Gather 'round boys and girls, all creatures big and small, lend me your ears for I have a tale to tell:WHAT DO WE KNOW or more likely WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW about Ep4:
We start on the afternoon of July 12 at the Huntsville Marriott Hotel where the teams have been spending a mandatory 12-hoiur rest stop, eating, sleeping and mingling with the other teams. Starting at about 1:30PM the first four teams prepare to leave on the next leg of the race. We have the Bransen, Linz, Schroeder and Godlewski families all bunched up and leaving withing a few minutes of eachother.
On the road again proceeding to Anniston, AL in search of the world's largest office chair! This trip should take between 1.5 and 2 hours if they follow the map correctly following route 431 which leads direct from Huntsville to Anniston. On the way they most likely are going to run into a late afternoon thunderstorm.
Arriving in Anniston the teams will locate the large chair, climb up to the seat, and find their next clue. We see again the Bransens and Linz at the chair at about the same time.
Meanwhile as the clock nears 4:00Pm the other three families: Weaver, Paolo and Gaghan start out for Anniston (Mama Paolo is seen having trouble locating the place on the map - I hope she is looking at the map of Alabama and not Mississsippi).
The clue at the chair tells the teams to proceed to the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Talladega, AL - a drive of about 30 minutes (or less) down Interstate 20.
At the Museum is the clue box which directs the teams now to the Talladega Motor Speedway (actually just next door and within walking distance). Here they get their next clue to find a funny looking contraption which seats from four to six people who all have to pedal like mad to make the thing go racing around the 2.4mile speedway. One person also has to steer the contraption. The teams enter at the North gate and run through a tunnel to reach the starting spot on the track.
Again we have the Bransens, Linzes, and Godlewski Sisters (they caught up with the B & L group). All three of these teams make it around the track in bright sunlight. The shadows now indicate that it is getting on to be late in the afternoon. The Schoeders may be with them but we have no pix.It is most likely around 5:30 or 6:00PM
Later, before or after another huge thunderstorm sweeps the area we have the Weavers, Paolos and Gaghans arriving at the Museum and Speedway. It appears that these three teams are still running about two hours behind the leaders. The sun has disappeared and storm clouds hover overhead. Sunset is around 7:35 so we are fast approaching that hour.
After completing the bike race gig, the teams are handed instructions to head toward a stop over at a campsite down Interstate 20/59 between Talladega and Madisonville, LA. A probable stopping spot would be around the town of Meridian, Mississippi which is about half way there. This takes perhaps 3 hours of driving. We see that it looks like the Bransens leave first closely followed by the Linz family. We have scenes of both teams on an Interstate (probably I20/59) in daylight and weakening sunlight perhaps at sunset. But as the Linz siblings come up to pass the Bransens, one of the Bransen girls (the one with green tank top) sticks her butt out the window and moons the boys! (Oh, CBS where are you hiding the original unmangled videotape??) Everyone in the Linz car is hilarious over this turn of events, and their sister gets the biggest laugh of all!
Later the two teams have reached the stopping spot, and probably find a trailer or campsite for the night and receive a card which will have a departure time on it for the following morning. Departure times are probably staggared in two or threes so that the last place team to arrive for the night will only be about one hour behind the first teams. Nice of TPTB to bunch teams up before the time difference gets any bigger.
We do not see the other teams arrive after Talledega but we do see the Weavers, Paolos and Gaghans on the track. The Weavers are most likely first, the Paolos second, and the Gaghans bringing up the rear. When the Paolos arrive there are two bikes left (the Weavers have left on bike three). During the race we hear the Gaghan mom say "We're closing in on them" showing that they are running behind the Paolos.
Problamatically we have the teams at the night spot in this order and this will be the order they leave in the morning:
Linz
Bransen
Godlewski
Schroeder
Weaver
Paolo
Gaghan.
Starting off early shortly after sunrise, the teams take off on a three hour drive down Interstate 59 to the town of Madisonville, LA and the Fairview Riverside State Park. When they have located the park it is now around 10:00AM and the teams are finally confronted with a difficult DETOUR choice: (1) LUNBERJACK/SAW in which the teams must put on appropriate llumberjack clothing in a nearby changing tent, and then teams of two person each must using two-handled woodsmen's saws cut a predetermined number of logs into pieces. Or (2)BLACKJACK/DRAW in which teams must don appropriate clothing and lifevests and then paddle their own canoe (more paddling) across the river to the old riverboat, "Cotton Blossom" and play a predetermined number of hands of 21 or blackjack and win a certain number before they will receive the next clue.
The teams divide the tasks as follows:
BLACKJACK/DRAW - Bransen, Weaver, Gaghan families
LUMBRJACK/SAW - Linz, Godlewski, Paolo (and most likely the Schroeder) families.
In Blackjack it appears tha the Bransens are way in front of the other two and in fact are seen returning from the changing tent as the Weaver family arrives at least an hour behind. The Weavers are seen finishing up the blackjack game just as the Gaghan family arrives in the riverboat and we hear Mama Gaghan say that two groups have already finished and they have wasted a lot of time (did they perhaps start the lumberjack and change their minds again?)
In Lumberjack it appears that the Linzes have no trouble. The Godlewski sisters struggle. The Paolos probably complain and struggles also. And who knows about the Schroeders (this week's mystery team)
Completing this task a little before noon we have the girls in their car heading across Lake Pontchatrain on the causeway directly into the Big Easy. The Linz may be ahead of them as we hear the girls talking about doing things faster.
Now we get to the really unknown part of our plot. Wha' hoppens in New Orleans?? We think that the teams must go to a well known landmark, perhaps Jackson Park to get their next clue which should be a ROADBLOCK. What the task is is not known. But New Orleans is known for two things (besides Mardi Gras and we are pretty early for that) which are great food and great jazz. So the DETOUR may be to go to one of the famous New Orleans restaurants: Antoine's, Arnaud's, Brennan's, Broussard's, Commander's Palace, or The Court of Two Sisters and partake in another Gross Food Challenge! (a la St. Petersburg, Budapest, or Mendoza) OR find Preservation Jazz Hall and locate a particular jazz musician and get the final clue from him (sounds too easy).
After completing the ROADBLOCK the teams will proceed to the final pit stop, perhaps on the Rivrship Nanchez (which we have had a intro flash picture of). Hard to judge the pecking order here, but one guess could be:
LINZ
BRANSEN
GODLEWSKI
SCHROEDER
PAOLO
WEAVER
and since this again is an ELIMINATION LEG, we find the Gaghans bringing up the rear. Sorry kids.
BUT we do have an unknown factor: What happened to the Schroeders? Now wouldn't that be a kick to have them eliminated in their own home town! And then they would have to spend the next three weeks not at home but in Sequesterville. But with the known map reading ability of the Paolos, I doubt that they come in last. And the final footrace to the pitstop could be between the Weavers and Gaghans.
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