Posted on 02/04/2006 2:26:37 PM PST by silent_jonny
In a stunning reversal of fortune, married couple Fran & Barry won a leg in the Middle Eastern desert that ended with friends Eric & Jeremy battling best friends BJ & Tyler for last place. Wrong turns plagued the “frat boys” throughout, but a Roadblock in the hot Omani sun proved too difficult for BJ as he and Tyler arrived at the Pit Stop in last place. Fortunately, “the hippies” caught a huge break as this was the first non-elimination leg.
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 11:54 pm, friends Eric & Jeremy opened their clue to discover they had to fly 2,300 miles to Muscat, Oman. Dating back almost 5,000 years, this oil rich nation bordering Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is one of the oldest inhabited regions of the Middle East. Once in Muscat, they had to find a giant incense burner for their next clue.Having to walk across a bridge to sign up for a shuttle bus to the Athens Airport, dating couple Ray & Yolanda began the leg in an uncharacteristically rocky fashion. Yolanda joked with Ray when he wanted to make sure they were crossing the large bridge directly in front of them, saying, “That’s a damn shame. Let’s make sure we ask somebody if this is the bridge.” Ray didn’t take the joke well, replying tersely, “Just find the damn bridge.” After Yolanda asked Ray to stop cussing at her several times and think about his behavior, he retaliated by shooting her a bird. A stunned Yolanda remarked, “It’s pretty bad.” When Ray reminded her he was a grown man, Yolanda replied, “I can’t tell.” After that, the two crossed the bridge in complete silence.
With 9 am being the earliest shuttle to Athens, the first four Teams all shared a ride to the airport while last place best friends BJ & Tyler, starting nine hours behind, now erased eight of those hours by taking a 10 am shuttle.
Arriving at the airport in Athens, married couple Fran & Barry employed their newfound competitiveness by sneaking off to buy tickets on the earliest flight to Oman on Gulf Air landing at 10:50 pm. While friends Eric & Jeremy and dating couples Ray & Yolanda and Joseph & Monica all ultimately got the same flight by following the married couple, Fran & Barry said, “We’re beyond the genial that we were in the first few rounds. We’re gonna go for it and we’re not backing down.”When best friends BJ & Tyler finally caught up to the other Teams at the airport, Eric & Jeremy, Joseph & Monica and Ray & Yolanda all gave them the cold shoulder by refusing to offer up information. The best friends soon discovered that no tickets remained on the Gulf Air flight and instead settled for a Qatar Air flight landing at 11:45 pm.
Landing in Muscat, Oman, the Teams marveled at the intriguing country they had just entered. Jeremy remarked, “This is by far the prettiest place we’ve been.” Monica added, “Americans think they’re rich. These people who are rich here are crazy rich, billionaires.” Noting the Arabic writing, Ray said, “I don’t know what language they speak over here, but I can’t even look at these signs and figure out what it says. They’re all squiggly.”With the incense burner not opening until 6 am, relieved best friends BJ & Tyler caught up while Ray & Yolanda took the time to discuss their relationship problems. The pair couldn’t reach any agreement on how to get along, but Yolanda remarked later, “Ray and I have not been communicating well at all. I’m always left to figure out what’s going on. I can’t do that in a relationship and I can’t especially do it here, but somehow it’s just something we have to work on. No matter what, we have to get through this.”
The next morning at 6 am, the five Teams ran up the hillside where the clue box awaited in the shadow of the massive incense burner. Opening the clue, the Teams learned they had to drive 135 miles to the town of Sur, once a key center for trade with East Africa and now a sleepy fishing town. Once here, Teams had to find the ferry crossing known as Baith Al Battha.While dating couple Ray & Yolanda quickly fell into last place when they couldn’t even navigate out of the Muscat city limits, the other four Teams loosely traveled together as they encountered rocky terrain and flooded roads. The Teams all deeply appreciated the assistance they received from a small local man who guided them through the first flood they encountered. Monica cooed, “He’s so tiny. I just want to pick him up and take him home in my pocket.” In a second, more intimidating, flood with no guide around, BJ & Tyler and Joseph & Monica were hesitant to drive through it allowing fourth place Eric & Jeremy to pass them by. The “frat boys” barreled into the water that almost went over their hood. On their behavior, Monica noted, “Eric & Jeremy want to be first so bad sometimes that they just cut in front of lines.” BJ added, “That’s the frat boy way to just barge into a situation.”
Arriving at Baith Al Battha together, the four Teams minus dating couple Ray & Yolanda opened their clue to find a Detour. In this Detour, Teams had to choose between Camel and Watchtower. In Camel, Teams needed to use a block and tackle system used by locals to load a camel into a pickup truck. Then, when the camel was secure in the flatbed, they had to use a map and travel one mile to deliver it at a Bedouin camp. In Watchtower, Teams had to search among three watchtowers for an Arabic message box. However, not all watchtowers contained a message box. Once they found one, they had to travel one mile to a silver shop and deliver it to a man called Mubarek.After the four Teams took a ferry across the water, they all split off to their chosen task. While friends Eric & Jeremy started loading a camel, dating couple Joseph & Monica hoped a message box would be waiting for them in the nearest tower. The dating couple’s move forced best friends BJ & Tyler and married couple Fran & Barry to choose the next tower over where two message boxes awaited. As the two Teams headed back to the ferry to deliver the message boxes, Joseph & Monica discovered their watchtower was empty. Rather than run to the furthest watchtower, they instead opted to load a camel as Eric & Jeremy drove off with theirs secured in the flatbed.
As Eric & Jeremy quickly became lost on the expansive desert roads after taking a wrong turn, BJ & Tyler and Fran & Barry worked together with the help of a local who guided them to the silver shop. After delivering the message box, the Teams opened their clue instructing them to drive 80 miles to the village of Al Hawiyah.
Eric & Jeremy’s struggle to locate the Bedouin camp continued as dating couple Joseph & Monica successfully delivered their camel and began the drive to Al Hawiyah. The friends wasted so much time that when they finally dropped off their camel they saw last place Ray & Yolanda arriving at Baith Al Battha to begin the Detour. Frustrated with their uncharacteristically poor performance, the friends hoped to keep their slim lead over the dating couple who breezed through the task of delivering the camel.
Arriving at the sand dunes in the village of Al Hawiyah together in first place, married couple Fran & Barry and best friends BJ & Tyler opened their clue to find a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to dig through 117 sand mounds to find one out of six shuwas. This traditional Omani dish of spiced lamb is wrapped in a dried palm leaf bag and steamed in an underground oven. Once they find the shuwa, their dinner for the evening, they would receive their next clue.With the blazing sun above them, Barry and BJ ran onto the sand and began to dig through the mounds, hoping to uncover one as quickly as possible. With no luck between the two, Monica soon joined the pair while complaining about having to do the task at hand. Joseph, in response to his girlfriend’s protests, shot back, “You can really just be quiet and find that food.”
With Eric entering the fray, the four Racers continued to dig unsuccessfully through pile after pile while their teammates and many camels looked on. Jeremy cheered on his partner by yelling, “You gotta dig like a champion! You run to the pile!” As BJ began to grow weary from the heat, Eric and Monica started digging a little faster, and Barry uncovered the first underground oven. However, after a great start, he ran into issues when sand collapsed into the hole he was digging, burying the shuwa even further. The time spent digging out the sand allowed Monica to find a shuwa and excavate it from the oven before him. With first place in sight, an excited Joseph & Monica opened the clue instructing them to drive 150 miles to Jabreen Castle, an ornate fortress built by a sultan over 300 years ago and the Pit Stop. As Joseph & Monica left the sand dunes, an exhausted Barry pulled his shuwa out of the ground and sped off with Fran in hopes of catching the dating couple.
After Eric also found a shuwa, BJ’s mood began to darken as the heat and sheer frustration took its toll. When Yolanda ran to the piles of sand to begin the Roadblock, BJ didn’t react well to Tyler’s attempts at cheering him on, sniping, “How about you just let me dig until I find something? I had to dig for gnomes. I have to dig for food. You get to bungee jump.” Trying to steer his partner’s focus back to the task didn’t work either. When Tyler asked, “Have you missed any mounds,” BJ replied, “Only the ones I haven’t done yet.”Yolanda received unsolicited advice of her own when Ray told her to develop a pattern while digging, prompting Yolanda to mumble, “Your momma’s got a pattern going.” After silencing Ray, Yolanda kept digging and eventually found a shuwa deflating BJ even further. As BJ wandered from mound to mound in the 90-degree heat, Tyler continued supporting his exhausted friend until finally he uncovered a shuwa. After giving BJ a huge hug, Tyler exclaimed, “You did so good. We’re in a good spot right now.”
After a frustrated Joseph & Monica needed to stop for directions to Jabreen Castle, married couple Fran & Barry stepped onto the mat in first place. The thrilled couple gladly accepted from Phil a trip to Rome, Italy from Travelocity. A disappointed Joseph & Monica settled for second place.Arriving in third place, dating couple Ray & Yolanda acknowledged the relationship problems they encountered on this leg. Ray noted, “Even with the problems we had, we still managed to overcome those things and maintain our position in the Race. But we definitely have to get those things together in order to have a chance to win.”
While a wrong turn and mistaken shortcut by Eric & Jeremy made for a tight Race, in the end, the friends arrived in fourth place, their worst placement thus far. A tired Eric commented to Phil, “We thought we were doing pretty well and then today was just like, ‘Maybe we better rethink some things.’ It was horrible.”
Stepping onto the mat in last place, best friends BJ & Tyler breathed a sigh of relief once again as Phil informed the pair this was the first of several non-elimination legs. While the best friends needed to give up their money and possessions, they looked forward to the challenge of fighting back. Tyler remarked, “We’re going to be the humans we are and not the possessions on our backs. We’re just going to be complete BJ & Tyler.” BJ added, “Our fun loving, goofy attitude has gotten us this far and we’re still going to use it in the next leg of the Race. These other Teams aren’t going to see us coming.”
Now comes the least favorite part of the race for me, seeing a team have to beg.............I really wish the producers could come up with a different way to handle a non-elimination leg.
I don't want to see Rob or Amber again, either. I was tired of them on Survivor and then they came back. Then they played it up on every talk show for what seemed like years. And then it was on to T-A-R aka "The Amber and Rob" show. Enough already.
I thought she was obnoxious, insisting upon having a therapy session about his every thought word and deed that displeased her instead of getting over it and looking forward. They can empathize after the race. But because she's in a huff about his acting like a typical guy, they have no chance of winning. HE deserves a better girlfriend, one who doesn't make an issue of every little thing.
I just found the pictures you were talking about.
Yuck!!!!
I just thought of something else.
So Eric and Jeremy keep on saying that they are not gay. However, after seeing those pics what girl is going to want to date them. The one with his nipples pierced has got to be the gayest straight guy I've ever seen.
Teams travel to Australia and ride a bicycle built for two;
one team picks up a hitchhiker.
OK, I'll be the only one to post tonight. I hate Team Horny! I don't really like MoJo and Rolanda seem destined for a breakup. I was actually sorry to see Fran and Barry go. I've decided to cheer for Team Hippie. There.
In a leg that took Teams to the beautiful beaches of Western Australia, a familiar order returned as friends Eric & Jeremy reclaimed the lead and the penniless BJ & Tyler moved up to third place. Married couple Fran & Barry held up in a very physical leg, even beating the athletic Ray & Yolanda at one point, but, a missing taxi helped seal their fate as the seventh Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE.
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 5:35 pm, married couple Fran & Barry opened their clue instructing them to fly more than 9,000 miles to Perth, Australia, situated six miles inland from the pristine coast of the Indian Ocean and the capital of Western Australia.The financial hardship of penniless and last place BJ & Tyler became a hot topic as the other four Teams left the Pit Start. While married couple Fran & Barry didn’t hesitate for a moment to throw twenty dollars into the driver’s seat of BJ & Tyler’s car, dating couple Joseph & Monica balked at the idea, joking, “Those guys are screwed. I love it. I’ll just be happy when the hippies are gone.” Dating couple Ray & Yolanda also showed some compassion by leaving money, but friends Eric & Jeremy simply left an IOU for 100 dollars, saying, “They’re hippies. They’ll find out how to make gas from trees out here. I don’t understand why people give them money. It’s dumb.”
Departing the Pit Stop in last place with only the 30 donated dollars from Fran & Barry and Ray & Yolanda, best friends BJ & Tyler received a bit of good luck by stumbling upon an Omani Bedouin named Abdul Hamid who needed a lift to Muscat. Besides giving directions, Abdul paid for gas and food for the grateful friends. BJ remarked, “Our friend Abdul Hamid is a Bedouin and Tyler and I are like American Bedouins and somehow he understands that.” When parting ways at the gas station, Abdul Hamid gave BJ & Tyler a Bedouin farewell that included touching noses, causing Tyler to exclaim, “That guy rocked my world!”
With a motorcade procession for the King of Oman slowing down the Teams, dating couple Joseph & Monica arrived at Seeb International Airport first, booking a flight on Emirates Airlines to Perth, Australia that connected through Dubai. With Fran & Barry, Ray & Yolanda, and Eric & Jeremy all booking the same flight, the only remaining question was whether BJ & Tyler would have enough time to make the flight.As the four Teams placed their bags in the overhead compartments on the plane, BJ & Tyler pulled into the airport. With Eric & Jeremy and Joseph & Monica believing, or at least hoping, the hippies wouldn’t be on their plane, BJ & Tyler, after a few moments of concern, secured tickets on the boarding flight. Reminiscent of Rob & Amber’s surprise entrance several seasons ago, BJ & Tyler eagerly walked to the plane anticipating the looks of shock they planned to see, saying, “Time to rub it in their faces.” While Fran & Barry appeared happy to see BJ & Tyler, Monica whispered to Joseph, “How annoying.” Ray added, “Everybody looks like they saw a ghost when they saw the hippies.” A disappointed Joseph remarked, “Those lucky bastards.”
Landing in Perth, Australia, the five Teams raced out of the airport into cabs heading to the King’s Park War Memorial. While dating couple Joseph & Monica took an early lead, a speedy cab driver delivered friends Eric & Jeremy to the memorial in first place. Opening their clue, the friends learned they had make their way to the port city of Fremantle and board a ferry to Rottnest Island, one of Western Australia’s most popular vacation spots.Arriving in Fremantle, friends Eric & Jeremy discovered the first ferry out wouldn’t leave ‘til the following morning at 7:30 am. They opted to spend the night at a local hostel with Joseph & Monica and Fran & Barry who stayed in a room called The Pleasure Dome. This prompted Barry to quip, “This race has ruined our sex life. I’ll tell you that.” After taking a bus together to Fremantle, BJ & Tyler and Ray & Yolanda also bedded down for the evening.
The next morning the five Teams boarded a ferry taking them 13 miles to Rottnest Island. After arriving on the island, the Teams each chose a tandem bike and began a three-mile trek along the winding roads that would take them to a lighthouse and their next clue. As expected, the athletic Eric & Jeremy took an early lead as everyone struggled somewhat as they faced the challenge of biking up and down the many hills of the island. Arriving at the Route Marker, Eric & Jeremy opened the clue to find a Detour. In this Detour, Teams had to choose between Sand and Sea. In Sand, Teams would choose a pile of 40 large branches and drag them 126 yards to a marked sand dune. This task, known as “brushing the beach” is commonly done in Australia to prevent beach erosion. In Sea, Teams had to dive beneath the waves and search through 50 crayfish traps lying on the ocean floor. Only a few traps contained live crayfish. After Teams returned two live crayfish, they would receive their next clue. In both cases, Teams needed to first ride their tandem bikes to the Detour.Pulling up to the marked sand dune at the same moment, rivals Eric & Jeremy and BJ & Tyler split off in opposite directions as the “frat boys” changed into very skimpy bathing suits for some crayfish hunting in the pristine waters while the “hippies” began dragging brush across the beautiful Australian beach. Running into the water, Eric shouted, “Wait for the shrivelage,” before they each dove underwater looking through the traps.
BJ & Tyler continued pulling the large, cumbersome branches across the sand, and were soon joined by their friends Fran & Barry in the task. Meanwhile, friends Eric & Jeremy each retrieved a crayfish and brought them back to shore. Opening their clue, they discovered they had to return to the mainland and find the Fremantle Prison. Built in the 1850s by convict labor, the prison was shut down in 1991, but still existing underneath the prison is a network of tunnels used to supply Fremantle with fresh water.As BJ & Tyler finally finished dragging branches, dating couple Joseph & Monica arrived and suited up for a swim. The couple started off well on the task after blowing up at each other on the ride over when they briefly got lost. However, their accord disintegrated again when they didn’t follow directions and only pulled one crayfish out of the water. Duking it out for last place with Ray & Yolanda, who chose to brush the beach, the couple went back in the water where Monica struggled to pull a crayfish out. With Joseph trying to support her and calm her down, Monica became scared, but finally managed to snag one crayfish on the ocean floor to stay minutes ahead of Ray & Yolanda.
Arriving at the ferry dock, friends Eric & Jeremy caught a huge break by being the only Team to catch the 9:15 am ferry back to Fremantle. Pulling in minutes later, best friends BJ & Tyler opted to take the 9:25am ferry to Hillarys and then catch a taxi down to Frematle after being told this would be faster. The remaining three Teams all boarded the 10:00am ferry back to Fremantle. Trying to get a leg up, both Fran & Barry and Joseph & Monica called for taxis to be waiting when they reached the shore.
After the ferry docked, friends Eric & Jeremy took a jog through Fremantle and arrived at the prison in first place. Opening their clue, the pair encountered a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to search the prison block for several cells within Division 4 that contained Duracell coppertop batteries and a flashlight. Then, after finding an entrance to a darkened cavern, they had to descend deep into the ground and search a set of wet or dry tunnels to find their next clue.While Jeremy had few difficulties in finding his flashlight and batteries, locating the entrance to the cavern was a little trickier. After a seemingly endless search through many doors, some unlocked, others not, Jeremy finally found the door leading to the cavern, just as Joseph & Monica and BJ & Tyler, whose taxi ride from Hillary to Fremantle was riddled with red lights, arrived at the prison gates. Fran & Barry, whose cab driver didn’t show at the dock, now fell into last place, taking a bus instead.
In the caverns, Jeremy grabbed a paddle and canoe to begin his search through the wet tunnels of the prison as Joseph and Tyler scoured the cell block for their flashlight and batteries. After finding his flashlight, Joseph tried his best to ignore the many questions Tyler had about where to find one, but just as Yolanda and Fran began their search, Tyler discovered one as well.
After an unsuccessful tour of the wet tunnels, Jeremy ditched the canoe for the dry tunnels where he located a clue almost instantly. Running back to his partner, Jeremy opened the clue with Eric that instructed them to travel one and a half miles to the Pit Stop at the Fremantle Sailing Club.
With no taxis in sight, the friends opted to run to the Pit Stop, but with all the time Jeremy spent at the Roadblock, dating couple Joseph & Monica, with a taxi waiting for them, closed the gap. As Eric & Jeremy strolled towards the sailing club, they suddenly spotted Joseph & Monica’s taxi pull up and began a sprint to the Pit Stop. Tearing out of their cab, MoJo ran just as hard, but in the end, it wasn’t enough, as Eric & Jeremy once again stepped onto the mat in first place. This time Phil gave the friends a trip for two from Travelocity to Hong Kong.
With best friends BJ & Tyler battling back after two bad legs to finish in third place, Yolanda and Fran remained at the Roadblock trying desperately to help their Team avoid elimination. While Yolanda paddled through the wet tunnels, Fran opted to run through the dry tunnels searching for a clue. Although Yolanda snagged a clue first, Fran found hers only moments after, saying, “We’re in last. I feel badly.”Having a narrow edge allowed dating couple Ray & Yolanda to pull into the Fremantle Sailing Club first. However, the pair couldn’t find the breakwater where Phil stood waiting. While Ray & Yolanda asked inside the club, Fran & Barry pulled up to the parking lot and quickly identified where they needed to go. Figuring it out for themselves, Ray & Yolanda’s speed proved too great for Fran & Barry who stepped onto the mat in last place. After Phil informed the couple they had been eliminated from the race, they looked back fondly on the experience while fighting back tears. On his partner, Barry remarked, “The thing about Fran is that she doesn’t know still to this day at 61 how unique and how special she really is.” Fran commented, “Barry and I see little, old people holding hands and we always say, ‘That’s going to be us in 30 years.’ And God willing, it will be.”
LOL
I like the hippies too--in a "don't stand too close" sort of way :)
I'm surprised Fran & Barry made it this far.
I totally agree with everything you just said. Fran and Barry really annoyed me at first, but last night's ep really had me cheering them on. If Barry would just quit wearing sleeveless shirts, he'd be ok with me (he's a bit hairy).
And how about that team "MoJo"? Hate. Why is that little Barbie such a b*&%h? She's totally got a hate on for team Hippie for SOMETHING THAT HASN'T EVEN HAPPENED! Irrational much?
Yeah, F & B wore on me early on. At least they won a trip last week.
Team MoJo hates everyone. I hope they're eliminated soon.
It's the people on this season. There is no one that is really likeable.
FYI:
Phil has a blog
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race9/shows/ep09/phil/blog/
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