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Yahoo! News Search Results for amazing race TV

South Pole race selection hots up (BBC News)
Ben Fogle and James Cracknell narrow down their search for the person to join them in the race to the South Pole.
TV Ratings (July 4-6): "Dyesebel" almost surpassed its highest rating (PEP)
Dyesebel almost equaled its rating (44.9 percent) on its pilot episode—which was also its highest rating so far—when it posted a rating of 44.3 percent last Friday, July 4, to once again take the overall lead in the primetime race.
TV Ratings (Jan. 25-28): Good start for three new ABS-CBN primetime shows (PEP)
ABS-CBN launched three new primetime programs last night, January 28, to kick off their 55 th anniversary celebration. These new programs are Kung Fu Kids, Lobo, and Palos . Although the numbers that these three ABS-CBN programs got based on the overnight ratings of AGB are quite high, they still failed to beat the strong lineup of existing GMA-7 primetime shows.
British Grand Prix - Silverstone post-race notes (Motorsport.com)
Hamilton wins Silverstone thriller - 240,000 record crowd enjoys "phenomenal" British Grand Prix - 20,000 fans stay behind to see Lewis at Grand Prix Party - Tickets go on sale for 2009 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX Lewis Hamilton became the first British driver in eight years to win his home Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday (6 July). Not since David Coulthard (in 2000) had a Brit ...
War, undead liven up visit (Toronto Star)
LOS ANGELES–And so it begins. It's been a year since the 200-plus members of the Television Critics Association gathered here in L.A. to preview the upcoming TV season. As detailed in yesterday's column, a lot has changed.
Fame won't faze Natasha Bedingfield (The San Francisco Examiner)
British chanteuse Natasha Bedingfield may have had the most-played radio hit in America two years ago with "Unwritten"; the effervescent ditty that wriggled its way into everything from Pantene hair-care commercials to the TV show "The Hills" and even Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.
'A Colorblind Blackeye'?: Are Mayweather And Winky 'Wright' About Race In Boxing? (East Side Boxing)
By Vivek Wallace : Lately, it appears that U.S. politics isn't the only topic that entertains the question of race. In what may quickly become a 'watershed' moment, ignited by arguably one of the sports most outspoken figures, the question of race has unfortunately found a way to rear its ugly head.
NEXT RACE - 20th July (Planet F1)
I Was At Silverstone On Sunday... The PF1ers were out in force at Silverstone this past weekend where aside from the weather it seemed that most had nothing but praise for the track and the racing...
F1: Post-race press conference - Britain (autosport.com)
Post-race press conference - Britain
British GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.1. (Crash.Net via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport)
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Rubens Barrichello (Honda)

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I guess I need to sit down and do this. But by writing it – it puts an end to the race. WAH! Not ready for it to end. And I have to wait for the next race of which I have no clue of when that will be aired. So needless to say, I am not a happy camper. But the hippies won and I am happy for them but to be honest and entirely in the minority - I must confess I was rooting for the frat boys to win.  But I’m still glad they won – they played the kinda race that I liked to watch. Forever up, not too much backstabbing and fun to watch. Let’s get on with the synopsis.

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At the pit stop the hippies were the first to leave and they had about a 2hour head start on the frat boys and Ray & Yolanda. They were able to leave at 11:18pm with the other two teams leaving 1:21am and 1:28am. Their clues took them about 75miles away to Royal Kraal. They were to retrieve from an elephant a T-Mobile Sidekick. The Sidekicks had the next clue. As most locations opening and closing times had a way of taking the time advantage from the teams and this was no different. The Royal Kraal opened at 4am in the morning so the other two teams caught up with the hippies. Once the gates opened the teams ran to the elephants and got their Sidekicks from the elephants’ trunks. The teams then read from the Sidekick where their next clue was taking them. They were going to Tokyo.Â

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They were to fly to Tokyo and go to Shibuya, which is like Times Square with a bunch of electronic billboards. Once they got there they were to locate the next clue on one of the billboards.  The hippies having the distinct advantage here since Tyler is fluent in Japanese due to his Japanese girlfriend, got dealt a setback when they were unable to catch the same flight out as the frat boys and Ray & Yolanda. Their flight came in 2 hours later than the other teams.  Once the teams landed in Tokyo they had to take a shuttle to the Nikko Hotel to pick up a car. At the hotel Ray & Yolanda immediately jumped into a car and took off whereas Eric & Jeremy, using their heads, went into the hotel and asked for directions and were given a map. They were able to find Shibuya easily where Ray & Yolanda struggled reading the road signs and locating Shibuya. Finding Shibuya, Eric & Jeremy scanned the billboards and found their clue which had them locate a beloved dog statue to retrieve their next clue which turned out to be a Detour.Â

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The Detour had 2 tasks, one was called Maiden Voyage. It had the teams go by taxi 7 miles to a Japanese garden where they were to transport a maiden 1-mile to a tea ceremony. The teams had to use this ancient transportation carrier called a palanquin that was used to carry royalty. The other task, Messenger had the teams finding these folding bikes and each person got a messenger bag with a parcel in each. After assembling the bikes the teams would ride through Tokyo traffic to deliver these packages. They had to find the building listed on the packages.Â

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Eric & Jeremy and Ray & Yolanda opted to carry the maiden to the tea ceremony. It was not a comfortable trip since they had to carry these palanquin on their shoulders for a mile, but each team figured this was the best thing to do rather then try to brave the Tokyo traffic and not knowing the language it would be easier than trying to find the buildings. They were able to accomplish it and get their next clue.

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The hippies decided to do the messenger task figuring it should be rather easy since Tyler speaks the language.  This was proven true after assembling the bikes and biking through the traffic. Tyler was able to locate the first building and give the parcel to the person and asking for directions to the next building. They were able to complete this task quickly with no fuss and got their next clue, which directed them to find the Capsule Land Hotel. It turned out that they were to stay in these space ship type of sleeping compartments for the evening before beginning the next segment of the race. In the morning the teams were given their next clue in the order in which they checked in with 15min intervals between their departures. Eric & Jeremy were able to get their clue first with BJ & Tyler leaving 2^nd and Ray &Yolanda leaving 3^rd. They were directed to go to Fujikyo Highlands 80 miles away.Â

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Fujikyo Highlands is an amusement park and it became a Roadblock. After arriving at the park they found the clue box and discovered that one team member was to ride 3 designated roller coasters and try to find a man holding a sign during one of the rides. They would need to read the sign and remember it and report it back to a guy and if they got it correct they got their next clue. The frat boys and the hippies arriving at the park simultaneously had to ride the roller coasters together. Tyler and Jeremy were the designated riders and took off on the first coaster and didn’t see anything and then there were off to ride the second one. Tyler thought he’d mess with Jeremy and said he saw the man during the 2^nd ride. Jeremy not seeing him started to panic and thought he might have to ride the coasters again. So they moved onto the 3^rd ride and they both spied the sign and were able to repeat the message to the man and get their clue. Jeremy after realizing that Tyler tried to mess with him pretended to be angry. Now the race was on since both teams were even and both headed to the same destination, Lake Yamanaka and the pit stop. They drove to the lake and had to peddle these swan boats out to the middle of the lake to a bigger swan boat. BJ & Tyler were the first to arrive followed very closely by Eric & Jeremy. Ray & Yolanda arriving later lost all their possessions but were not eliminated allowing them to participate in the final leg.

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The next morning BJ & Tyler leaving at 12:18am got their clue and it directed them to get to the Hotel Nikko to take a shuttle to the airport. When BJ & Tyler got to the hotel they asked to use the internet to secure a flight to Alaska. They asked the desk personnel to tell the other teams there was no internet connectivity in the hotel. When Eric & Jeremy arrived they asked and were told no internet so they found a phone and were able to get a flight that left earlier than BJ & Eric, but that really didn’t matter in the long run since everyone got bunched together in Taipei. Once in Alaska everyone was even.Â

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Landing in snowy Anchorage they teams got their clues on their vehicles and took off for Mirror Lake about 30 miles away in the snow. Mirror Lake turned out to be a Detour, which had 2 tasks but since it was so snowy they could not do the second task. The frat boys and the hippies arrived together and Ray & Yolanda had another directional malfunction which prohibited them from being competitive in these final tasks. So from here on end they might not get mentioned much. Anyway the 2 tasks for the Detour were Drill It and Deliver It. In Drill It they teams had to drill 10 holes in the ice on the lake and then push a fishing shack over 2 of the holes to set up a ice fishing camp. In Delivery It the teams were to load a bush plane full of medical supplies and then once that was done get on the plane to deliver the supplies. They were supposed to guide the pilot to the airfield using maps so the first aid supplies can be delivered. But as I stated earlier none of the teams could do this due to the inclement weather. Ray & Yolanda were the only team to want to do this but had to do the drill it instead. The frat boys and hippies were neck and neck during this task but the frat boys completed it first and got the clue to the next destination.Â

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The next destination proved to be another wilderness task. They were to go to Kincaid Park to don some snow shoes and using a map find their next clue. The frat boys being the first team there were able to find the shoes and the clue in what appeared to be rather quick interval. The hippies were not so lucky. They totally bypassed the snowshoes and ran around the lodge looking for them. They finally found them after a few passes around the lodge. They put on the shoes and using the map found the clue location and got their next destination, Denver.

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Denver, back to where the race started. The frat boys and hippies hustled on over to the airport to book flights to Colorado. But again, the airport being the big equalizer that it can be, came through for Ray & Yolanda and allowed them to catch up to the frat boys and hippies. Everyone flew on the same flight to Denver and made their way to Golden where they had to search for the next clue. The frat boys and hippies found the clue and it directed them back to the future, their future millions. (how dramatic!)

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With Ray & Yolanda out of the race to the finish, the frat boys got to the amphitheater first and had to complete the final task, which was to put country flags in the order of the visitation during the race. This proved to be difficult and to make it even more difficult the show had some bogus flags interspersed with the real flags. Even though the frat boys were in the lead, the hippies managed to get the flags ordered correctly and were able to run to the finish and claim the million-dollar check. It was a good and exciting race and I will surely miss the show until it comes back on the next time.

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Again, I will reiterate I was voting for the frat boys, my son was voting for the hippies and we both vote for more shows!Â

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I’m starting to get scared now.  I feel like I am in a Twilight Zone episode, you know the one where the kid wishes people out to the cornfield who displease him?  Everyone that I would like to get booted off the race has succumbed to my wishes.  This usually doesn’t happen there is usually a team in the top three that I despise.  But not this time – I may be in the minority – but I still like the frat boys and I will be fine if any of the 3 remaining teams, BJ & Tyler, Eric & Jeremy or Ray & Yolanda win.  So  MoJo bit the dust, and I couldn’t be happier.  But let’s backtrack a bit and get caught up on the race and then I can gloat.

 

In this leg Ray & Yolanda were finally able to pull off a first place finish and start out first from the Pitstop.  The clue they were given sent the teams to the Darwin airport to get a flight out to Bangkok, Thailand.  All the teams started within 8 minutes of each other and were able to get to the airport without any hassle.  BJ & Tyler did not book the flight to Bangkok until they hit the city of Darwin at 2am in the morning to hustle up some money from the late night/early morning revelers.  At the last pitstop they had what little they had left confiscated and started out this leg with no cash or clothes.  Yolanda left a pair of stretch pants for BJ to use and the frat boys left a pair of flip-flops for BJ too.  MoJo didn’t leave anything.  After hustling for cash BJ & Tyler got back to the airport to book their flight but were unable to get the same flight that the other teams were on, it was full.  They lucked out and were able to get another flight out that arrived in Bangkok 15min earlier than the other teams.  But that didn’t happen, the other teams arrived 45min ahead of schedule and the hippies were delayed on their flight.  But all teams upon landing in Bangkok got a taxi and headed to Moshi Bus terminal to take them to the town of Lapburi where they needed to find the Three Spire Pagoda, which is home to sacred monkeys. 

 

Eric & Jeremy and Ray & Yolanda were able to get to the bus terminal in time to take the last bus to the Lapburi.  But MoJo and the hippies got there too late and had to wait to take the first bus out in the morning.  MoJo went to find a hotel to sleep and BJ & Tyler opted to sleep at the terminal and were awake to notice a bus getting ready to leave at 420am and were able to get on it for the trip to Lapburi.  MoJo got to the bus terminal around after the hippies left and caught the 5:20am bus out, which unbeknownst to them put them in the back of the pack. 

 

All the teams but MoJo arrived at Three Spire pagoda and had to wait for it to open.  So the frat boys spent time playing with the monkeys, Ray & Yolanda just waited like the hippies.  When it opened they found out the Fast Forward was offered.  The hippies and Ray & Yolanda took off in pursuit of completing the Fast Forward first while Eric & Jeremy had to do the Roadblock.

 

The Roadblock had the teams preparing a ceremonial feast for the monkeys that are similar to what the locals prepare for the monkeys.  Eric had to cut fruits and vegetables and artfully arrange the product on the table.  He had to contend with the monkeys stealing the food but he kept working on it. 

 

The Fast Forward had the teams going to a local hangout and feasting on the typical afternoon fare, which turned out to be fried crickets and grasshoppers.  BJ & Tyler getting there first were less than thrilled with the cuisine but felt compelled to pursue it since it would be their ticket to first place.  They sat down with a big bowl of each crispy critter and started popping them in their mouths.  They did not go down to easily.  Meanwhile Ray & Yolanda arriving there to witness the feast were a little less than pleased at the task.  They decided to go back to the Roadblock and try their luck there.  The hippies struggled with consuming these insects and questioned their decision to win the Fast Forward.  But they agreed that it would be in their best interests to stick it out and finish.  So they plowed on struggling to get the insects down and struggling to keep them down.  But they did manage to both finish their bowls and got their clue and made their way to the Pit Stop in first place.

 

Meanwhile back at the Roadblock, Eric was joined by MoJo and Joseph was creating his feast, but he was having the same problems as Eric where the monkeys were stealing the food off the table.  Ray & Yolanda came back and Yolanda was working on creating the feast.  They all finished in the order of starting and they got their clue taking them by ferry to Koh Kret Island, where they were to find the Buddha Garden.

 

The clue at the Buddha Garden was a detour.  The teams had 2 tasks to pick from.  The first one was Move It.  In Move It the teams were to go to a pottery factory and carry 72 pots through the streets to a ship.  And in Alter It the teams had to assemble a shrine to Buddha and gold leaf a Buddha.  Eric & Jeremy being the first team there decided to do Alter It.  It turned out to be a tedious task and not one that could be completed quickly.  But with both members of the team working on it helped move the process along.  Ray & Yolanda also did Alter It.  MoJo arriving at the garden and seeing the other two teams doing the Alter It task decided to do the Move It task.  Their first trip to the ship was hard and slow and when Joseph asked a local for help to the ship the local said it was too far and refused.  But they were able to transport a goodly amount on the initial trip and it was during the 2^nd trip that things started to unravel.  Monica dropped all but 2 of her pots and melted into a puddle of tears.  Joseph told her to suck it up and keep going.  They had to make 3 trips to the ship in order to deliver the correct amount of pots. 

 

After completing the detour each team got their clue directing them to the Pit Stop at the Marble Temple and Eric & Jeremy made it over there to capture 2^nd place and a spot in the final 3 to compete for the Million Dollar prize.  The battle was on for Ray & Yolanda and MoJo.  Ray & Yolanda were able to arrive there 3^rd and earned the last spot in the final 3 and MoJo was ELIMINATED!

 

I’m wondering how much of a head start the Fast Forward will give the hippies?  It may be enough to keep them in 1^st place throughout the race or it could be that the ingestion of the insects was a very time consuming task.  But all I know is I am very anxious to see who wins but dreading the finale.  It has been a fun race and it has almost wiped out the Family Race from my memory. 

 

 

The hippies are hanging on by the hair on their chinny-chin-chins.  Coming up short in a 3-way footrace to the pitstop caused them to lose all their worldly goods – AGAIN.  ‘Nuff about that now and let’s start at the beginning of this leg.

 

Leaving first from the Freemantle Sailing Club Eric & Jeremy left at 11:47pm to go to the Swan Bells Tower across town.¬† They were only separated from last place Ray & Yolanda by ¬? hour.¬† So all teams were all tightly bunched and the Swan Bells Tower did not open until 8am.¬† While waiting for the Swan Bells to open BJ & Tyler, smarting over the cold shoulder offered by the frat boys and MoJo, started noticing the growing friendliness between Eric and Monica and decided to start sowing seeds of dissension between Joseph & Monica.¬† They are hoping that Joseph would allow it to sink in and cause him to be not too focused on the race but on his girlfriend and Eric.¬† Time will tell if that strategy pays off.¬† Everyone hunkered down for the night and was waiting for 8am to grab their next clue.¬† Before the building opened Ray & Yolanda and the hippies called and arranged for taxis to be waiting.¬† Eric & Jeremy observing this called for a taxi for themselves and MoJo and cancelled the taxis for Ray & Yolanda and BJ & Tyler.¬† This is not something that I liked and thought it was rather nasty of the frat boys to stoop so low, but karma is a funny thing and it came back to bite them in the butt.¬† MoJo were able to grab their waiting cab but the frat boys‚Äô cab did not come and they were stuck trying to find a cab and watching while Ray & Yolanda and the hippies realize their cabs weren‚Äôt coming and arrange for transportation and blaming it on MoJo since they were the only ones who had a cab.¬† Everyone was racing to get to Darwin.

 

They were all to fly to Darwin to go to a crocodile farm for their clue.  The taxi cab shenanigans really didn’t have much of an effect on the race since all the teams were able to get to the airport and get on the same flight to Darwin.  While waiting for the flight BJ & Tyler took the opportunity to launch their plan, they commented on the vibrations between Eric & Monica.  Eric laughed it off and Monica & Joseph got pissed.  But it may lodge itself in Joseph’s brain and come up later while they’re fighting.  The crocodile farm was intimidating.  They were all to wade into crocodile pools to get a clue which sent them onto the Roadblock.

 

The Roadblock was for them to go to an airfield in the town of Batchelor.  Knowing the yield was coming up and BJ & Tyler getting out first to Batchelor, MoJo passed BJ driving and actually arrived at the airfield first but the hippies were quicker out of the car and beat them to the mat and made good on their promise to Yield Monica & Joseph, which made Monica cry and Joseph to get angry.  The Roadblock entailed one member of each team to skydive in tandem from 1200 ft.  BJ, Ray & Eric did the jump and while Jeremy and Yolanda were waiting for their teammates and Jeremy took the opportunity to hit on Yolanda.  Yolanda looked kinda stunned but did not try flirting back or comment on it.  I think my frat boys are a couple of horn dogs.  BJ & Tyler after completing the roadblock had to pass by MoJo and tried to apologize but MoJo was not having it.  Joseph threatened them.  

 

After landing each team got their clue and proceeded to the next clue which was at a Litchfield National Park and find the Magnetic Termite Mounds.  Each team made its way over there to retrieve their next clue.  The clue was a Detour and it consisted of two tasks.  One being called Wet.  Wet had the teams drive 6 miles to a spot where both team members were to hike and swim down a river for a mile.  The river had large spiders and poisonous plants.  The hippies and the frat boys did this detour.  They found it was a lot harder than anticipated and soon found that a mile was farther than thought. 

 

The Dry one was the teams had to drive 6 miles on the road and 6 miles off the road.  They came to a spot where they had to pick a didgeridoo, (an aboriginal flute-like horn thing), and follow the sounds to an aboriginal native and compare the designs on the instrument to find the player that matched their instrument. Once they located the right aborigine he then had to teach each of teams to play the didgeridoo.   MoJo and Ray & Yolanda did this and it proved to be quicker than the Wet task.  Ray & Yolanda were able to master it and got their next clue which directed them to the Pitstop at Lake Bennett.  Ray & Yolanda for the very first time were able to get to the Pitstop first.  They were followed by 3 way race to the finish.  The frat boys came in second and MoJo claimed third with BJ & Tyler coming in last.   They would have come in 2^nd but BJ running in bare feet fell coming down into a ditch which allowed MoJo to scoot on in there.  The hippies, thankfully, were not eliminated but had their recently acquired goods taken from them and they have to start over.  But BJ, at the close of the episode, commented on the true hippie lifestyle, they don’t need things, everything they need is within themselves. 

 

So my disappointment in the frat boys is there but I was happy to see that they were bitten by the “what goes around comes around” adage.  I haven’t given up on them yet, but they have fallen from grace to 3^rd place in my estimation.  But I will be looking for redemption from them and hopefully they will come through and compete at an honest level and not an underhanded, sneaky way.  But this season is unfurling in an exciting way and I can’t wait to see the finish, but with that comes the end of the season and I have to await the next installation.  

 

Well, well, well, Fran & Barry didn’t last long at the top and at least they finished first on one leg and got a prize but their winning didn’t help them on this leg.  They quickly fell to the back of the pack and were eventually eliminated.  Even the good karma they generated at the start of this leg was not enough to overcome the inevitable.  They generously left $20 to BJ & Tyler and Ray & Yolanda left money too.  Monica & Joseph ridiculed the hippies plea for cash and laughed at their predicament.  Eric & Jeremy left a $100 I.O.U.

 
Fran & Barry’s day started at 5:30pm and their only big lead was against the hippies who had an 8:21pm start and the rest of the teams were bunched between 5:35pm to 6:45pm.   The clue had the teams get to the airport in Muscat and hop on a flight to Perth, Australia.  All the teams got held up due to a traffic jam, they were told it was the king’s motorcade that was stopping the traffic.  After waiting for traffic to clear they got to the airport and were able to board the same flight to Perth.  Everyone was commenting on the fact the hippies would not be able to make the flight and team MoJo was gloating and exclaiming how much they hate the hippies.  Meanwhile back at the ranch, BJ & Tyler got their clue and dashed to their vehicle where they discovered the money from Fran & Barry and Ray & Yolanda and the I.O.U. from Eric & Jeremy.  They also had a reiterated their goal of yielding MoJo when the opportunity arises.  On their way to the airport they stopped to pick up a hitchhiker, who turned out to be a Bedouin, of whom they immediately felt a kinship.  They stopped for gas and their hitchhiker helped them and bought them food from the gas station store.  They left him there after expressing their thanks and good wishes to him.  They got to the airport and were able to secure seats on the same flight that the other teams were on.  They got on the plane at the last minute and surprised everyone and pissed off MoJo.  They took the opportunity to solicit cash from the other passengers and were able to beg $300 US dollars, not bad. 

 
Upon arriving in Perth they were to take a cab to a park to get their next clue.  Everyone was able to do that and the clue had them go to Freemantle and catch a ferry to the island of Rottnest.  They all arrived at night and the ferry had stopped the runs for the day and would start again in the morning.  Everyone retired for the night and all were on the first ferry to Rottnest.  Upon disembarking in Rottnest they had to climb on tandem bikes and bike 3 miles to a lighthouse to get their next clue.  Eric & Jeremy, Monica & Joseph were the first teams to the lighthouse and got their clue which was a Detour. 

 
The Detour was divided into 2 tasks.  The first being Sand, which had the teams dragging heavy branches across the sand which the locals called “brushing the beach”, it detours erosion. They then pile the branches in another pile and get their clue.   The second task was Sea.  In Sea the teams had to dive in the ocean and locate some crayfish traps and bring up 2 crayfish and take them to the monitor and get their clue.  Eric & Jeremy were the first to arrive at the beach and chose to do Sea.  They quickly changed into provided bathing attire and located their crayfish and deposited them with the monitor who gave them their next clue.  The hippies, arriving shortly after Eric & Jeremy, chose to do sand.  It was harder than they anticipated but they were able to complete the task and get their next clue.  Fran & Barry decided to do the Sand task, found it difficult but completed it nonetheless.  MoJo arrived and decided on the Sea task.  After changing and charging in the water Joseph was able to find a crayfish, but wah-wah Monica was scared and did not get a crayfish as quickly.  After a lecture from Joseph, Monica got it together and grabbed a crayfish and they too got their next clue.  Ray & Yolanda arrived and they decided to do the Sand task. 

 
The next clue had the teams going back into Freemantle and trying to find the Freemantle prison, which meant the teams had to reboard the ferry.  Eric & Jeremy, for completing the Detour so quickly, were the only team to get on the earlier ferry.  The hippies arriving just after the ferry left grabbed the next ferry to Hilary and found out it docked not far from Freemantle.  The rest of the teams were able to make later ferry departures.  Once Eric & Jeremy found the prison they got their clue.  This clue was a Roadblock.

 
The Roadblock had one member of the team going into the deserted prison and finding a flashlight and some batteries in a designated section.  From there they were to find the entrance to the tunnels that ran beneath the prison and look for the next clue.  My son said this was the hardest of the Roadblocks so far.  It was difficult in the fact that things weren’t labeled very clearly which had the teams running around inside the complex searching to complete task.  Eric & Jeremy being the first team to arrive at the prison, Jeremy had the luxury of trying to complete the tasks without the other teams witnessing where he went.  He found the flashlight rather quickly but took a long time locating the entrance to the tunnels.  He finally found it after some of the other teams arrived on the scene.  Once he got into the tunnels he did not find the next clue quickly.  He went through one side of the tunnels, the wet side, and then came round and went to the dry side and was able to find the next clue.  He promptly exited the tunnels and found Eric and went onto the Pitstop.  The other teams had a bit of trouble finding the entrance to the tunnels but once they found that it seemed they found the clues faster.  Eric & Jeremy saw a cab but MoJo had reserved it and they were kicking themselves because they realized that MoJo has the potential of passing them and getting to the Pitstop before them.  They ran most of the way and beat MoJo in a footrace to the destination. 

 
The Pitstop was at the Sailing Club and after the close race between the frat boys and MoJo, the hippies were able to come in 3^rd for this leg.  They were followed by Ray & Yolanda that meant that Fran & Barry were eliminated this leg for finishing last.  They got a little emotional but were gracious losers.  They really did better than I anticipated but this race is more for the younger fit teams.  There is too much running around, weird hours and stress for older or even less fit teams to endure.  I am hoping that MoJo gets eliminated soon.  I don’t like them and I hope that the hippies are successful in Yielding them.  If MoJo gets eliminated and the frat boys, hippies and Ray & Yolanda are left – I wouldn’t mind who won, I like them all. 

This leg ended in more of an inverted pyramid; first was last and last was first.¬† This will be better explained as you read further.¬† Eric & Jeremy started out first, they had about a 4¬? hour head start on the second team of Monica & Joseph.¬† They were followed by Ray & Yolanda, who were having some relationship strife, and Fran & Barry.¬† They were all supposed to take a bus to the airport and catch a flight to Muskat, Oman.¬† Everyone made the 9am bus to the airport but the hippies, BJ & Tyler.¬† They had to catch the 10am bus and got to the airport after everyone else and were not included in the group travel plans.¬† They seemed a bit miffed and made their own accommodations and arrived in Muskat an hour after the rest.¬†

 
Once arriving in Muskat they were to find the Giant Incense Burner and from there they would have to drive to a fishing town called Sur.  It was during this trip they encountered flooding conditions.  There was a local man there that showed them the way through one flooded area and then they started to stack up when they encountered the second flood area.  MoJo was in the lead followed by the hippies.  Ray & Yolanda were lost and fast losing it with one another.  Fran & Barry due to their age, lagged behind running up to the Incense Burner which put them behind the pack.  Eric & Jeremy came upon MoJo and the hippies idling by the 2^nd flood site.  They decided to bust on through the water and see what happens.  MoJo and the hippies soon followed without incidence.  Monica got a little snarky, commenting that the frat boys jumped the line, like they weren’t sitting there waiting for the hippies to plow through the water so they could follow.  Once they got to Sur they found the ferry crossing to get their next clue, which was a Detour.

 
The Detour was located in a city called Baith Al Battha.   The Detour consisted to two tasks, Camel or Watchtower.  In Camel the teams were to use a block and tackle system in which to hoist a camel onto the back of the truck and then take it to a Bedouin to get their next clue.   Eric & Jeremy decided to do the camel and loaded the camel into the back of the truck but they unfortunately got lost using the map to locate the Bedouin at his camp.   This turned their task into a time consuming feat and dropped them into the back of the pack.  Meanwhile, Monica & Joseph opted to do the Watchtower which sent the teams to check these watchtowers to find a message box and if they found a message box they were to take it to a man in a silver shop in the town.   MoJo ran to the first tower cutting BJ & Tyler, Fran & Barry off which forced them to try the other towers.  MoJo’s tower did not have a message so they changed course and did the camel hoist.  BJ & Tyler and Fran & Barry were able to find message boxes and found the silver smith and got their next clue directing them to a village called Al Hawiyah.  Monica & Joseph got their camel loaded and delivered to the Bedouin without mishap and Eric & Jeremy were still driving in the desert in search of their missing Bedouin which they managed to find after backtracking.  

 
Al Hawiyah was a Roadblock, which only allowed one member of the team to participate.  This Roadblock was called the Dig.   The member was to dig through 117 sand piles in search of this local dish called shuwas – and to add to its difficulty there were only six of these shuwas and 117 sand piles.   These shuwas were going to be their evening meal – so not only were they digging to stay alive they were also digging for their dinner.  It was slow going and though Barry located a shuwa first his hole collapsed making more digging necessary.  In that time Monica unearthed a shuwa and ran and got their clue for the pitstop.  Barry managed to extricate his shuwa from the ground and got his clue and he and Fran were on their way.  Eric found one too and he and Jeremy were on their way to the pitstop too.  BJ was still there seeing people pull these things from the piles and he was getting discouraged and hot and Tyler was trying to encourage him but it only irritated BJ further.  But Tyler backed off and then continued trying to bolster BJ’s flagging spirit.  Ray & Yolanda showed up and Yolanda found a shuwa and BJ was still there.  He managed to finally find one and he and Tyler were on their way to the pitstop, Jabeen Castle, 150 miles away. 

 
Though MoJo found the first shuwa they needed to ask for directions and it enabled Fran & Barry to slide into first place by arriving at the pitstop before them.  Monica & Joseph arrived 2^nd with Ray and Yolanda snagging 3^rd place because Eric & Jeremy took a wrong turn and then tried to do a shortcut which only shortened their lead over Ray & Yolanda to nothing and had them coming in 4^th place.  BJ & Tyler sure they were out of the race finally got to the pitstop and Phil informed them they were the last team to check in BUT it was not an elimination leg.  So they got a reprieve but they lost all their cash and possessions, but being the true hippies that they are they were philosophical in the loss of their possessions and ready cash.  They will do well and they still have their happy go lucky attitude. 

 
What’s kinda scary to me is the deterioration of Ray & Yolanda, their relationship.  It seems to be full of sniping at each other.  It appears to be that they are pulling it together to make it through the race, but I’m sure the animosity will start affecting them, eventually.   And Monica & Joseph, if that girl does not stop acting like a baby – I may bust through the tv & pull a Cher on her.  (You know – from Moonstruck – when she slaps Nicolas Cage & tells him to “Snap out of it!”).  This might be a deal breaker for Joseph – if he is looking at the long term for their relationship.  Too whiny and needy.  Frank & Barry did very well this leg.  They were able to navigate and utilize the locals for information, very well played and a very much needed boost to a team that felt it was just hanging on.  Eric & Jeremy- my cute boy team.  Whoa Nelly – I thought they might have been doomed on this day of directionless navigating, but they lucked out that BJ & Tyler were having an even worse day.  So it’s a new race on the next leg and let’s see if the former top runners can rise to the top again.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I’m playing the lotto this weekend and I think I may have a good shot at winning something! I am just so excited that Lake is gone – I can hardly stand it. Mister-Shirk-the-Blame, Mister-Intensity, Mister-Bad-Mouth-Spouse’s-Mistakes-While-Not-Doing-Anything-to-Contribute, I can go on, so I will stop. But needless to say – I am static (a Mike Tyson saying from an old TV show called “In Living Color”).

Anyway, this leg started off with Eric & Jeremy, the frat boys, leaving first and then BJ & Tyler, the hippies. They had about one hour jump on the other teams leaving for the train station. As happens at least once on each leg airports, attractions, transportation seem to cause the teams to bunch waiting for things to become available and that is what happened here. All the teams were able to board the 8am train to Rome where they were to look for the Trevi Fountain where there was a man on a scooter to give them their next clue. Upon arriving in Rome Eric & Jeremy and Monica & Joseph opted for a cab whereas the rest of the teams decided to go by metro. The cabs proved to be quicker and Eric & Jeremy and Monica & Joseph found the guy on the scooter and moved on to the rest of the task which was to find the Spanish steps and find a carriage with a portfolio folder in it and they were to match up their clue from the scooter guy and the one from the carriage and “crack the code”. It was a tie-in to the Da Vinci Code movie, of which Eric & Jeremy gets to walk down the red carpet at the premiere, that was the prize for “cracking the code”. The rest of the teams found the scooter guy and the Spanish Steps with no problem and everyone moved onto the next destination, Athens, Greece.

All the teams bunched again, this time at the airport waiting to fly to Athens. They all landed and believe it or not Barry & Fran were the first out. Their lead didn’t last due to the fact that the place there were to go to, Agora, was closed and wouldn’t open until 8am the next morning. Monica took the opportunity to voice her awe at being at the place where thinking began and all the great philosophers lived. Obviously thinking is not a strong point of her’s. Enough with my cattiness, moving along to the race.

The Fast Forward was introduced this race. It was the first of the two that will be available this race. Eric & Jeremy, Monica & Joseph, and Fran & Barry all tried for the Fast Forward. The task to claim the Fast Forward was to go to a local restaurant and smash plates in the time honored tradition of the Greeks. The first team to find the Amazing Race red and yellow flag baked into the dishes can claim the Fast Forward. Eric & Jeremy found it and made their way to the pit stop. Monica & Joseph and Fran & Barry had to go back and go to Corinth and join the rest of the teams looking for the Isthmos Station to get the next clue.

The clue had them going by train to Corinth. Joseph took the opportunity to tell Monica to suck it up and don’t be so negative. She was crying because they didn’t get the fast forward and lost time.

At the Isthmos Station they found out they had to do a Roadblock and it was bungee jumping. Most of the teams had no problems – but Fran did not want to bungee jump and was very scared. Monica tried to boost her up but Fran was petrified. But she finally overcame her fear enough to jump. She did it and appeared not to be too worse for wear. From the bungee jumping the teams got a clue to go to a Detour.

The Detour had them choosing between two tasks. The first task involved doing a mini-Olympics. One team member had to throw the discus a predetermined distance and it was the same with the javelin and then both team members had to wrestle a wrestler out of the ring. Ray & Yolanda did the mini-Olympics. Yolanda did the discus and after a couple of tosses got it to the mark but Ray had some trouble throwing the javelin. Joe came and finished before Ray did in javelin throwing. Neither team had problems wrestling the wrestler. It was here that BJ & Tyler made a HUGE screw-up. They drove an hour in the wrong direction and then had to drive an hour back and then onto the Roadblock. They were so upset at this and I thought they might be done. But if you had read my first line you know they didn’t get eliminated. The opted to do the mini-Olympics and got through the three tasks and made their way to the pit stop.

The second task to choose from was “It’s all Greek to me”. In this task they were to pick up 9 pottery shard pieces which had a letter on it and try to decipher, with the help of some locals, the letters the Greek letters stood for and then on a map figure out what city the letters spelled. Fran & Barry and Lake & Michelle did this task and got frustrated because it was harder than they anticipated. But they managed to figure out the city and got the clue to the pit stop. It was here that Barry backed into a tree and shattered the back window and smashed in the bumper of their vehicle.

Eric & Jeremy had won the Fast Forward and were already at the pit stop. Ray & Yolanda came in 2^nd and since they did not follow the directions on one of the tasks were penalized 15minutes, while they were waiting for their 15minute penalty to run out Monica & Joseph arrived and were able to check in for 2^nd place and Ray & Yolanda got 3^rd place. Fran & Barry arrived and took 4^th place. BJ & Tyler being 2 hours behind were pretty certain they got eliminated, but much to their surprise and mine – they placed 5^th even after their 15minute penalty. Lake & Michelle came in 6^th and were eliminated. If I could have traveled back in time and through a television I would have loved to say that. But I will just enjoy the moment.

Lake & Michelle were really at odds this leg. She got mad at him for saying “Damn it” to her instead of getting mad at him for calling her a “Bitch”. But they had to stop while he collected himself – he was stressing too much. I’m just glad they weren’t much of a threat to winning or else I would have been subjected to them more. But they are gone and now to enjoy the rest of the race. I’m really surprised that pretty much all the legs have been elimination legs. I think I remember there being more non-elimination legs and the teams had to beg for money. I don’t agree with that scenario, I thought it was a bit harsh. But the race is tightening and getting close to the end, only 5 more teams left out of the 11.

Beautiful scenery and history ‚Äì can it get any better for the racers?¬† I would love to be there racing.¬† But anyway ‚Äì enough of my traveling desires and get to the race.¬† BJ & Tyler, the hippies, had about an 1 ¬? hour jump on Eric & Jeremy, frat boys, but it did not matter since the amphitheater ruin they were to visit in Sicily didn‚Äôt open until later in the morning.¬† Jeremy & Eric caught up with them there.¬† Since I have been writing my perspective on the race I‚Äôve noticed that I gravitate towards the teams that have fun and are able to complete the tasks without too much emotion or intensity.¬† That being said, BJ & Tyler have goofed their way onto my favs list.¬†¬† I would not be upset if the frat boys or the hippies win.¬† I like them both.¬† I especially enjoyed the little prank that the hippies pulled at the gate to the amphitheater.¬† They set up a sign up sheet in case the other teams were able to catch up they might be able to fool them into thinking there is an order to entering the site.¬† And not that they really expected that the other teams would fall in line they thought it might be fun to see what happens.¬†

 
Anyway – the task there was fairly easy, count the number heads mounted on a fence surrounding the amphitheater.  Once they give the groundskeeper the correct count after having to search for him inside the site, he gives them the next clue.  The hippies and frat boys completed this without any problems and moved onto the Detour. 

 
Fran & Barry, being the 4^th team out, got lost in the city looking for the site and were starting the panic but they were able to find their way there and count the correct number of heads to get their clue to go the fish market.  Lake & Michelle and Monica & Joseph also got the correct count and proceeded to the fish market.  Ray & Yolanda and Dave & Lori got caught in morning traffic and made it to the amphitheater but with the added pressure of getting further behind on time.  They both got the correct count and went onto the fish market. 

 
The Detour was in Catania and it involved the teams having a choice between 2 tasks called Big Fish and Little Fish.  In Big Fish, of which most teams did, the teams had to pick up a 32 lb swordfish each and carry it through the streets to the fish market to a particular fish vendor, the distance was about 1/3 of a mile.   Eric, frat boys, said it felt like he was carrying a wet cat and Jeremy said it was throwing up on him.  He had fish juice & blood trailing down his arm, yuck!  But they were able to find the fish market and the right fish vendor and got their clue to the next destination, a Roadblock.   BJ & Tyler had similar success.  Fran & Barry were realistic about their physical limitations and opted to do Little fish which had them sell 4 kilos of a little Italian fish.  They were selling the same time that MoJo, Monica & Joseph, were hauling the fish through the town to the fish market.  They were still selling when Joseph & Monica couldn’t find the vendor and Monica had a melt-down.  She started crying the fish smelled, she couldn’t carry it anymore, the fish was bleeding on her, wah-wah-wah.   Joseph, in the meantime, was getting irritated with not being able to find the vendor and then having to listen to Monica rant – he was not a happy camper and was snapping at her.   They finally found someone who could point them in the direction of the fish vendor and got their clue.  Barry & Fran wrapped up their sales and also got their clue.   Dave & Lori and Ray & Yolanda also had little problems completing the task and were soon on their way to Siracusa, to the Roadblock, where the rest of the teams had headed.

Siracusa, a costal town was the site of the Roadblock.  It had one member of each team get in a kayak and play a local game akin to kayak polo.  The frat boys and the hippies sailed through their task and went on to the pitstop with the frat boys coming in 1^st and the hippies coming in 2^nd.  Joseph had no problem making a basket/goal and team MoJo went on to place 3^rd.  Fran & Barry had a bit of problem.  Barry did the roadblock and he had some problems trying to shoot the ball into the basket/goal, but he finally made it and they made their way to the pitstop and came in 4^th.  Mr. Intensity & Michelle came and there was some debate as to whom would do the task, it was agreed that Michelle would perform.  Lake was on the sidelines second-guessing her efforts but she finally made a basket and they went on to 5^th place at the pitstop.  Ray & Yolanda came and Ray said he would do it, but he initially had some problems navigating the kayak, he dumped himself into the water.  But he quickly righted himself and made what I would call “a half-court shot”, very nice.   They went to the pitstop and came in 6^th.   Dave & Lori did well and came in last at the pitstop and were eliminated.  So much for the Nerd Power.  But I must say they gave it a good shot and but came up short.  Dave got emotional and proclaimed his undying love to Lori and both went out graciously with Dave giving his version of a Nerd Power sign. 

 
I must say the contestants are thinning out and the competition intensity is ratcheting up.  Who will get eliminated next week?   I’m thinking Fran & Barry, they are doing well, but I don’t believe they have the skills to compete to the end. Barry gets frustrated too quickly and some of these tasks the teams are asked to perform have 2 levels.  One,  a more intense/physical task but if done right can be done quickly and the second level,  a somewhat less physical task but it could take considerably longer to complete.  With Fran & Barry’s limitations I think they are destined to be eliminated before the finale.  If all the stars are in alignment and I don’t step on any cracks between now and Wednesday, maybe I will get my fondest desire and see Lake & Michelle given the boot.  It’s dreams like these that make it easy to get up in the morning.  ;->

 
 
This leg opened with the racers leaving early in the morning from Munich and driving to the airport to catch a flight to Palermo, Italy.  Eric & Jeremy, being the 1^st team to check in at the pitstop left 12 hours later at 2:15 am.  As in past races, the airport is a big equalizer and BJ & Tyler and Lake & Michelle caught up with them while they had to wait for the Al Italia airline offices to open.  The frat boys and the hippies indulged in a spirited game of balancing on 2 wheels in wheelchairs in the airport terminal.  Lake & Michelle very astutely decided there must be a workaround and went and found some computers with internet connections.  BJ & Tyler seeing the value of this abandoned the game and were able to secure the last 2 seats on the first flight out, due primarily to their language skills, which put them permanently in the lead for the entire leg.   Lake & Michelle booked a flight but it turned out maybe not the soonest flight in comparison to the other racers.  Michelle was stymied by the language barrier, of which Lake, Mr. Intensity, never let her forget how she let the hippies beat them to the punch.  Eric & Jeremy once Al Italia opened were able to get a flight out second to BJ & Tyler, which like the hippies, allowed the frat boys to stay a steady 2^nd place throughout this leg. 

 
Mr. Intensity & wife were still at the airport when the rest of the teams started coming in, and they had gotten at the least a 2 hour lead on the some of the other teams which drove Lake crazy.  He kept trying to blame Michelle for their delay in getting to Italy.  I am finding when I think he can’t hit any more lows – he sure does.  It is easy to assess blame when that person doesn’t do anything to help.  But anyway – all the teams made it to Palermo, Sicily and went to the Teatro Massmimo to get the 1^st clue.  This clue sent them to a detour.

 
The detour had the racers checking some 2400 pieces of laundry hanging across an alley strung from balconies for the Amazing Race tag or hauling a  100+ lb. church bell up some stairs to a church.  BJ & Tyler and Eric & Jeremy both did the laundry and were successful in locating the sought for piece of laundry.  Their quick exit from the task allowed them to get a jump on the rest of the racers to the next task, which was a roadblock.  The next set of teams to come through, Barry & Fran, Lake & Michelle and Monica & Joseph, 2 of them did the laundry task and Monica & Joseph, MoJo did the church bell task.  Monica was not up to helping Joseph haul the bell so he muscled it onto this minitruck and drove to the church and hefted it up the stairs to the church to grab the next clue to the roadblock.  Monica, who has been mostly seen and not heard in the last couple of weeks popped off at the start of the hour with her strategy of not showing how intelligent she is and allowing the others to assume she is a dumb blond and then the editors with a strong sense of irony included the clip of Monica asking for a flight to PAL-er-Mo, Italy, instead of Pa-LER-mo, Italy, and even correcting Joseph on his pronunciation.  Evidently she endeared herself to the production staff. (and I don’t mean endeared in the literal sense, but sarcastically – and I thought I would let you know because sarcasm does not convey well in the written form).

 
Barry & Fran and Lake & Michelle did the laundry task and were able to find the tagged piece of clothing fairly quickly.   The next set of teams to come were Dave & Lori and Dani & Danielle.   They struggled with the finding some marked clothing.  But after a bit of time they found it and were on their way.  It was at this juncture that the Dave & Lori team started showing cracks.  The frustration of searching for some clothing and not finding it caused them to snap at each other.  Pressure is appearing to mount and they are not handling it well.  Ray & Yolanda chose the church bell task.  Ray muscled the bell solo too. 

 
The roadblock was at this ancient city called Segesta at the archeological area, where ruins are located.  One member of each team was to assemble a statue and unbeknownst to them there were to be two extra pieces left over.  Most teams assembled the statue and didn’t try to fit the extra pieces and were awarded the next clue to the location of the pitstop.  Lori, of Dave & Lori fame, was the assembler for this task and was trying over and over again to fit in the extra pieces even going so far as to disassemble what she had constructed.  Both Dave and Lori were frustrated and Lori did start caving in to helplessness and started to get emotional.   But she decided to put the statue back together and see if it passed inspection.  She passed and they were on their way to the pitstop.  And then at the pitstop – Dave broke down and was so upset over the emotions that they exhibited to each other and was very remorseful.   Dani and Danielle upon getting to the roadblock were Yielded by Lake & Michelle and were angry and tearful over this setback for them.   They could hear the elimination knell ringing over them.  After the sand ran out of the hourglass they hotfooted it over to the statues where Dani started assembling.   Ray & Yolanda arrived to do their task and Ray finished assembling his statue before Dani.  She had constructed the leg wrong and was rejected and had to fix it.  This extra time allowed Ray & Yolanda to finish and go onto the pitstop before them and they got eliminated.  It was very lucky for Ray & Yolanda that Lake & Michelle yielded the girls. It allowed their lousy sense of direction to not make much of an impact on them other than put them in the back of the pack. 

 
Dani & Danielle got eliminated this week, and it was anti-climatic.  It seems when they had that big brain fart in Russia where Dani left the clue at the swimming center the air was let out of their balloon.  They never recovered from that event, it was a brutal tailspin.  But they were eliminated and the Yield from Mr. Intensity didn’t help, it might have gotten Ray & Yolanda eliminated this leg if they hadn’t been yielded.  But the girls are gone and I’m wondering if this will be talked about by the frat boys.  This might all be a tv romance but if not – will they confront Lake & Michelle?  Will the girls get a chance to say goodbye?  We will see on Tuesday night. 

What a let down!  All psyched to end the day of racing just to find out the race is still on and they have to leave Russia and fly to Frankfurt.  Eric & Jeremy, being the first, were able to get to the airport and board the Lufthansa flight that left immediately.   Mr. Intensity, Lake & Michelle, were hot on their heels but could not get on their flight to Frankfurt and had to fly Aeroflot along with BJ & Tyler, the hippies.  These three teams were able to get out of Russia that night instead of in the morning like the rest of the teams. 

 
Ray & Yolanda got close but the computers went down and they had to wait until the next morning to fly out to Frankfurt.  The rest of the groups flew out in the morning to Frankfurt.  Upon landing in Frankfurt they took cabs to the Mercedes-Benz factory and everyone was able to able to ride in a Mercedes-Benz on their vertical wall test track.  I actually thought that was a bit weak   How much skill does it take to be a passenger in a vehicle?   Anyway – everyone made it through that with flying colors.  Their next destination was a roadblock.

 
Again – Dani & Danielle are not playing it smart, they need to stand alone and not be so reliant on others to think for them.  They followed mom and daughter, Wanda & Desiree,  to the roadblock but mom and daughter got lost and had to stop and figure out where to go, they did this more than once.  They wasted valuable time following them instead of figuring out where it was.  Girls – pull your heads out and get into the game!

 
The roadblock was not hard at all.  They had to search a field for the Travelocity gnomes that were hidden underground underneath gnome hats or gnome feet.  For the trailing teams it was a bit frustrating since the earlier teams had found the closest gnomes.  But Desiree got frustrated and looked like she wanted to quit because she was not finding a gnome, but she did and they were on their way at that time in last place.  

 
The next stop was a detour and the teams had to break bottles over each other’s heads only when a cuckoo clock chimed and look for a label that said prost, it means cheers in German or learn an intricate German folk slap dancing routine.  Jeremy & Eric opted to do the bottles.  They took turns breaking the bottles and managed to flirt with, whom they called “The Pauli Girl”.  Once they found the right label they got a kiss from her, grabbed their clue and went to the pitstop.  BJ & Tyler did the bottles too.  They were able to talk to the girl in German, impressive.   Lake and Michelle did the bottles too.  Fran & Barry started doing the bottles but ended up switching to the slap dancing.  Ray & Yolanda abandoned the bottles too and slapped danced their way to the pitstop, as well as Monica & Joseph.  Dave & Lori did the bottles and found the prost label quickly.  The rest of the teams did the slap dance.

 
The pitstop was at this place called the Siegestor, it is a monument to peace.  Anyway – that was the final destination for that leg of racing.  Eric & Jeremy came in first, toting their gnome and were rewarded with a trip.  They were followed by BJ & Tyler who made a comment about the local greeter being Santa.  Cute.  Next came Lake & Michelle, Fran & Barry, Dave & Lori, Monica & Joseph, Ray & Yolanda, Dani & Danielle.  The last team to check in was Wanda & Desiree, who were eliminated.  I liked the daughter, I thought the mom was too overtop on her reactions. 

 
Eric & Jeremy are endearing themselves to me weekly, dunno if it‚Äôs because of their cuteness or their personalities or both.¬† In some spots it showed them being concerned for the girls and missing them, nice touch.¬† But it could have been a tv produced moment, who knows, but it worked for me.¬† BJ & Tyler, I still like their antics and their free-wheeling style, I’m getting used to them.¬† Lake & Michelle are starting to come around, I don‚Äôt know if it was editing, but he didn‚Äôt seem as big an asshole as previous weeks.¬† Dave & Lori are starting to come into their own.¬† They at one point played dumb as to where a location was because they realized that they are all in competition with one another.¬† Good for them!¬† MoJo ‚Äì sliding under the radar, very quiet these past 2 weeks.¬† Ray & Yolanda had a tough break in Russia losing out on flying that night and having to fly in the morning due to the computers going down.¬† Dani & Danielle better straighten up and take charge of their race.¬†