Amazing Race - The Big Finish

Our next stop on this Amazing Race is:

Germany

Detour

Welcome to Germany, land of Saur Kraut and Wiener dogs!

Route

OR

Kraut

You can choose the Route to your next clue by jogging approximately

0.402335 kilometers to a pick up point

OR

Each member of your intrepid team will find and eat a

German Kiss from a pile of Saur Kraut. Oh, hands behind your back!

With their hands behind their back, the team had to fish

a Hershey's kiss out of a plate full of Saur Kraut and eat it

Merrill gives his Mama a German Kiss!

The blue team all ate the kisses and then Rex lost his lunch and couldn't do it.

After all that they had to take the Route by jogging to a pick up point!

Merrill charts the course to...

India

Detour

Namaste!

Welcome to India, a bright and exotic land and home of the Taj Mahal.

I just adore those Bollywood movies! Those movies with their colorful costumes

 and Indian dances really "Bowl Me Over". Maybe they'll bowl you over too!



At this stop each member of the team had to make a strike,

 knocking down all of the peacock bowling pins.

They were the human bowling balls.

The "Ball" sat on a furniture dolly and their team mates sent them down the alley.

We also had a very lovely Bollywood Dancer, but alas,

 she was taking pictures and so she could not be immortalized on film!

Template for the bowling pins

I printed this out on blue paper and added glitter then glued them onto water filled liter bottles.

England

Cheerio and welcome to England.

It's time to cross the English Channel as we make our way towards France.

Don't rock the boat or you may take a dip in the sea and then your bottom

will get wet and that will make for a very uncomfortable bike ride when

you enter the Tour de France in Paris!

The travelers got into their life jackets and headed off across the English Channel.

The team leaders took the oars on the way over.

On the way back they used the trolling motor.

Safely back on shore!

Paris, France

Detour

Bon Jour!

Welcome to beautiful Paris France and our lovely Eiffel Tower.

Here you will participate in our prestigious bike race, The Tour de France.

Half way through the race you will find your next clue.

Retrieve it then return here to drop off your bikes and be on your way.

Their host in France was that same obnoxious French men in a beret and moustache from last year. Wow, what a coincidence!



We have a "Road to Nowhere" in our community. It trails along for about a quarter mile then ends at a locked gate . With no traffic on it, this was the perfect spot to let all the little travelers go for a bike ride.

The next Route Info clue was on the gate. After grabbing it they headed back.

Mexico

Detour

In Mexico we welcome the spirits of our deceased relatives

back to Earth during Dios De Muertos (The day of the dead).

Today we will visit the graves of some of our departed family.

Using the cemetery map to start, first locate the grave of Sarah Prince Butler.

At this stop each team received a bag with a flower, compass, paper and crayons. This leg of the journey was basically a treasure hunt. They performed little tasks at each grave and learned something about each family member along the way.



Clues for graveyard

At Aunt Marge's grave they had to act out what she was the world's greatest fan of.

At Uncle Pop's grave I told how he was every ones favorite Uncle. He was nicknamed

Uncle Pop because he always bought the little kids a pop when they were with him.

The kids drew a picture of one of their favorite Uncles and gave them a nickname.

Grandpa Brown always told funny stories and sang silly songs.

They remembered a favorite song he sang and performed it.

They put a zebra print flower on the grave of Sarah Prince Butler.

The clue asked them to guess where she was born using that flower as a clue.

After performing each task they received clues to the next grave.

They used their compass and physical clues to the next stop.

At Frances Crosby Brown's grave they made a rubbing

 of the inscription on the top of her headstone.

At Grandpa Merrill's grave they found a toy hamburger and envelope along with the clue.

The clue said Grandpa enjoyed taking walks with his grandkids and buying a treat along

the way. They were to take the money in the envelope and go to Dairy Queen and have a treat in memory of Grandpa.

Last Stop

Japan

Detour

Konnichiwa and welcome to Japan, Land of the Rising Sun.

To honor you for taking this Amazing Journey we would like to honor you

in an ancient Japanese Tea Ceremony.

The team was greeted by a geisha who served them a special Amazing Race tea.

The little guys got lemonade.

The big kids got a cup full of melted Warheads otter pops!

Roadblock

Hike

OR

Bike

One Person Participates.

You can only participate once in a road block.

The rickshaw is a unique mode of transportation in Japan.

 The passengers ride in a cart pulled by a bike or by a running man.

One person can deliver every other team member to a drop off point

by rickshaw (wheelbarrow) then push the wheelbarrow back

and then run to the drop off point

OR

All the team can Hike there together as a group with one person dressed as a Sumo Wrestler.

This was the last leg of the journey and it held the possibility of both teams arriving there together. The first team to arrive was able to choose which task to do and the second had to do the remaining.

Our Rickshaw team had to make two trips and then

run a block and a half to a business on Main Street.

Suiting up for the LONG walk!

They found the last clue in the courtyard of a restaurant it said:

Congratulations this is the last leg of your journey.

Head for home and the first team to land on the Amazing Race logo wins!

And the winning team is...

The Blue Team!!!

Winners of the coveted Travelocity Gnome!

And coming in a very close second, the red team!

It was an Amazing day!

Gramma Luvlee







The World Is Waiting For You

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is a reality game show where teams race each other throughout multiple countries using many different means of transportation. Each country has a competition based on the traditions of their region. At each stop the team must find the Route Marker Box which holds the clues and directions  to the next leg of the journey.

The Route Info is clues directing the team on where to go next. My clues included specific addresses, clues in the form of a riddle and directional clues (ie. go North 1.6 miles and turn East).

Detours give the team the option of choosing between to tasks, each with it's own pros and cons. The options are presented based on rhymes or puns like Eggs or Legs. The team can switch tasks without penalty if they can't complete it.

A Road Block is a task that only one team member can perform. Each team member may only complete one Road Block in the course of the game so they have to choose wisely.

I used the templates on Chica and Jo's Blog. The envelopes I made by gluing the Amazing Race black strip onto gold paper. 

The World IsWaiting For You.

Good Luck.

Travel Safe.

GO!

Each team received Amazing Race Buttons, Official Water Bottles, a Local Map, and Compass.

The host handed each team the first Route Info clue and they were off!

The drivers had a basic idea of where they were going but couldn't give any hints. The teams weren't from this town so they really had to rely on the chosen "Navigator" to get them to the right place.

The teams were always staggered between two or three locations so that those running that leg of the journey wouldn't have to be waiting all day for the teams to arrive. Each Route Marker Box had both teams clue in it. They had a colored dot indicating which team the clue was for and what leg of the journey it was for that team.

Water Bottle Labels

The Netherlands

They searched for and found the Route Marker Box and then they were met by a gracious Dutch lady in costume who welcomed the travelers to her country. In the box they found these clues:

Detour - Welcome to the Netherlands, which is sometimes called Holland. This is a low-lying country known for it's windmills & colorful tulips.

Holland's tulip crop is being threatened by a devastating blight! Help them by searching among the iconic flowers for those with root rot.

 Your team must pluck out 5 of these diseased plants. Sound easy? Well, not so much! The tulip plucker is blindfolded and directed by the remaining members of their team, and because of the disease he can't actually touch the plant, he has to use a grabber.

For each team I cut out 30 simple tulip shapes from bright cardstock and hot glued them onto green plastic forks. On five of them I colored the tines (Roots) black with a permanent marker. These were stuck in the ground in two different areas for the two different teams. 

Detour -

Cut Cheese

OR

Say Cheese

Holland is a dairy rich country famous for it's delicious cheese!

Four out of six (I had to do this because of food allergies) team members will sample and eat 5 types of Cut Cheese

OR

all the team members will dress like Dutch girls and hand out tulips at Short Stop where they will Say Cheese and be photographed!

Teams may change challenges if needed.

I found five of the stinkiest cheeses known to man(Bleu, feta and really strong swiss cheese included!) and sadly both teams gobbled them down!

There was NO Way they were dressing up in the cute little braided Dutch bonnets I so lovingly created. They even convinced the tiniest travelers to eat them!

Who would have guessed? Asher loves bleu cheese!

After completing this Detour the travelers were given the

Route Info for the next leg of the journey. It said:

On an African safari you'll likely see

monkeys and chimps up in a tree.

We may not have vines where

they can cling

but we do have some bars

and even a ______.

Africa

They went to the park where they were met by a big game hunter in costume. After locating the Route Marker they found this clue.

Detour -

Sannu, and welcome to Africa!

Africa is famous the world over for it's game preserves and magnificent wild life.

 You and your team mates are lucky enough to be going on safari!

Round up the big game by digging in the sand (the volleyball court) and finding a bag with your teams color. After you have secured the bag, run to a designated spot and assemble the puzzle, revealing which of Africa's famous animals you've bagged. Take a picture of your team acting like that animal.



We didn't get any pictures of our wonderfully costumed hosts because while the drivers were video taping they asked the hosts to take pictures. OOPSEY!

After they finished this challenge they read the Route Info.

New York City

Detour -

Welcome to The Big Apple, New York City,

home of the Statue of Liberty and Broadway!

No one drives in New York. The traffic is horrendous!

So hail a cab and finish the race.

Choose a taxi driver and his fare for each of the cabs

then hold on to your seats as we rocket

through the streets of New York!

In this challenge cabs race each other through the hazardous streets of NYC. Two people enter each cab and drive through the obstacles of a NYC street. The twist is, after they choose who the driver is, the driver is blindfolded and the cab is directed by the backseat driver.The team competes against each other to get to the finish line first without crashing into each other or the construction obstacles. I was a construction worker with a hard hat, orange vest and stop sign who directed traffic.

I made the cabs from boxes.

We put pieces of wood in each box then screwed them together to form the body of the cab.

By the time the red team got here there was a torrential downpour which cut their race short and completely destroyed the cabs and all the signs and obstacles. When the teams finished the course the next clue said:

Road Block -

Only one person completes this task.

Give me Liberty

OR

Give Me Death!

One person will stand on the corner with the Town Sign. They will dress like the Statue of Liberty and wave at cars for 5 minutes

OR

They will choose Death by chocolate by drinking small cups of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup until they find two "I heart NY" symbols in the bottom of the cups.

                                                                        Red Team

Korbi volunteered to take the Death by chocolate

even after seeing the tray with 25 medicine cups full of chocolate syrup.

What's the big deal!

Korbi drank 3/4 of the cups beore finding both "I heart NY" symbols.

She said she was fine then. We'll check back with her later!

Blue Team

The blue team chose Liberty, with Kamryn taking one for the team!

Our lovely Lady Liberty!

Australia

Buying bread from a man from Brussels

Six foot four and full of muscles.

I said, "do you speak a my language?"

He just smiled and gave me a veggimite sandwich!

If you hail from the Land Down Under your favorite

 lunch is made with this yummy concoction, Veggimite!

2 team members will work together to make the sandwich

(generously slathering the spread), each only using their left hand.

They will evenly divide the sandwich and then will race and

feed it to the remaining team members who will eat it all and love it!

Yummy!

Jett cringes while Pace just hurries and washes it down!

Korbi's stomach of iron is beginning to fail her.

Merrill's comment was, "how did Grandpa ever eat this stuff?"

His Grandpa hails from The Land Down Under.

After completing this challenge the teams received the next card.

Detour

Eggs OR Legs

The platypus, a semi-aquatic animal from Australia is the only mammal to lay eggs. This odd looking, mixed up creature is also duck billed,venomous, beaver tailed and otter footed!

Search among the platypus nest until you find two of his hard cooked Eggs. How do you find them, you may ask? By each player cracking one on their forehead until you find the boiled ones

OR

Use your Legs by 4 out of 6 members of your team hopping like a kangaroo at least 7 consecutive times on a pogo stick.

You can change challenges if needed.

Eggs

For some reason we didn't get pictures of this challenge. Their were two straw nests hidden in the yard. In each was a dozen raw eggs and two hard boiled. They took turns cracking them on their heads until the two hard boiled eggs were found. Baby wipes were provided!



Legs

The Legs part wasn't as easy as it sounded. This took quite a while to accomplish.

China

In the envelope at this stop they had another white envelope with their team color on it (it contained the money) and a calculator.

Detour

Welcome to China.

Find the total cost for you team (driver too) to patronize this establishment.

 Give the cashier that amount and they will give you the next clue.

That clue said:

Congratulations on finishing the first half of your journey.

You deserve a break. Enjoy your lunch in China!

Each team had to find out the cost for each traveler to eat. Each was different because of their ages. Once they got the same total (with tax) as the cashier they received their clue.

This is where Korbi's tummy finally got the better of her. She sat there

miserable while everyone else enjoyed their meal. So Sad!!

More on our travels later,

Gramma Luvlee