With everything that has happened over the last few days with Hurricane Helene, it's hard to believe that just over a week ago, I was up in Wisconsin to attend the Oak & Oscar Built to Discover Trip in the Driftless. We're on the fifth day of no power and honestly, it's a welcome reprieve to look back at the images from this trip to tell this story.
I mentioned it several months ago that one of my goals as I approached my 50th birthday (which was two weeks ago now...) was to gift myself a nice watch. If you want to read the T.F.M. post on this decision, start there and then circle back to this post.
It didn't take me too long to decide on an Oak & Oscar watch since I liked that fly fishing was part of their story, have several friends who are "Owners", and I'm a pushover for a small independent boutique brand. When I had purchased the Humboldt GMT, Chase Fancher mentioned that I should come up for the trip to the Driftless and I couldn't imagine a better way to put a cap on what has turned into nearly a year long celebration of this birthday.
The base camp for the weekend was at the Red Clover Ranch outside of Soldiers Grove and we couldn't have been more taken of by Annie Coleman an her staff. The accommodations, food, and property were perfect for a gathering like this. By Friday evening, there were over a dozen "Owners" who had arrived and we made introductions over drinks.
Chase had a planned itinerary for the weekend which included appetizers and impromptu casting lessons on the lawn, a group dinner at the ranch on Friday night followed by bourbon around the campfire, fly fishing with guides from the Driftless Angler for half of Saturday, lunch at the ranch, followed by a visit to the Las Mujeres Farm and Winery. A severe thunderstorm late Saturday afternoon kept us from fly fishing again but that didn't stop our dinner at the Driftless Cafe. Sunday morning brought us all together again for a several course breakfast at the ranch before everyone said their goodbyes to headed home.
As you can imagine, during any down time there was quite bit of watch talk with several of the Oak & Oscar owners bringing their watch collections with them. All in all it was a good time.
Here are a few snapshots from the weekend. Dave Fason, friend, photographer, and Oak & Oscar Owner, was along for the weekend taking photos and video, which I'm sure will be shared soon.
There are a few more stories to tell from this trip to the Driftless since I flew up a couple of days early to camp, fished several other streams, and played golf with Brad Eaton of Greens & Streams on our way up to Viroqua and Solders Grove.
In the meantime, if you've been considering a new watch, give Oak & Oscar a look. The newly released Atwood has my eye. White or Navy dial? I know, it's a tough choice.
P.S. #1 Special thanks to Scientific Anglers, Withernot, and TroutRoutes who provided a few raffle items that Chase and I were able to give away on Sunday morning after breakfast. Everyone greatly appreciated it and everyone went home with something which made it fun.
P.S. #2 If you need a soundtrack for your day, Annie Coleman of Red Clover Ranch is part of the band, Golden Horse Ranch Band. They are on Amazon, eMusic, and iTunes with performances on YouTube.
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