Today I had the pleasure of living La Vida Amador again, when the prophecy of my visit to the Great Sutter Creek Duck Race was fulfilled.

This is my second Amador Adventure, the first one having been the subject of earlier blog chronicles.

I got lots of good photos.  Well, I think they’re good photos, anyway.  Hopefully Athol Kay doesn’t have a “Bad Sutter Creek Duck Race Photos” series in mind.

	This band, Bobby D. and the Blues Organization, was really good.  They played nice jazz, by which I mean jazz that an un-jazz-sophisticated boor like me could enjoy.
	The other great thing that happened at the great duck race was that I finally got to sign up to become a Bone Marrow Donor, which I asked my readers to do a couple of weeks ago in support of Trevor Kott.  There’s the booth over at the right, and a poster-board featuring the Kott family.  We had fun, those of us in the line, amusing ourselves as we waited to get swabbed.
	I got to make friends with the D.A.R. ladies.  They were really nice. It turns out those historical dresses are made of cotton, so they are comfortable. I’m not sure what prompted me to ask.
	Here’s me with my Duck-Quacker bill, mugging it up for the Camera with Janelle, this lovely lady who sells cotton candy to support the Pine Grove Civic Improvement Club. I had a picture of Margie, too, but it came out somewhat unflattering, so she’d probably prefer it if I didn’t put it up here, or maybe if I went back and took a flattering picture. Margie and Janelle were charming as could be, but eventually I was crowded out by throngs of sugar-crazed cotton candy buyers.
Where are Bridget and Jamie?	Bridget and Jamie from our Amador County office were there, but I didn’t take their pictures.  I got the sense they didn’t want me to impose.

You know, I’ve been at this awhile and I’ve only scratched the surface of the pictures.  This happened during my last Amador adventure as well.

I think Amador County is just too photogenic.

Here’s proof, in case you still need it:

It’s April 27th, and you know what that means…

It’s The Great Sutter Creek Duck Race Eve.

The big event happens tomorrow, April 28th.

Bridget didn’t want me to write about the duck race. She gave me the idea that if I wrote about the duck race, I wouldn’t be respectful enough or something.

Respectful? Heck, I’m jealous. I wish Elite Properties were on the list of local business sponsors where you could get your duck. This is probably a pretty Elite Group of Businesses, so Elite Properties ought to have no trouble getting in-duck-ted into it.

In the meantime, I understand that we do have a little modest company swag — or at least, literature — that Bridget and Jamie will be passing out at the duck race.

I’ll have to talk to our Amador County District Manager about getting maybe some duck shaped key-rings for next year or something. Or ducks with elite crowns on them.

Here’s the other thing: I think if you’re going to have a town named after a creek, you owe it to your residents and visitors to have a duck race. Otherwise you may feel like you’re up Sutter Creek without a paddle. Or rather, without a duck.

Finally, I’m not sure how much respect one is supposed to accord to a duck race. I mean, isn’t a duck race supposed to be pretty fun and tongue in cheek to begin with? I guess the idea was that I would make fun of the rural lifestyle in Amador County or something. Not really. I’m jealous there, too. I wish my dogs had some dirt to run around and chase squirrels on. The dogs wish for that even more than I do.

Heck: I live in El Dorado County. That would be like the pot calling the kettle black, even if we do have such thriving metropolises* as Cameron Park, not to mention Swansboro. *(That’s probably really “metropoles”, but no one would recognize it).

You would think that in Swansboro they would run a Swan race, but as far as I know, they don’t. That’s false advertising, if you ask me.

One last thing: A duck goes into a pharmacy and asks for a tube of lipstick. The clerk says, “That’ll be $3.99″, to which the duck replied, “Just put it on my bill.”

It’s been a while since my fabulous Amador County Adventure (see here, here, and here), but I’m really feeling that old adventure fever again because there are Historical Homes being shown off this Saturday, April 21st, 2007 — just the thing for the Realtor® with a degree in history who feels like walking around in Sutter Creek this weekend). From the Sutter Creek Events Calendar:

“AAUW presents the 35th annual Home Tour, featuring unique and historic homes and Landmark sites in Sutter Creek; itself a California Historic Landmark. Cost:$20; Proceeds provide college scholarships for local women and girls, community projects and educational programs. Contact:Lani Chapman 209 245-6052.”

Twenty bucks? Man, if my last Amador County Adventure is any indication, I’d say this is cheap at twice the price.

HOPE Flyer    Are you looking to buy a home in Amador or El Dorado counties? We are holding a workshop to help you prepare yourself for the home buying process,  on Saturday March 10th from 9am-1pm at Placer Title in Jackson, you will have the opportunity to talk with lenders, Amador County Realtors, Title & Escrow officers, and receive assistance in understanding your credit.  Please call or e-mail Bridget at Bridget@BridgetSells.com  (530) 306-9111 reservations or required. We will have a list of homes in various price ranges in areas such as: Plymouth, Ione, Sutter Creek, Jackson, Pine Grove, Mt Aukum, Fairplay, and River Pines.

     I would like to share some news about our famous Amador County and our progress toward helping those whom without programs like, H.O.P.E. would be unable to own a piece of Amador County Real Estate. We resumed our H.O.P.E. meetings this morning at the Amador County Board of Realtors and had a great turnout. Thank-you to all of those who attended, Barbara Nichols  and Gina Grubb from Diablo Funding, Susan Brown and Diana Rethford from Placer Title, Cathy Yochheim from Coldwell Banker, and of course myself, Bridget Felmley-Gay from Elite Properties. H.O.P.E. is also known as Homeownership Opportunity Planning Enterprise, the Amador County Association of Realtors and local lenders and title companies have teamed up to help assist you with the purchase of a home. The funds are donated by local Amador County Realtors,  loan officers, escrow officers, concerned citizens, and federal grants. There are some qualifications, one being the willingness to provide your new home with “sweat equity”. The funds typically help pay for improvements and items like pest work. If you would like more information regarding donations or an application for funds please contact Bridget@BridgetSells.com (877) 735-5657 ext 82 or the Amador County Board of Realtors (209) 223-3874.

      H.O.P.E. is offering a “Workshop” on Saturday March 10th at 10 am at Placer Title in Jackson. The workshop will focus on helping you to get your credit to the point of qualifying to purchase a home. For more information or to sign up for the workshop contact Bridget@BridgetSells.com (877) 735-5657 ext 82.