Still in Brazil - Amazing Race Leg 2

D... and I spent 12 hours at Forte Sao Marcelo, the first Pit Stop in our Amazing Race around the world. Things seemed tense with some of the other Teams, especially between dating couple Terence and Sarah. Anytime she talks to anyone else, he gets freaky. We think they have some issues. But D... and I are getting along swimmingly - as we always do. We didn't mingle too much - just ate and went to bed. That's how we roll.

Since we had arrived at the Pit Stop at 4:44 p.m., our departure time was 4:44 a.m. Dude, that's like the middle of the night. Insane. But the other Teams ahead of us made so much noise that we were up anyway, so off we went!

Our clue told us to fly to Fortaleza, Brazil! Things were crazy when we got to the airport; the other Teams were really testy. We all got on the same 6:45 a.m. flight, but Tina said it was because SHE got the airline to switch to a bigger plane to accomodate all of us.

WHAT. EVER.


I took my Xanax and we were off.

When we landed, our clue told us to take a taxi to the seaside town of Cumbuco. Ya'll, it was BEAUTIFUL there! Gorgeous beaches! We were thrilled when our next clue told us to take a dune buggy down the beach to one of the barracas and get our next clue from one of the vendors there.

D... and I LOVE the beach. This is how we usually enjoy the beach:

But there was no time for that in Brazil. We just had to take a quick snapshot and get on with the Race:

The next task was a Detour, a choice between two tasks, each with its pros and cons. Our two choices were Beach It or Dock It.

In Beach It, Teams had to travel by dune buggy to a nearby beach where they had to choose a two-man crew and a traditional Brazilian boat. Using local methods, Teams needed to maneuver heavy rolling logs to drag the 440-pound vessel 100 yards across the sand and into an inlet. In Dock It, Teams had to travel by bugres to a nearby port and search for a container hidden in the shipyard. At the port, they needed to use a computer to scour a database until they find the same unique serial number listed in their clue. After finding the number, the Teams had to use the corresponding four-letter code to locate the section of the shipyard in which their container was located. Once they located their container in the section, they would find their clue inside.

We chose Beach It, because Dock It had the potential to take a really long time. In fact, only one Team chose Dock It, and that was the geeks Mark and Bill. Now I don't say "geek" as a bad thing - D... and I love geeks. Or do we love nerds? I always get them mixed up..... But anyway, I think Mark and Bill saw the word "computer" in the clue and got all excited, so off they went. It paid off for them, tho, because they ended up coming in 2nd at the Pit Stop, only seconds behind the 1st place Team.

I'm not gonna lie. Beach It was HARD. Those logs were heavy, the dang boat was heavy. We had to roll up our PJ bottoms and really dig in! But we used our mad flirting skilz with our two-man crew (kinda ewww, but hey, you do what ya gotta do) and they worked extra hard helping us out. We were SO PROUD of ourselves when we finally finished!

Our next clue told us to choose a taxi from the marked lot and take it to Parque de Vaquejada. As we were headed to the taxi lot, we noticed Kelly and Christy, who had finished ahead of us, digging in the sand. We were like, WHATEVER, and continued on. Turns out they thought they had to find a container (um, that was the OTHER detour task). Silly girls.

At Parque de Vaquejada, we ran into a Road Block, a task that only one Team Member can complete. In this Road Block, that Team Member had to find the name of their next destination, Cicade Da Crianca, somewhere along a 600-foot wall. To accomplish it quickly, racers had to embrace the laidback local culture and resist the urge to over think the numerous Portuguese ads surrounding it.

D... decided to do this one. That D... is a smart girl. She ran along the wall and when she saw a list of places, she wrote them ALL down, then came back to list off her answers to the guy. Eventually she got to the right one, and we got our next clue - take our waiting taxi to the next Pit Stop, Cicade Da Crianca, a park built as an oasis for the city’s children.

You know what those silly girls Kelly and Christy did this time? They forgot to tell their taxi to wait! Man, sucks to be them. D... and I helped them out finding it, then zoomed out ahead of them. We managed to make it to the Pit Stop in 4th place this week. Woot! Rat-faced cheater Ken and his wife Tina came in first, with Mark and Bill right on their heels. D... and I totally could have been 3rd, but we didn't feel like running so we let whiney Terence and Sarah go ahead of us. We're not too worried. They're going to self-destruct eventually anyway.

Anthony and Stephanie came in last, and were eliminated from the Race. They seemed nice. I hope things work out well for them.

So here we are - still in Brazil - ready for the next leg of the Amazing Race! Tune in next week to see where the adventure takes us next!

Where We've Been:

Leg 1

Team Profile