I met Bob Lay at my other new friend, Dorothy’s house when I was up on the Bighorn. Bob is well-known and well-respected in the world of fly-fishing. I only had about 30 minutes to chat with him before he headed off to dinner at another friend’s house but we connected quickly during that short time. Bob now lives in Helena, Montana and we talked a little about my upcoming trip on the Missouri, just north of Helena.
I left the Bighorn around 9:30 a.m. to make the 6 hour drive up to Craig just north of Helena. I drove uncharacteristically slow to think about my days on the Bighorn and also because the rain started up once again. As I made my turn north on 287, I saw a truck and drift boat pass me on the left rather slowly but I didn’t bother to look over at the driver. The rig passed me and pulled in front of me and I saw this hand come out of the sunroof with a finger pointed to the side of the road as the right blinker was turned on.
I followed the lead thinking that perhaps I had a problem with my brake lights or some other vehicle-related problem. When the truck’s door opened, there was Bob Lay! With a stroke of luck, we happened to be on the same stretch of the highway at the same time after our brief introduction. We went off to have lunch together and enjoy a little more history. I hope that kind of luck happens again soon. Thanks for the lunch and company, Bob!
