It’s Saturday night, and I am sitting in front of my iMac, realizing I’m due back in the shop in less than nine hours. I just got in about thirty minutes ago.
The days, they fly by.
Today was one of Craig’s biggest days of the year, the annual Craig Caddis Fest, a fundraiser for the local fire department.
They talk of Craig being a fly fishing town. I guess when the big event of the year is named after a bug highly sought after by trout (and therefore fishermen), the rumors are true.
Festivities kicked off around 2:00 this afternoon, and the band was still rolling when I pulled out of town. There was a parade, complete with several drift boats, and a beaten up old tractor with two gentlemen who looked like they had emerged from the deep South.
Or maybe just Wolf Creek.
The bar-be-que cook-off proved to be one oft he more popular features of Caddis Fest, and both the Simms crew and our own Headhunters team parked in front of the shop. Mark’s tri-tip sliders were a hit, as was evidenced by the large line outside building for the evening. In all fairness, the Simms guys made a pretty mean fajita as well.
And, miracle of miracles, and espresso truck rolled into town just for the event. Complete with a folk singer on the top of the trailer.
What the hell, it’s Craig.
I met Uncle Joe of Joe’s bar today, and he joined the parade, riding in a classy old, yellow rig and tossing out candy to eager kids (and some adults). The urchins of the Missouri were out in full swing, moving amidst the rapidly-becoming-soused adults with ease.
On the business end of things, parking shuttle rigs was rather like a twisted game in Craig today. The parking at the ramp fills rapidly these days, leaving us to stick shuttle rigs wherever we can – along the railroad tracks to scattered throughout town. Between dodging toddlers in the streets, other boats on the road and the herd of dogs that seems to inhabit the town, it was an entertaining shuttle day.
Waders and full fishing kit will not earn you a second glance in this crowd, but a tie or a suit coat will draw stares. When a rain shower moved through, savvy locals donned their waders and rain jackets and kept on cooking. And drinking. And fishing.
You know the routine.
