Once again ssssnakeluvr, my hat's off to you. You're tha man!

Kitkat, Roy,
It looks like we bought T. ordinoides . When I think I know something, it takes a good bit of evidence to persuade me otherwise, and I've been looking at a lot of indistinct (and probably some mis-labeled) pictures of T. ordinoides and T.s. pickeringii over the last few days. Today, I e-mailed Gary Nafis, and he wrote back with a key to certain snakes of the West & Northwest. It didn't include T.s. pickeringii, but it had other T. sirtalis subspecies. My blue snakes have 7-8 upper labials; 8 lower labials; their internasals are equal to or shorter than their prefrontals; and they have 17 scale rows... all characteristics of T. ordinoides. He has an awesome snake ID key with photos to help interpret the descriptions. Have a look (Key to California Gartersnakes).
Rick