Amazing Race: Oh My Gravy!

Amazing Race
Run Like Scalded Dogs!

I am enjoying the cowboys this season. I like how all the other teams didn’t think they had anything to offer, but they actually know how to read clues carefully and aren’t depending on other teams to get them to where they need to be. They are independent and work well together. They are also pretty funny.

The cowboys were the first team to leave the pit stop at 11:20 pm.

Clue: Teams had to take one of two buses on a scenic 6-hour ride through the Andes mountains and cross into Argentina. Teams then had to drive themselves to an old saloon in Bariloche, called El Boliche Viejo. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid once hid out there. Teams would find the Travelocity Gnome and play a hand of 5-card stud against it. Once they win, they would get the gnome and their next clue.

Sick Time

The cowboys were going to be on the first bus leaving at 8:30 am. The married parents and lesbians were the next team to leave at 11:55pm.  Only three teams could go on the first tour bus so that was the first group. The cowboys went into a local bar and found some ladies that spoke English and had spent some time in Argentina and El Boliche Viejo. They gathered some information from them.

Over at the hotel the teams were staying in for the pit stop, Caite was sick in the bathroom. Brent started to feel sick too. When they were supposed to be leaving the pit stop, they were taking themselves to the hospital to get some fluids pumped into them intravenously.  There was a lack of sparkly headband going on. I believe if she wore it, she would have been better.

Meanwhile, the Lawyer Ladies were leaving in fourth place at 1:22 am. They were on the next bus leaving at 8:50 am. Big Brother left at 2:01 am. Twenty minutes later, the models were still in the hospital. Father/daughter left at 2:23 am and the brothers left at 2:25 am. The detectives were the second to last to leave at 3:12 am. The models were done at the hospital, but still felt weak. They left the hospital at 4:20 am and still had plenty of time to get to the bus.  They officially left the pit stop at 4:25 am. They were amazed they were still in the race.

While at the bus stop, the cowboys were bombarded with questions from the lesbians. They didn’t actually ask a question and wait for an answer though. They just asked one after another.  “What did you guys end up doing yesterday? What bus did you catch? We want to know how you got there so fast. How did you find it? Did you just walk in and find it?” The cowboys were not amused by the barrage of invasiveness from the two women.

Bariloche, Argentina


When the first bus arrived in Bariloche, the cowboys were the first team in the cars. They knew exactly where they needed to go, but they didn’t want to give the other teams an advantage, in case they didn’t know where to go. They pulled over and pretended to look at their maps while the married parents and lesbians drove on by.

While they were driving to El Boliche Viejo, the second bus arrived. Everyone was talking about getting on Highway 237, except for the models. Caite was driving and Brent said he wasn’t sure where they were and if they were on “the 231.” Caite was annoyed since he was a horrible navigator, but he couldn’t drive a stick so they couldn’t switch roles. He sounds useless all around! The brothers were having fun with another stick shift. They kept stalling their car. Dan said he was having a hard time since they were on a hill. They were on a slight slant. Jordan got out to push the car. WAT! They finally gave up on that idea and actually tried to drive it to get it to move.

The cowboys earlier sneaky move didn’t give them an advantage since the other teams knew where the place was located. The first three teams arrived at the same time. They sat down with a dealer who would deal out five cards, facing up, to the team and to the gnome. The best hand won.

The married parents and lesbians won on the first hand. They picked up the gnome and read the clue underneath.

Clue: Hoof it to the Pena Gaucha.

The cowboys lost to the gnome on their first and second hands. The cowboys were hilarious talking about the gnome being a great poker player. They couldn’t tell if he was bluffing or not. The other teams found Pena Gaucha right next door. The next clue was a road block.

Roping Hay Bales

Road Block: A team member would be participating in steer roping. They would attempt to rope a target 18 feet away. The target was a steer skull on a bale of hay. Once they roped the target, they had to pull it to them to get the next clue.

Heidi and Carol decided to do it. The cowboys finally won against the gnome so they headed to the road block.  The cowboys were excited when they saw the road block. Jet decided to do it. Brandy was complaining that she didn’t think it was fair that they knew how to do it already.

The first three teams were trying to do the road block when Big Brother arrived to play cards with the gnome. Shockingly, Jet was the first one to rope the steer hay bale and pull it to him to read the next clue.

Clue: Teams had to drive themselves to Puente Nirihuau and search the cliffs for their next clue.

While the cowboys took off to the next stop, Big Brother won their card game against the gnome. Jeff decided to do it.  Carol’s rope was all tangled up. After joking about just throwing all of it at the hay, she finally lassoed the thing. Joe yelled at Heidi that if Carol could do it, she could. I guess that motivation worked since she got it right after the lesbians left.  While in the car, Carol reread the clue and said there are cliffs overlooking a river so it has to be up. Brandy said she didn’t see a river. I guess if she doesn’t see one now, there will never be one. Carol pointed out that Brandy was being stupid by saying, “Who is the one that is navigationally challenged?”

The brothers were stuck behind a very slow truck. The models were busy being lost since Brent sucks. Father/daughter team arrived to play cards. They won on the first hand. Jeff was still trying to get the steer.  The cowboys arrived at the cliffs and found the clue box. It was a detour.

No Sense of Direction

Detour: In Horse Sense, teams visited a gunslinger that gave them a set of directional coordinates. Then, using an old-time compass for reference, teams had to count out a certain number of steps while heading in certain directions to find a bag of hidden money. Once they found it, they had to deliver it to the lead bandit at the train station.  If their coordinates on the bag matched the one on the sheet, they would get their next clue. In Horse Power, teams had to head to a polo field and put on the appropriate polo attire. Then, while using and moving a practice pony down a field, while alternating turns, teams had to score a goal with a mallet in nine swings or less. If they succeeded, they would receive their next clue. If not, they had to start again.

The cowboys wanted to work with horses so they headed to the polo fields. Back at the steer roping, Jeff announced, “I need to be a cowboy!”, which apparently was all he needed to say, since he caught the steer hay bale on his next try. Steve had decided to do the road block and was trying to get it. The lawyer ladies and detectives arrived to play cards at the same time. Steve caught his hay bale and got the next clue before those teams were done with the cards.

When the cowboys got on the polo field, they were sad to learn they didn’t get to ride real horses, but just the wooden training pony. They put on their polo outfits and started. They seemed to hit the ball really far with each try so they were cruising towards the goal line.

Meanwhile, the lesbians were coming up to the cliffs. Brandy said she saw a bridge. Carol was a smart-ass and said, “And a river! Imagine that!” Brandy said that Carol was throwing a “tantrum” and Carol said she was tired of Brandy not trusting her. I have no idea what they were arguing about. None of it was important! The married parents hadn’t found the cliffs since they drove past it. They got directions, so they turned around and started heading back.

The cowboys were finding that the practice pony was pretty heavy. They were wondering if it would have been easier to find the treasure. The lesbians were at the detour and they decided to search for the treasure.  Carol said she didn’t think she could get a horse to do what she wanted it to do. No one seems to know they would’t be on real horses! The cowboys had finished their detour and received a cup for winning. They gave a brief acceptance speech for the cameras before reading their clue.

Clue: Teams had to drive to the next pit stop, which was the ranch Estancia Fortin Chacabuco, at the foot of the Andes mountains.

The cowboys were headed to the pit stop by the time the lesbians made it up the hill to the gun slinger. They received their coordinates and found the old-time compass.  Brandy started counting out 299 steps Northeast while Carol just started walking next to her. Brandy asked if she was counting and it seemed like Carol wanted her to do the work while she just went along with it.

Big Brother arrived at the detour. Jeff picked the treasure since he didn’t want to ride a horse. Married parents finally arrived at the detour and saw Big Brother had arrived in front of them when they missed the spot. The brothers finally arrived to play cards. Dan decided to do the road block. He joined Shawne and Michael that were still at it.

Back at the treasure detour, the lesbians were starting their last leg of counting when Carol saw a shovel straight ahead so she started running to it. She said the treasure had to be buried there. Brandy tried to start digging, but said the dirt did not seem like it had recently been moved.  Meanwhile, Big Brother made it up to the gun slinger to get their coordinates. Jeff read the clue out loud. When he got to the part about turning the bag into the “lead bandit”, he stopped and looked at the gun slinger, while saying, “That’s you.” No, it isn’t!

Big Brother started by the time that the married parents got to the clue box. Joe decided he wanted to do the treasure hunt since he had a compass on his watch. When will people realize that cheating won’t work in this game? From the gun slinger, and not from the compass, Joe started heading in a direction. Heidi asked if he was counting his steps. He said, “No, you count your steps if you don’t have a compass. I’ll get us there!” Ah, he’s one of those people that believes he is smarter than everyone else, but is really just an ass. I get it.

The lesbians were wandering around aimlessly. Carol said they found the coordinates exactly. Brandy pointed out that they hadn’t started counting the last steps since she ran ahead to the shovel. Carol said, “Well, when I saw the shovel, I was like, ‘Hello…'” I think that’s an excellent argument. Basically, Carol wouldn’t admit that she made a mistake.

The father/daughter team arrived at the detour and picked the polo pony one. Carol asked if they should switch. Brandy said she had to make that call because she was the one that wanted to do the treasure hunt. Carol wondered why she had to make the decisions. Wow, they are always looking to blame the other one for something. Good relationship.

The models were stopped so Brent could get directions. They still hadn’t arrived at the road block.  Shawne was getting a bit frustrated that she hadn’t roped anything yet. She kept going back to look at the demonstration before trying some more. Dan barely got the horn of the steer, but he was able to tighten it up and slowly pull it towards him to get the clue. The other teams couldn’t believe that he got it. The brothers were off to the cliffs.

The married parents were wandering around when Joe saw some rope. He realized it wasn’t attached to a bag so it was a fake one. His compass was working great, I see.  Big Brother found a bag after counting off their steps, except that Jeff didn’t understand the lead bandit was at the train station.  He tried to give it to the gun slinger, but when he wouldn’t take it, Jeff figured he was doing something wrong. He thought it wasn’t the right coordinates,  so he went to put it back. They probably were the right coordinates. They were probably the first team to follow the steps correctly, but not understand the turning in part of the clue.  The married parents found another bag so they went looking for the train station. They saw Big Brother and Joe yelled at Jeff, “Hey Jeff! Do you know where the train station is?” Jeff said he didn’t know to Joe and then wondered to Jordan, “What is he talking about?”

The lesbians were at the polo field starting around the time that father/daughter were starting the detour. Carol did not hit it very far and Steve hit it a pretty good distance. Joe arrived at the train station and found the lead bandit. They hadn’t checked the coordinates before heading to the train station so they had found some other random bag. They had to take it back and decided to switch to the other detour. The brothers were at the cliffs and picked the treasure hunt. Big Brother were turning in their second bag to the wrong guy.  He didn’t understand what he was doing wrong.

The models were still driving and Brent swore they were getting close. Catie didn’t look like she believed him. At the road block, Michael finally got it so they headed to the cliffs. That left Shawne still going by herself. Back at the detour, Steve had an interesting way of playing polo on the practice pony since he didn’t like getting on and off of it. While they were moving it so Allie could hit the final shot through the goal, Steve was groaning. Allie asked what was hurting. He said he was old  that he wondered “what wasn’t hurting?” They finished up the detour and headed to the pit stop in second place.

The lesbians were getting closer to the goal when the married parents were getting to the polo field. Joe kept tipping over on his polo horse after each swing.The lesbians finished up and headed to the pit stop in third place.

The detectives got to the detour and decided to pick the treasure hunt.  The models finally found the road block. Shawne was still there, not lassoing anything. After playing cards, Catie said she couldn’t do the road block so Brent decided to do it.  On his second try, Brent got it. I guess he isn’t totally useless! Poor Shawne just kept trying. Shawne got the rope on the tip of the steer’s horn, but when she tried to straighten it, it popped off. How frustrating! Shawne asked Monique to pray for her, which she did, out loud. That worked since she finally got it. They headed off to the cliffs.

Pit Stop


The cowboys pulled into the ranch, saying, “Oh my gravy!” They were the first place team. As the winners, they won a trip to Patagonia. Phil asked if their huge belt buckles were slowing them down. Cord said they were keeping their pants up and they would move a lot slower if their pants were down around their ankles.

Back at the detour, the detectives arrived at the treasure hunt. Big Brother were just wandering around looking. It seemed that’s what the brothers were doing too. The detectives were trying to see where the steps were taking them and shaving off some steps. They said they would end up right back where they were starting. It didn’t seem right. They were going to do a grid search around the area to find it. The brothers found a bag but it didn’t have their coordinates on it. At least they checked before trying to turn it in. They decided to switch to the other detour. The detectives found a bag and were reading the coordinates out loud. They realized it wasn’t their bag, but Jeff recognized it as their coordinates. The detectives couldn’t believe they just helped out another team. What they didn’t know was that he would take it to the wrong person. He read the clue again and finally (!) realized the gun slinger guy wasn’t the lead bandit. Jeff said they were so stupid and they shouldn’t reproduce. Haha!

At the horse detour, Joe finally got the hang of staying on the pony without tipping forward. They got to the goal and were off to the pit stop in fourth place. Around that time, father/daughter were arriving at the pit stop in second place.  They were surprised at their place. The lesbians were soon after them for a third place finish. They were happy to finish.

The brothers arrived at the polo field and Dan started to grab the polo outfit that was closest to him. Jordan stopped him before he made a fashion faux pax. He said that it was black and white and he was wearing black pants. They needed to pick the light blue shirts. Dan said, “I’m not trying to look cute.”Jordan said, “I am!” Dan ended up making his brother happy anyway. Cuteness won! Dan was disappointed they didn’t get to ride a real horse.

Big Brother finally found the train station and the lead bandit. They turned their bag in. Since their coordinates were correct, he whistled to a guy on a nearby horse, who rode over quickly to grab the bag from the bandit. The bandit then gave them a gold coin with the pit stop name on it. The brothers were still going through the polo. They were frustrated by sometimes not hitting it very far. They had to start over since they didn’t get it done in nine tries.

The married parents arrived at the pit stop in fourth place. The models arrived at the detour and decided to do the horse detour. The detectives gave up wandering around and switched to the horses.  The lawyer ladies got to the detour box and picked the horses.  The last three teams arrived at the polo field as the brothers were close to the goal on their ninth try. They didn’t make it in though and had to start over. The brothers had dragged their wooden pony back to the starting line for their third attempt, saying they were embarrassed at having to do it again.  The lawyer ladies did not hit the ball very far and the detectives were having problems carrying the pony.  The models didn’t seem to have any issues. The brothers seemed to find that the third time was a charm. They finally figured out how to hit it so it would go far.

I spoke too soon about the models. After Brent didn’t hit the ball too far, Caite managed to make it roll a few inches. He said they might be there all night. The brothers finished in sixth place and headed to the pit stop. Around that time, Big Brother checked in with Phil for fifth place. Jordan said that Phil scares her when they get to the mat. She never knows what place they are in or if they have been eliminated.  That’s his gift!

Back at the horses, the detectives didn’t make it to the goal in nine tries so they had to start over. The lawyer ladies and models had to start it over again too.  The lawyer ladies had giving up trying to carry the pony down the field and were dragging it. I think that would be harder on their shoulders, but if that works for them, okay! The models and detectives were near the goal again and almost out of tries. The lawyer ladies were pretty far back when they reached their ninth try. They were also getting exhausted. The models made it over the line in seventh place. The detectives were right after in eighth place.

The brothers checked in with Phil at the pit stop in sixth place. The lawyer ladies gave up on the horses after the third try. They were worried about injuring their backs. The models checked in with Phil for seventh place. They were so excited to still be in the race after being sick in the morning. The sun was going down while the lawyer ladies started counting. The detectives checked in with Phil in eighth place. They seem to be in second-to-last place on each leg. The lawyer ladies seemed to find their bag quickly. Too bad they didn’t try that detour first! They checked in with Phil when it was dark out and they were the last team to arrive. They were eliminated.

Order the teams arrived at the pit stop:

  1. Jet & Cord – Cowboys
  2. Steve & Allie – Father/Daughter
  3. Carol & Brandy – Lesbians
  4. Joe & Heidi – Married Parents
  5. Jeff & Jordan – Big Brother
  6. Dan & Jordan – Brother
  7. Brent & Caite – Models
  8. Louie & Michael – Detectives
  9. Monique & Shawne – Lawyer Ladies

Questions

  1. Were you surprised that the models were still in the race after spending so much time sick at the beginning of the race?
  2. Why do the brothers keep trying to push their cars instead of trying to drive them?
  3. Are you amazed at the detectives lack of detecting things that keep them in the back of the pack on each leg?
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