The Sticker Bus, Boots & Cowboys, Bank Tunnel, and Buffalo Soldiers

We have arrived in San Angelo, Texas, for a two day visit, and we're at Wal-Mart, looking for new windshield wipers for the bus, and there are two other bus-style RVs, but coated with stickers, and signs for "Custom Stickers" of every imaginable cultural, political and athletic persuasion, just to name a few. You name the football, hockey or baseball team, major political candidate/party, etc., and they had them. Want a sticker that they don't have in stock? No problem, they will design and make it for you. A great example of entrepreneurism.

Today we had an early start to beat the heat, and went on a 15 mile mountain bike ride in San Angelo State Park. While enjoying some of the best "singletrack" trails we've ever ridden, Suzanne startled a rattlesnake, which made it very clear that he wasn't happy. He moved on, and so did we, very quickly, without taking time for a group photo.

We then toured San Angelo's Historic District, where we stumbled upon M. L. Leddy's Saddlery and Bootmakers. Leddy's makes top-end, hand-made, custom boots and saddles. There were a couple of saddles to drool over ($3,500 or so) and the most beautiful western boots we had ever seen ($900 or so, but the backlog is over a year long; they only produce about ten pair of boots a day, and each takes two months work from start to finish; they are made of leather, snakeskin, rhino, ostrich, elephant, or stingray, and were gorgeous).


Leddy's wonderful store clerk, Connie, gave us the grand tour, where we saw each step of the process, including ladies working on 1920's-era Singer sewing machines and men hand-flattening 40-penny nails to become the basis of the lasts in every pair of boots. Does $900 seem expensive? Well, not when you can count on the boots lasting 25 years! They also sell western hats. The two young cowpokes shown here, Ollen and Cooper, were in the store with a couple of ladies (mom and aunt) getting their new hats.

Leddy's was such a refreshing change from all of the news stories about jobs being lost to China and India. Their craftsmen are producing some of the best boots in the world at a reasonable price, and they have a 12 month backlog. Buy American!

From Leddy's, we toured Eggemeyer's General Store, another delight, with every conceivable household/kitchen gadget and some of the best preserves and jellies we've ever tasted. We made it out with Apricot-Orange Marmalade and Pecan Honey Butter for our table. Yummy!

Then across the street to visit Miss Hattie's... once a "cathouse", now a bar and restaurant. There is an old tunnel connecting the bank and Miss Hattie's (no longer in frequent use); legend has it that men doing financial business at the bank would often take much longer than expected to complete their transactions, to the consternation of their ladies, who were probably at Eggemeyer's store just across the street.... today the most risque thing at Miss Hattie's are the Bordello Burgers. (Like I said before, you just can't make this stuff up.)

The last stop of the day was at Fort Concho, where Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry served off and on during the campaigns against the Plains Indians of the 1860s-70's. It is a very well-preserved historic site.  Back on the road tomorrow, heading for Lubbock, Texas. But before we leave San Andelo, here are the signs outside the restrooms at our campground... if you think cowboys aren't a big part of life here in West Texas, then think again!