Well, what sort of tourist would I be if I didn’t take pictures?

(The kind who blogged video? Hey, be gentle with me, I live in El Dorado County. What do you think this is, “Silicone Valley”? Yes, people around here really do call it “Silicone Valley” half the time. I think they’re confusing it with Hollywood, but that’s a whole different post).

So anyway, during yesterday’s big Amador County Adventure, naturally I took some pictures, as proof that I’m not some guy just hanging around my comfortable den in Cameron Park, but nay, indeed, really did make it as far as the Mel’s in Jackson.

Here’s proof that at one point I was preparing to leave the safe known known (thanks, Donald Rumsfeld) of El Dorado County, in the form of my not-too-fuzzy picture of Poor Red’s:

For those of you who don’t think “Poor Red’s” is a local landmark, I once had a “floor call” from my web site in which I was asked how far a given house was to Poor Red’s. As it turns out, Poor Red’s is pretty close to where my daughter goes to High School, but it’s even closer to the turn off from Pleasant Valley Road onto route 49, which is El Dorado County’s preferred method for getting out to Amador if that’s the kind of big adventure you’re having.

So Many El Dorados, So Little Time

Poor Red’s is in El Dorado. El Dorado is a small town, so I’m tempted to say that that’s all that’s there, but that does it an injustice. Adding insult to injury, if the local folks here tend to say “Silicone Valley”, people from out of the area have a tendency to get completely confused about the difference between El Dorado and El Dorado Hills. So here’s a brief primer.

El Dorado Hills has the Serrano Country Club and subdivision, and is just west of Cameron Park and East of Folsom. Those who love it call it an “exquisite upscale community” or the like. Those who hate it are prone to characterize it as a “fashionable McMansion development.” I should say in defense against those who hate it that there are a lot of other really neat subdivisions out there with more unique custom homes, like Waterford. I love Waterford.

El Dorado has Poor Red’s, a couple of high schools, a gun shop, a smackerel of small town charm, good prices, and is just a bit west / south of Placerville.

Now, for an advanced lesson: Both El Dorado Hills and El Dorado are in El Dorado County.

Placerville is also in El Dorado County, not Placer County.

Everyone feeling OK at this point? Good.