Just a few Teams left and D... and I are still in the Race! We didn't spend long in Kazakhstan - a mere 24 hours and we were outta there! At 10:47 p.m. we tore open our clue that told us to fly to Moscow, Russia! When we landed, we had to travel by taxi to the Krutitske Podvorye Monastery and light a candle to receive our next clue.
With the only flight to Moscow being offered by Air Astana departing the next day at 6:05 a.m., we all had time to hang out together at the airport. Dallas and Starr spent a lot of time together - you'd almost think they were a Team!
Stupid frat boys Andrew & Dan had left their shoes at the puppet theater in the last leg, so they started this one wearing hotel slippers that they took from the maid. What dorks! As luck would have it, the shoe store in the Kazakhstan Airport was open in the middle of night, so they spent a big wad of their money on new shoes.
D... and I slept as much as possible so we would be well-rested when we got to Moscow. And it's a good thing we did!
Wow - Moscow is beautiful! Have you ever seen anything like this????
We didn't have long to sight-see, however - we had to jump in a taxi and head off to that monestary! Communicating with the taxi driver was hard - he didn't speak English and we certainly don't speak Russian! But somehow we managed to get there, light our candle, and receive our next clue.
The clue told us to take a taxi to the outskirts of Moscow and find Kolosok Camp, a decommissioned military base. Our taxi driver had waited for us, so we quickly got back in the car and were off!It was a long drive in heavy traffic (again with the traffic!!) but once we were there it didn't take us long to find the clue box - and the next task was a Detour - a choice between two tasks, each with its pros and cons.
For both sides of the Detour, Teams had to properly don a military uniform including traditional foot wraps. In Boots, Teams needed to join a training squad and learn a traditional parade march. When they thought they were ready, Teams had to fall in line with a troop and march one full lap of the parade grounds. If the drill sergeant was satisfied with their performance, they would receive their next clue. In Borscht, Teams walked to the mess tent to serve borscht (bleah!) to a company of 75 Russian soldiers. Once each soldier received a bowl of borscht, the teams would receive their next clue.
We quickly decided to do Boots - I was in the drillteam in high school, and D... was in the marching band (nevermind that she couldn't march and play at the same time - she marched and faked playing, so she looked good!). We wrapped our feet in the foot wraps (dude, someone needs to teach those Russians about SOCKS) and put on our uniforms. We looked SO CA-YOOT! We were like G.I. Jane, except not bald. And we marched like pros!
Dan & Andrew had all kinds of trouble, and we saw them trying to march. Dan has ZERO coordination, and he looked like a such a dork trying to march! Even the Russian soldiers began snickering and outright laughing at the strange contortions Dan made with his body as he tried to march in rhythm with everyone else. They finally gave up and went to serve borscht, but it cost them a lot of time.
Our next clue told us to travel to the town of Zhukovsky and find the Zhukovsky Bakery, where we would find our next clue.
Another long taxi ride later, we arrived at the bakery to find a Roadblock, a task that only one person can perform. In this Roadblock, that team member had to unload fifty 55-pound bags of flour from the back of a truck and deliver them into the bakery.
Dallas was already there, hauling two of the large, heavy bags at a time off of the truck and into the bakery. It wasn't long before Rat-Faced Cheater Ken showed up and started in right after him. D... and I didn't know what to do - neither of us is very strong, and we both have bad backs. This was not good. Whatever would we do????? We began thinking that this task could do us in. Finally we decided to take a time penalty and BOTH do the Roadblock. It was the only way we were going to get it done.
We were exhausted and covered in flour, but we finished. Yay us!! That scary Russian lady handed us our next clue - travel to the next Pit Stop, the library at Neskuchny Sad Park, a popular park in Moscow’s city center! As we were leaving, Dan & Andrew showed up, and Dan was moving quickly unloading those bags. He may not be able to march, but he's a good work-horse. We were worried.
We got to the Pit Stop ahead of Dan & Andrew, but with our time penalty, they got ahead of us, making us........last. We were crushed.
But then Phil told us it was the second NON-ELIMINATION ROUND!!!!! WOOT!! We were still in the Race! We will have to face a Speed Bump in the next leg - an extra task that only we will have to complete - but we're thrilled to still be here!
We don't know where we're headed next, but tune in next week to find out!
Where We've Been:
Leg 8 (Kazakhstan)
Leg 4 (New Zealand)
Leg 3 (Bolivia)
Leg 2 (Brazil)
Leg 1 - We're off!
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4 comments:
I have to say, I didn't miss Terence & Sarah at all. I'm still laughing over when Phil asked Terence if he couldn't eat meat for a million dollars. Hee.
I was near tears when Phil said he had bad news. But then! Then! He said we were still in the race. Whew! That was such a tough Roadblock.
I just don't know about Dan & Andrew. Unless the Speed Bump absolutely trips us up, they should be gone next. They are about clueless. And, you know I don't like to make fun of things people can't help, what WAS up with his marching? I have never seen anything like it in my life. Wow.
On to the next leg! Hopefully it won't be as physical!
Wow! That Russian lady DOES look scary, glad I didn't have to deal with her! I'm surprised that task wasn't for two people! I mean come on how do they expect you to carry 50 50 Pound sacks of flour? You guys must have been exhausted!
You are just so darn creative!
Glad you guys weren't eliminated...I'm not ready to stop reading your travels. Hope you make it to the end!!!
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