LAST EDITED ON 02-25-09 AT 05:55 PM (EST)Welcome my friends to Episode 2
Written today by your buddy, Boo.
Number 1 was by Dweeze,
Who made us laugh with ease.
And I hope I'll make you chuckle too.
I thought I would try something new today and summarize the entire episode by way of limerick. However, my current surroundings are not providing the right atmosphere for doing so. People are blowing into my office by the minute. Papers are swirling around my desk. If given enough time, I might be able to complete such a task, but there's just no telling what's going to happen with my schedule today. So you have two choices. You can either stop reading now and wait for my situation to change, or you can choose to continue reading below. It shouldn't take you longer than 10 minutes (especially since there are no commercials.) Unless you're name is Linda, and you start your reading from the right instead of the left.
Previously on The Amazing Race, the racers were in awe of Luke’s use of The Force. and celebrated the first deaf contestant competing in and winning a leg of The Amazing Race. So impressed, Mel decided to test his own lightsaber and pulled a groin. Interestingly enough, this is something 95% of American men do everyday, Mel just happens to be the first know man to suffer lasting effects from it.
Will Mel’s injury cause the team to overcompensate in their decision making? Will Amanda finally speak and make us wish she hadn’t? Will the “Hicks from the Sticks” continue to play mentally smarter as opposed to physically harder?
Leg 2 begins in Switzerland at 2:56 a.m. with Margie and Luke informing us that we're headed to Munich, Germany to the village of Ruhpolding. Luke would like to continue at the hurry-up speed which secured the win on Leg 1, but Margie continues to lead the team.
As the teams leave the pit stop and head to the airport, they use their cab drivers' phones to call ahead for flight times and ticket reservations - all of the teams except Margie & Luke (who have decided that this is a good time for us to get to know them a little better) and Mark & Michael (who use the cab ride to relax after making up half a minute by sprinting from the starting mat to the cab).
There are two somewhat immediate flight choices: Swiss Air, departing at 7:10 a.m. and arriving at 8:30 a.m. and Lufthansa, departing at 8:45 a.m. (There is no indication that I can remember given about when this second plane will land. But I suspect the fact that it is leaving 15 minutes after the first flight lands could signal that anyone on it has probably made a bad decision.) Margie and Luke, the first to leave the Pit Stop secure the last available tickets on Swiss Air. Mark’s and Michael’s net gain of 30 seconds has turned into a net loss of at least 95 minutes. And Christie & Jodi have discovered there is no automatic guarantee they will make any flight.
The teams arrive in Munich and begin driving to the village of Ruhpolding where the Road Block awaits.
Amanda reads the clue and declares that they must drive to the village where Rupert is holding the music of Germany. Kris tells her to just sit back and continue looking pretty.
Road Block: Fly Like An Eagle
A Road Block is a task that only one team member may perform. In this particular Road Block, the teams have traveled by cable car 6000 feet to the top of a very high mountain. You probably realized it was high when I told you it was 6000 feet. Did you also realize that the name of the Road Block and the fact that it is a Road Block meant that one person from each team is probably going to take part in a “challenging” way of getting back down the mountain? Because I know of at least two contestants who didn’t. *coughcoughMelLindacoughcough*
The contestants are informed that they must choose an instructor and then tandem paraglide with that instructor down to the bottom of the mountain. The other teammate will travel back down by way of cable car. Once they are both reunited at the bottom of the mountain, they will receive their next clue.
There is a catch to this task. If, for some reason, there are unsafe wind conditions, the person performing the task will either have to wait for the winds to subside or he/she must make his/her way down on foot, about an hour's hike. Unless you are Linda, for which an hour is not nearly enough time.
Tammy & Victor are the first to arrive but are delayed by unsafe winds. The other teams start to arrive, except for Kisha and Jen (who are taking the scenic route through town) and Mel & Mike and Christi and Jodi (who were on the second plane).
The teams are standing around trying to determine what to do. Tammy, who has been waiting 26 years to be the one in the family to make a decision, quickly opts for the hike down the mountain. As the other teams wait, Mel’s pulled groin begins to have the same effect of a pulled finger and, as the winds continue to swirl, the other teams start to trek down the mountain, despite Mel’s protests. Even Linda, who realizes that she cannot use her butt this time. Mel has no such choice and, as the last three teams arrive and also opt for the hike, Mel realizes his only option is God.
Mel: “I can't pray for divine intervention - God has enough to do.”
A quick check of God's schedule shows that there is no Big Brother this February, so perhaps maybe the time is ripe for a miracle. The heavens part, the skies clear, and just like that the winds stop, sending Mel on a fantasy ride across fairyland. In what could only be called a miracle, God has intervened in a reality show to help a gay man. Okay, some might call it a miracle, others might call it something else entirely.
Tammy arrives first, followed by Margie, Kris, Victoria, Mel (who left the top of the mountain last), Mark, Cara, Jen, and Christie. Meanwhile, Linda makes a mistake on the course and winds up in parking lot - several miles away. Some poor local took pity on her and drove her back to the cable car area, where she finished the hike down the hill. I'm not sure if, until last night, David even knew she got lost.
The next clue instructs the teams to go to Schonau Am Konigee.
Amanda: “Drive yourselves to Chanel Number 5.”
Detour: Balancing Dolly or Austrian Folly
In this Detour, the teams must choose between
Balancing Dolly: Teams must navigate Segways along a two-mile course, not hard for teams who can maintain their balance.
Or
Austrian Folly: Teams must launch pies at a target until they discover a pie with cherry filling. Again, the task does not seem hard until the teams discover that the target is their partner's face.
Upon completing the Detour, teams are instructed to "hoof" it (travel by foot) to the Holzsager to get a piece of wood. Their wood would then be stamped with the location of the Pit Stop.
Tammy & Victor choose the pies and find the cherry within five pies.
Amanda: “Bouncing Dolly or Australian Folly. I’m so excited because this is the first task "I’ve gotten to done (sic).” She and Kris choose the pies and find the cherry filling within five pies.
Mel & Mike (now in third place) choose the segways.
Luke & Margie arrive, and Luke wants to do the segway challenge because, just like with the winds, there is no telling how long it could take to find the right pie. But Margie insists they do the pies. As Luke predicted, it takes a while. Luke is not happy and secretly begins to explore his dark thoughts.
Brad & Victoria choose pies and finish within about five pies.
Kisha and Jen take the scenic route again.
Jaime & Cara choose the segways. Did you really think they would intentionally mess up their hair?
Kisha and Jen show up and choose the segway.
Mel & Mike choose the segways.
Christie & Jodi choose to bake and then throw their pies. They then literally look for a piece of wood. Perhaps the “hoof it” language in the clue misled them, as they ended up near the stables and in the stables. They then choose to hoof it along the segway route until a local finally directs them to the Holzsager.
Steve rewards Linda’s hard trek by allowing her to relax and look pretty in the back seat while he drives. He informs us that Linda has had a hard life (which we all figured out as soon as we saw that she was married to him). He is so proud of her and reminds her that as long as Christie and Jodi are still in the race, it’s anyone’s game. They show up and choose pies.
Mel & Mike can't believe God would intervene a second time. Amanda is excited at the thought of meeting Tommy Hilfiger.
The teams arrive at the Holzsager, where mechanical Tyrolean woodcutters, cut a wooden disc that is then stamped with instructions to drive to “Salzburg and find the Pit Stop at Schloss Hellbrunn.
Amanda: Yum. Salisbury Steak and Slaw made with Hellman’s.
The teams arrive at the Pit Stop in the following order:
#1 Tammy & Victor: They each win hybrid go-carts.
#2 Mel & Mike, who takes a variety of measures to open the gate. All of which cause Phil’s eyebrow to get an early jump on the route to the next Pit Stop.
#3 Kris & Amanda
# Margie & Luke
#5 Brad & Victoria
#6 Jamie & Cara, who arrive 14 hours after the leg began.
#7 Kasha & Jen, despite their best efforts to find another scenic route.
#8 Mark & Michael
#9 Christie & Jodi, who learned how to read clues from Season 13’s Christy & Kelly.
#10 Steve & Linda, who may very well have switched roles in their relationship, as it’s Steve crying like a baby and Linda who provides the comfort.
*smooches Agman*
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