Last night was the start of the 16th installment of the Amazing Race and it started fast and furious, as usual. The 11 team are:
Brent & Caite – she is the notorious Miss Teen South Carolina who we’ve all see on YouTube talking about how most people in the USA don’t have maps, and “some that such as the Iraq.” She knows people think she is ignorant and wants to change people’s minds about her.
Jet & Cord – Professional cowboys and brother know they may face thins on the race that are unnerving but so’s riding a bull.
Steve & Allie – Father and daughter – he’s a professional baseball coach who won the World Series with the Phillies.
Dan & Jordan – brothers from Rhode Island, Jordan is gay, Dan is not.
Adrian & Dana – High School sweethearts married 18years – they’ve learned from adversity when they lost all their savings in a failed business.
Jordan & Jeff – Dating long distance since they met on Big Brother – she (Jordan) won, and apparently doesn’t know how to tell time by a clock (oh boy.)
Jody & Shannon – Grandmother and grand-daughter – both tri-athletes – Jody is 71 and wants to show what a former couch potato can do.
Louie & Michael – Police detectives, used to dealing with the unexpected in police work – don’t want to be cocky but Michael sees themselves winning every leg.
Shawne & Monique – Attorneys and mothers – think they have the skills, emotional stability and determination to win for sure.
Joe & Heidi – Married parents – Joe is confrontational – he knows he’s going to be the problem child in this thing.
Carol & Brandy – Dating female couple – If the clue is to find the closest Louis Vuitton they’ll win for sure – Carol is a bit of a princess but Brandy is also far from low maintenance. (Oh great, this is my team, get your heads in the game.)
They are starting out from a park in Los Angeles – Phil tells them they have to use public transit to get to the airport from wherever they are – only the first 3 teams to the airport will get on the first flight out to wherever they’re going – the rest will leave an hour later. First team to cross the finish line after 12 legs will win One Million Dollars!
GO! They race to their packs and the clue tells them they are heading to Santiago, Chile.
Brandy & Carol – (Are from LA) “Who uses public transit in LA?” For them public transit is not using the valet service. (Oh come on! I’m rolling my eyes.)
All the teams are running willy-nilly through the streets. A couple teams ask for directions and head to union station to get the flyaway bus to the airport. A few other teams head to the metro station to take the subway/train to the airport.
-Brent & Caite are waiting at a bus stop when Dan & Jordan run by them across the street – Jordan was so excited to see her – he yells that he loves her – interview later Dan gets Jordan to do his impression of her famous speech – It was high-larious… and mean (haha.)
-Grandma is kicking the detectives’ butts – You go Granny! – Louie’s slowed to a walk.
-Joe knows the area and heads down to the metro – about 4 teams get the first train – a couple more teams miss is and have about a 20min wait.
-Jordan & Jeff are on the bus with 3 other teams. Jordan – “Where are we going? Guatemala? China?” (OMG, she should have stayed locked in the Big Brother house I think.)
-The bus gets to the airport first and the 4 teams run off the bus – Shawne & Monique are the first to the counter, Jordan right behind them and asks for tickets to China (shaking my head), Adrian & Dana are the third team to the counter which means Carol & Brandy were 4th – the first team on the second plane (Jeez… come on ladies.)
-The rest of the teams arrive and are disappointed to be on the 2nd flight – Joe was shocked, he was sure they’d be first. (Hmm, already I see ego there.)
-Dan & Jordan do the Miss South Carolina impression for Carol & Brandy so they know who Caite is… ohh, now they know. Aw, give the girl a break.
-The Cowboys decide to exchange all their money for Brazilian currency (uhh, you’re going to Chile.)
-Caite’s talking to the R.I. Cops and they told her the lesbians (Carol & Brandy) were asking where her tiara was… Ohh, she sounds hurt by that.
-Brandy (dark haired one) is praying for bad weather in Dallas to delay the first flight or a total mechanical failure (careful there girl, that’s the kind of talk that builds the bad Karma on this race.)
Oh – and then it happens – hahaha. The first flight is delayed due to mechanical difficulties.
-Dana & Adrian right away go and change their tickets to the second flight – the other 2 teams follow suit and head over to join the rest of them at the gate for the Miami flight.
-Brandy must think she has God’s ear – “There’s that mechanical failure I was praying for.”
-The Big Brother couple is boarding the plane and he finds out it’s her first time out of the country – What? Isn’t that something they should have discussed before they decided to go on the race? Hmm, unless CBS just told them they were doing it… I wonder.
In Chile – they have to hop a bus to Valparaiso which is famous for its system of funiculars* to climb the steep hills, it’s known as the San Francisco of Chile.
*funicular railway – noun – a short, very steep railway having two parallel sets of tracks, upon each of which runs a car or train raised or lowered by means of a cable that simultaneously lowers or raises the other car of train in such a way that the two are approximately counterbalanced.
-4 teams get on the first bus to Valparaiso. The next bus the cowboys try to board but they have Brazilian money and the driver won’t take it – they have to get off and try to exchange the Brazilian for Chilean money (d’oh) and they end up on the later bus.
-Off the bus and the teams all run for taxis heading for the cluebox. Caite & Brent are the first one’s there and get the clue for the:
ROADBLOCK
Cable walking – 120ft above the ground – they have to walk a cable the length of a football field holding on to a parallel cable above. When they reach the other side of the valley they’ll get their next clue.
-Caite’s not scared of heights – she just wants to win and she’s up for doing the Roadblock for them – whoo!
-Jordan(Big Bro) is going to do the cable walking for them, Jeff’s afraid of heights. She’s not all that comfortable either – talking to herself – I can do this.
-Dan, Joe, Allie and Brandy also head out on the wires. It’s windy and difficult – Brandy is psyching herself out and freezes on the cable. Keep moving!
-Caite’s the first done the cable walk and they get the next clue which says they have to take the funicular down but they don’t know what that is so they just blow it off and walk down to find the next clue.
-The last 3 teams finally get off the bus and jump into taxis – Michael, the cop, tells their driver to ‘drive it like he stole it’ (Ha, ha, that’s not right for a cop to say that, is it?)
-Back at the cable walk, Dan loses his footing and ends up hanging by his hands, then he just starts pulling himself along the cable that way – hey, it worked.
-Brandy is freaking out now – she’s praying, says she feels like puking, then sits down on the cable – Get it together woman!
-Shawne and Adrian hit the cable – she’s chanting 'God is with Me' and he’s the 'big dog' so this will be no problem – his wife wonders though if his size will make it more difficult.
-Jordan finally gets across the cables and they don’t know what a funicular is either but they ask someone and end up in the same one with the brothers Dan & Jordan as Dan’s made it across now too. In the funicular Jordan(gay brother)is surprised that Caite & Brent are so far ahead, he says he’s underestimated that team (I wouldn’t be so sure yet.)
-Caite & Brent get to the next clue and it tells them it’s Time To Paint the Town: Multi-coloured homes are the signature of the town, they have to choose 4 cans of paint and painting supplies, carry them up a steep hill until they reach the house that matches their paint colour, paint an unfinished portion of the wall to get their next clue.
-Caite & Brent grab their gear and start wandering through the town, they can’t find the street, the house, the painters…
Back at the cable walk – Allie passes Joe on the cables, these teams are friendly – Steve yells to Joe at the funicular to direct them to the right place. Steve is a team player being a baseball coach; he’s used to players helping each other out. (We’ll see how long that lasts.)
-Jordan & Jeff can’t find their house either, they have all the painting supplies and come to the ugliest, steepest street – this must be it – and it is.
-Caite & Brent finally find it right behind them – they've lost the lead now.
-They get the clue to the Pit Stop.
Back at the Cable Walk – Adrian is having trouble on the cable – this task is not made for a big man. Louie is also doing the cable and he passes Adrian no problem, encouraging him to go on though. Adrian totally loses it though and falls off the cables, dangling by his safety line. The safety guy comes out to drag Adrian back to the start, he wants to keep going but his arms are done, he can’t pull himself back up. He goes back to the beginning. Now what?
-Cowboy Cord in on the cable and granddaughter Shannon – they are both doing pretty good – it’s windy and does not seem fun but they do it.
-Back with the House painters – Monique is having problems carrying the ladder but she says if Jesus can do it so can she. (Really?)
-Brother Dan & Jordan are wandering through the streets with their gear and Jordan realizes he’s lost one of the paint brushes, they think that’ll be a penalty so he wants to look for it but Dan just wants to get it done…
-Steve and Allie walk into a house under renovation and see a partially painted wall inside the house that is somewhat close to their colour. They start painting the wall – the guys working there have no idea what’s going on. Allie thinks her Dad’s a genius, they’re so lucky he found this place – and they paint the whole inside wall with the outdoor paint (I’m glad that’s not my house.) They ask the workman for a clue and the guy just looks at them like they’re crazy – Dad went from hero to zero – they had to head out and find the actual house to paint (hahaha.)
Back at the Cable debacle (at this point)– Adrian still isn’t back on the cable – Dana’s at the end yelling at him - come on, you’ve got to do this. He says “she’s going to ride me like a horse” so he heads back out on the cable but he’s done, his arms and legs are rubbery and he falls off again.
-The cops are trying to find the houses too – they see a wall that’s kind of their colour with some graffiti on it – maybe this is our house? No, keep going guys.
-The cowboys get their painting gear and take off at a run – head right to where they need to go and paint their house and get their clue…. Boom, boom, boom, boom – wow, how’d they do that? Or, more likely, why couldn’t anyone else find the place?
Here’s how they finished:
1) Jordan & Jeff (Big Brother couple) - they won a trip to Vancouver to stay at the Sutton Place hotel and see some Olympic events – hey, we could run into them and try and see if they won
2) Monique & Shawne – get the Second place spot.
3) Jet & Cord – Went from 9th off the cable to 3rd at the mat – wow, fantastic recovery boys.
4) Steve & Allie – get the Fourth place spot.
5) Joe & Heidi
6) Carol & Brandy
7) Brent & Caite – Finally get to check in, he looks mad but she’s being positive – Lucky number 7! They wrote to remember the details on their hands but apparently that didn’t help them. As far as she’s concerned they were second.
8) Dan & Jordan – Knocked back 4 spots but tomorrow is another day
9) Louie & Michael – Shocked they’re so far back in the pack.
10) Jody & Shannon – Shannon is proud of her Grandma, she knows she’s tough.
And Back at the Cable Walk… Phil goes out and meets Dana & Adrian, tells them all the other teams have checked in and he’s sorry to tell them they have been ELIMINATED from the Race.
She was not happy to hear that, they were hoping for a non-elimination (on the first leg?) Adrian said it was gut-wrenching being the first team eliminated but he knows they’ve been through worse and he knows they’ll still have each other no matter what. Awww.
So, with Dana & Adrian leaving us so soon, Roxanne S, Susan N, Janine S and Pat T. all get their money back being the first out of the pool. Thanks for playing ladies.
Wow, that was a tough start – two time penalties and one team didn’t even finish the first task… we may be in for a rough ride this season. I can’t wait! Next week there is tension between the teams as new alliances leave some teams in the cold – holding spots in line doesn’t sit well with the next teams in line (Oh! that would piss me off too!)
Have a great week everyone,
Coleen.
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