back in the US...

what a pleasant surprise to pull up Amazing Race from my DVR list this week to discover that is was two whole hours long! what NOT a pleasant surprise to discover that the teams are already headed back to the US. Oh yes, they've been out of the US for soooo long, going to Panama and then Costa Rica. They didn't even cross any oceans for crying out loud! Lucky for me, the episodes opens with one of the hot Linz brothers stripping down to go take a swim, so no complaints there. Anyway, quick visit to a Costa rican church and a sugar cane detour, and back into the US they go and onto Arizona where there is yet another racetrack task which I'm sure is designed to try to instill some sort of sympathy for the Weaver family to balance out the extreme dislike. The Bransen sisters and Wally get to the pit stop mat last but thanks to the friendly advice of the Paolos, they are layered up for the obvious non-elimination leg.

Hour #2! Flying in little fighter jets and then a trip to the Grand Canyon (as if it weren't an obvious stop for this all-american tour). They are at the Grand Canyon for about two minutes before they are sent to some other tourist attraction and end up doing random detours consisting of either knowing how to use a compass, or being really good at scooping water. Finally they get to go via power boat to the pit stop, where the Linz' are TOTALLY RIPPED OFF and come in second place to the desperate housewives even though they should have been first. Those boats were rigged!