Amazing Race: Double U-Turn This!

This leg kept the teams in China where they faced double U-Turns and unsafe dinosaurs. I was quite sad that many teams let the double U-Turn go by and didn’t U-Turn anyone. That doesn’t make it fun to watch! Thankfully, two teams did U-Turn other teams which led to the fabulous phrase, “Double U-Turn this!”

The leg started with Zev & Justin checking into the pit stop with Phil to get the next clue that sent all the teams back to Kunming, China where they had to find the Dounan Flower Market. They were also told there was a double U-Turn somewhere on the next leg of the race. The goths were thrilled when they found out the leg wasn’t over. Kynt said they were not going to tell anyone about the 30 minute penalty so they wouldn’t target them for the double U-Turn. Vyxsin said he was smart.

Even Playing Field

Just to get everyone back on track, there was only one train leaving for Kunming, which was at 7:00 pm that night. Everyone ended up on the same train! All the team were playing basketball with each other to pass the time when the goths showed up. They asked them if they got a penalty and they said no. They also heard their story about their car breaking down. No one seemed to believe their story and the other teams were grumbling about them deserving a penalty for not taking the flight that they were supposed to take.

The train to Kunming was crazy with three layers of bunk beds so the top bunks were super close to the ceiling. What was even more surprising was seeing Vyxsin without her eyebrows on the next morning. Ack! I know we have seen that before, but it was still startling. Don’t take off your eyebrows unless you are prepared to put them on all the time!

After they got off the train, Ron & Christina were thrilled to have “home court advantage” with being able to speak Chinese so they got into a cab to the flower market and Zev & Justin had their cab driver follow them. The sisters and Margie & Luke got to the flower market around the same time without following Ron & Christina. They found the clue box that sent all the teams to the Golden Arches, which is also called Golden Horse and Jade Cock Memorial Arches. While watching this, Amy asked, “Did Phil just say ‘cock’?” Why yes, he did!

The rest of the teams showed up soon after to the flower market to get the clue. The Globetrotters didn’t find the clue box right away and were wandering around the flower market. When the cowboys got back out to the cabs, they found out their cab driver had taken off even though they had asked him to stay. They took the only cab that was left, which ended up being the Globetrotter’s cab. It didn’t take long for the Globetrotters to find another one though.

Dolls or Tubes

Ron & Christina got to the clue box first and found a detour. Teams had to either honor the past or embrace the future. In honor the past, teams had to watch a traditional Tibetan performance, and without taking notes, memorize the order of the performers so they could put 15 dolls that were in another room in the same order. In embrace the future, teams had to take solar heating system from a truck, lug it up some stairs and install it on a roof.

Ron & Christina decided to honor the past. Zev & Justin did that too since they were following Ron & Christina. Margie & Luke showed up and decided to install the tubes.The cheerleaders, Gary & Mallory and cowboys started headed towards a McDonald’s, but that was not the right golden arches. They finally figured out where they had to go, along with the rest of the teams.

Ron & Christina and Zev & Justin were the first teams to arrive at the Tibetan performance. They had to change into outfits before they watched the performance. They both split it up so one team member memorized the first seven and the other memorized the last eight. Meanwhile, Margie & Luke started lugging solar tubes on their backs up the many flights of stairs. The sisters arrived at the Tibetan ritual while the first two teams were arranging their dolls. Zev & Justin did not get their dolls correct so they had to go watch the performance again. Ron & Christina got their dolls checked and they were wrong. Zev & Justin got it right on the second try. They got the next clue to go to the Chinese Minority Cultural Center where there would be a Double U-Turn. Zev & Justin changed to leave as the sisters got the dolls correct on the first try. Both teams decided to wait for Ron & Christina because their cab drivers weren’t sure where they wanted to go.

The cheerleaders arrived to install solar tubes. They started to lug upstairs as Margie & Luke were finished installing. The goths arrived and Kynt was not much into the physical labor. Vyxsin was constantly telling him to keep moving as they carried the boxes up the stairs. When they were trying to install the tubes, he would be holding two of them but not doing anything else. When Vyxsin told him to install them, he said, “I can’t do it. Both of my hands are full.” Oh boy! The cowboys showed up and were just cruising up the stairs like it was nothing.  The cowboys and the cheerleaders were taking up two boxes at a time while the goths were only carrying one at a time since Kynt couldn’t handle them carrying more than one.

Gary & Mallory were working on the Tibetan ritual when the cheerleaders finished with the tubes. They took off around the time the Globetrotters arrived at the tubes. The cowboys finished soon after the Globetrotters took up their first box to the roof.

Double U-Turn Time

Meanwhile, the two teams following Ron & Christina all showed up at the wrong cultural center. Christina told the cab driver he took them to the wrong place and they all piled in to find the correct place. So much for speaking Chinese work to your advantage. She told him the right place and they still ended up somewhere wrong. That let Margie & Luke get to the double u-turn first. They decided to not u-turn anyone. They got their next clue to head to Stone Forest.

While they headed out, the goths finished the solar panel around the same time Gary & Mallory finished with the dolls. The cheerleaders got out at the cultural center, but they weren’t sure if was right. While they were wandering around, the cowboys and the goths pulled up behind them and started running towards the double u-turn.  The cowboys got to it first and decided not to u-turn anyone. The goths got there right before the cheerleaders. They were asking each other who they should u-turn. The cheerleaders said they should do the globetrotters. Kynt asked who they would pick. The cheerleaders said that no one else was behind them. They had no idea they were currently in third and fourth place. They thought they were last. The goths decided to pick the cheerleaders since they were the only team they knew were behind them and the cheerleaders picked the Globetrotters.

The cheerleaders took off to do the other detour while Ron & Christina, Zev & Justin, Gary & Mallory and the sisters got the clue. All of them and the goths turned into a huge cab conga line to the Stone Forest. The cheerleaders did the dolls correctly on the first turn so it went fast. When they finished, the Globetrotters were showing up at the clue box. They jumped in their cab and went to the dolls. They were hilarious wearing the outfits but they also finished it quickly.

The sisters’ cab seemed to be the first in the long cab conga line with Zev & Justin and Gary & Mallory following. They told their cab driver to ditch everyone else at a light so they got to the Stone Forest well before anyone else. The cheerleaders were stuck at a gas station and very mad that they keep getting into cabs that needed to get gas. I guess they preferred a cab running out of gas on the side of the road.

Unsafe Dinosaurs

The sisters arrived at Stone Forest and found it was a road block. They had to put together a life size dinosaur. A paleontologist was nearby that would stop them if the dinosaur became unsafe. Kisha decided to do it. Margie & Christina decided to do it after they showed up. Zev & Justin and Gary & Mallory were lost after they lost the sisters. The goths arrived and Kynt did it. Vyxsin did not live up to the strategy that Kynt had and told everyone about their time penalty so that’s why they u-turned other teams. Vyxsin said she didn’t like but fudged the truth. Sounds like the same to me! Ron found the entire thing unacceptable.

The cowboys arrived and Jet started to work on the dinosaur. The Globetrotters arrived before the cheerleaders and called them “dirty redheads”. The two teams that had been double u-turned were there before Zev & Justin and Gary & Mallory finally arrived last. When Gary & Mallory realized they were in last place and what they had to do, they decided to use their Express Pass and go straight to the pit stop. They headed to Green Lake Park.

Many teams were told their dinosaur was unsafe. It was difficult to take parts of the dinosaur apart and put back together. Jet ran over to check the correct diagram many times. Others might not have been checking as much since it was a lot of running, but Jet finished first. The cowboys got the pit stop clue and jumped in their cab. They passed Gary & Mallory who were trying to find a new cab since their cab left.

Margie was the next one to finish. Other teams were getting more and more frustrated with being told their dinosaur was unsafe and sometimes they had to take almost all of it apart to fix something at the base of it. Kynt fell off his ladder at one point. Vyxsin was freaking out because they needed to finish and at least finish at least 30 minutes before others due to their time penalty. It then turned into paleontologist sexy time with Jamie taking off some of her clothes due to it being so hot. She also fell off her ladder a few times. Kisha and Kynt finally finished so they took off to the pit stop.

When the Globetrotters finished, they started yelling “Double U-Turn this!” over and over again since they were no longer in last place even though they were when they were U-Turned. They headed off to the pit stop after their yelling and left Christina, Justin and the cheerleaders behind to finish. Suddenly, they show showed a close-up of a spider. WTF! It was totally unnecessary.

Christina finished and I realized her dad didn’t yell at her the entire task. Amazing! That left Justin and Jamie. Justin got his dinosaur checked, but it was still unsafe. Jamie had her dinosaur checked and it was still unsafe too. Justin thought he knew what was wrong and Jamie didn’t know what was wrong with hers. Justin finished first so they took off to the pit stop while Jamie was left behind. She did finally figure out what piece had to be flipped, which meant taking most of it apart. Once that was done, they headed for the pit stop in last place.

Pit Stop

The cowboys got to the pit stop just before Gary & Mallory. The cowboys won $5,000 each for coming in first. Gary & Mallory were okay with coming in second since they didn’t have to build the dinosaur.  Margie & Luke arrived in third place.

The goths arrived just before the sisters in fourth place, but they had to wait 30 minutes. They sat to the side and the sisters checked into the pit stop in fourth place. After the sisters checked in, the 30 minutes had passed so the goths got to check into the pit stop in fifth place just before the Globetrotters showed up. When the goths checked in, they said “Number five is alive!” When the Globetrotters were checked in, they once again said, “Double u-turn that!”

A bit later, Ron & Christina and Zev & Justin showed up right at the same time, but they were not the last teams to check in. That ended up being the cheerleaders who checked in last and were eliminated. So sad for the mean team!

The order of the pit stop:

  1. Cowboys
  2. Gary & Mallory
  3. Margie & Luke
  4. Sisters
  5. Goths
  6. Globetrotters
  7. Ron & Christina
  8. Zev & Justin
  9. Cheerleaders

Questions

  1. Were you glad to see the cheerleaders go or did you wish another team had gone too?
  2. What did you think about the double u-turn, especially since both u-turned teams were still ahead of other teams that got lost?
  3. What about the sisters that ditched the people they said they were going to lead to the Stone Forest?
  4. Can you believe the goths are still in it after the last leg?
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