. I knew we were at a 1/4 tank and just assumed there would be gas along the way. Well there might have been some somewhere. NOT along I335 where I was. When the low fuel light came on I began to understand our situation. I had not seen fuel since getting on in Topeka. Google maps said next gas was 27 miles away. Our range said 7. Whoops. I slowed down and drafted behind a semi truck. While that would buy us some miles, would it be enough?
We panic searched along our route for gas sooner. Nothing. At this point I knew I could not turn around and make it back to the place I last saw. So ahead we went. I had left in time to make it to our apportionment on time. Adding in a gas stop would not make us late. This however might. 60 MPH behind a semi while the speed limit was 75 was slow. Seemed even slower when trying to find gas. I just knew we would not make it. At the next exit was something called "MFA Oil Petro-Card 24" according to Google Maps. Our best shot. Even if it wasn't a gas station, maybe there would be somebody. Anybody. It was 17 miles away. Our range said zero. IN fact it was zero for 10 miles now.
Taking the exit and paying the toll was exciting with the threat of the car ceasing to function at any minute. Damn KS. The nerve of putting a tollway interstate in and not one service station on it. Even of we found one, you would have to pay the toll when getting off, then get another ticket getting on, then pay again when exiting. Would it have been such a bother to put a service staion ON the toll road? Anyways. After paying and getting free of the toll booth, I drove gingerly to MFA Oil. Praying. At this point the joking of running out of gas wasn't funny anymore. It had become likely.
Out in the middle of nowhere freaking Kansas is the most beautiful thing I ever saw. At the intercestion of Hwy 99 and Road 330, was a gas pump. A lone gas pump. It took credit cards and had no attendant. Three grades of go juice. Only one house next door. Surrounded by fields. Pics below. It will remain the most beautiful thing I saw in KS. It will also likely be the only gas pump I have kissed. I was so happy to see it that I kissed it. No shame here. Like I said, it was beautiful!
After gas we easily made our meeting. Only a few minutes late. Had breakfast at a fast food place. Had to eat in the parking lot. Inside was open, but dining was not. Go figure. Seems the malarkey was over tho. After that it was boring drive back to Nashville. Nothing to report there. Stayed the night at John's house and set off for home Sunday morning. Made it home early evening.
I know this is a long post. I tend to drone on. Thanks for reading it all. It helps me come to terms with losing Karl. If we meet up in the future I'll tell you rest of the story over a few beers.
TL;DR I had an adventure going to and coming back from a memorial in Kansas. Nothing with Karl was straight forward or simple. Fitting this would be hectic.
Good write-up Michael, thanks for taking the time to do it. And you're right, nothing with Karl was simple, guess that's why we remember him so much.
Thanks Michael and Shuey, I drove down visited and drove back. Not a lot to tell about my trip except that I thought about Karl and what a great friend he was on the way down and about his family and friends I met on the way back. It was good to see @Muchmore and @Gandolkf there and paying respects, I knew the others were on there way. I'm going to miss Karl at events and just being able to call him anytime or laugh at some text he would send.
Nothing but love Karl, nothing but.
The Dan
Nothing but love Karl, nothing but.
The Dan
Gandolkf
Site Supporter
Nothing but love Karl, nothing but.
Been thinking alot bout Karl,am gonna miss him.
Think it's hitting me kind of hard becouse of all memorials...he's the closest person to my age group.
and now i saw what happened okckieth .thinking bout eating and drinking selections.
good to see Nashcat , Shuey, The Dan,The ,Muchmore . visit with the Family.
Been thinking alot bout Karl,am gonna miss him.
Think it's hitting me kind of hard becouse of all memorials...he's the closest person to my age group.
and now i saw what happened okckieth .thinking bout eating and drinking selections.
good to see Nashcat , Shuey, The Dan,The ,Muchmore . visit with the Family.
Muchmore
Train killer
It was nice meeting everyone. It reminds how much I do miss being around everyone on rides.
Just sitting here thinking about Karl...
OP
OP
STraymond
Site Supporter
Karl - what a great guy! I know that we're dedicating this year's GA Spring Rally to his memory.
okckeith
Site Supporter
Karl was one of the first people I meat on ST-OWNERS. Spent a lot of times talking about what ever after everyone went to sleep around campfires. We didn’t always agree. But always agree to disagree. I miss that guy.
TPadden
Tom Padden
Back in Florida from Big Bend and Mecca Beach RTC's coast to coast. Great trip and on the return I camped (free) at White's Park Arena & Barn, Wallisville, TX - just east of Baytown Tx. Last time I camped there it was just sunshine, Karl, and I ...
Tom
