A week ago, some old 7th ward friends set up an Amazing Race Saturday (similar to the TV show) that took us through the northern parts of Arizona. My friend Kathy and I decided we had a Saturday to give up, so we joined! There were only 8 people so we split into 3 teams: Angela, Jeff & Emily; RJ, Tina & Kathryn; and me & Kathy... destined winners.
After a briefing at Jeff's house on rules like no breaking the law and keeping the speed within 10mph of the posted limit, we all set out close to 10am on what ended up being a long adventure through the great state of Arizona. Kathy and I got in my car first and on our way... what a great head start! Except for the fact that I got turned around and LOST getting out of Jeff's neighborhood! :) Don't worry, we course corrected and got on track.
Our first destination: Payson, AZ
(You might have to press the minus button on the maps a couple of times to see the full routes...)
We had two photo stops on the way to Payson. Our first was relatively easy to find... the Verde River sign near the Fort-McDowell Casino.
Kathy and I decided to make all of our pictures jumping pictures, just to spice things up a bit. (Excuse my sweaty pits... welcome to Phoenix in the summertime...)
Running back to the car... no time to waste!!Our next stop I don't think was meant to be as difficult as it was. We had another 29 miles to go before reaching our next photo mission: to take a picture of any structure in the town of Sunflower. Well, at about 28.8 miles, I somehow saw a sign for "Sunflower Towing" off the side of the road and wondered if that was the town of Sunflower. Well, the 29 miles came and went, and no town in sight. Unfortunately, the road to Payson has NO turn-arounds for many miles... We went another 17 miles before we could turn around and jet back to take a picture of the mighty ghost town of Sunflower.
Yep, that's it.
Nothing more.
Yep, that's it.Nothing more.
After that slight detour, we finally made it into our first destination (and final photo stop): the visitor's center for Payson, AZ. We had to get a picture in front of the sign
and grab any brochure from inside. It turned out that Kathy and I ended up being the rudest of the three teams... the volunteer workers at the visitor center were trying to be helpful and friendly and we didn't so much as look up at them while we grabbed some random brochure and headed out the door. All the other teams were too nice and got caught talking to the old people there. Suckers. That helped us make up some time, for sure!
Oh, but then we had to get gas and pee. We did it quick, but still made time to document some dead animal life at the gas station.
Now, onto our second destination: Flagstaff, AZ
and grab any brochure from inside. It turned out that Kathy and I ended up being the rudest of the three teams... the volunteer workers at the visitor center were trying to be helpful and friendly and we didn't so much as look up at them while we grabbed some random brochure and headed out the door. All the other teams were too nice and got caught talking to the old people there. Suckers. That helped us make up some time, for sure!Oh, but then we had to get gas and pee. We did it quick, but still made time to document some dead animal life at the gas station.
Now, onto our second destination: Flagstaff, AZThis leg of the trip was tricky... we had 2 options to get to Flagstaff. Option A (or was it B... whatever, there were two) was to go through Camp Verde to the I-17 then up the highway to Flagstaff.
This route was longer in distance and had three photo stops, but had higher speed limits.
Option B was through Mormon Lake.
A shorter distance, but a slower speed limit on a two lane road and only one photo stop. We were pretty sure we were seriously behind with our 17 mile (each way) detour, so we opted for the shorter distance hoping it would pay off.
Then in Flagstaff, we were to meet up for a pit stop at the Burger King, documenting our arrival time so we could take off in correct intervals after our lunch break.
The race so far...
1st place: RJ, Tina & Kathryn
(45 seconds later...)
2nd place: Me and Kathy
(3 minutes later...)
3rd place: Jeff, Angela & Emily
After lunch (at Bun Hugger's... not Burger King)
we set out on our third destination: Sedona, AZ
via a "day hike" near Snow Bowl.
This route was longer in distance and had three photo stops, but had higher speed limits.
Option B was through Mormon Lake.
A shorter distance, but a slower speed limit on a two lane road and only one photo stop. We were pretty sure we were seriously behind with our 17 mile (each way) detour, so we opted for the shorter distance hoping it would pay off.
On this route, we had to take a picture of Mormon Lake (from the car was ok)
and a picture of a team member by any sign for Mormon Lake.
Then in Flagstaff, we were to meet up for a pit stop at the Burger King, documenting our arrival time so we could take off in correct intervals after our lunch break.
The race so far...1st place: RJ, Tina & Kathryn
(45 seconds later...)
2nd place: Me and Kathy
(3 minutes later...)
3rd place: Jeff, Angela & Emily
After lunch (at Bun Hugger's... not Burger King)
we set out on our third destination: Sedona, AZ
via a "day hike" near Snow Bowl.
The hike was advertised as "gently sloping hills" and more of a 1-mile nature walk. Well, all of the teams were so close in our starting times, that we all arrived at the trailhead at the same time and rushed right past the handy little trail map that would have helped out a lot. We followed the directions from our Amazing Race instructions to take the left fork in the trail which led to the telephone poles... our first photo mission on the hike:
But then the trail kept going and going and going...
...up a really steep hill.
That wasn't part of the description of this one-mile nature walk. Especially since we had been hiking for over an hour and the mile loop hadn't started to loop one bit. Jeff decided to call us all in for a mulit-team meeting.
Apparently, I didn't have my thinking cap on, so RJ supplemented...
(His foot really isn't on my head, but if you know RJ, well...
you wouldn't think there was anything strange about that picture if you know RJ.)
But then the trail kept going and going and going...
...up a really steep hill.That wasn't part of the description of this one-mile nature walk. Especially since we had been hiking for over an hour and the mile loop hadn't started to loop one bit. Jeff decided to call us all in for a mulit-team meeting.
Apparently, I didn't have my thinking cap on, so RJ supplemented...
(His foot really isn't on my head, but if you know RJ, well...you wouldn't think there was anything strange about that picture if you know RJ.)
So we decided to forfeit the hike and start over (with the time lapses) from that point on the trail. If groups decided to continue onto the real trail, they could try to find the 2 bonus pictures:
An old sunken-in cabin off the beaten path.
It belonged to the man who settled this area (can't remember his name...)
And pictographs off the trail.
Each bonus picture was worth 15 minutes off their final time.
But even with both of those bonuses, Team RJTinaKathryn still lost.
And I guess since they knew they were going to lose, they also got one of the original photo stops.
The plaque of this guy.
(Man, I wish I could remember his name...)
Meanwhile, Kathy and I (and I guess Angela, Jeff & Emily) were well on our way to
our third destination (for real, this time): Sedona, AZ
View Larger Map
An old sunken-in cabin off the beaten path.It belonged to the man who settled this area (can't remember his name...)
And pictographs off the trail.Each bonus picture was worth 15 minutes off their final time.
But even with both of those bonuses, Team RJTinaKathryn still lost.
And I guess since they knew they were going to lose, they also got one of the original photo stops.
The plaque of this guy.(Man, I wish I could remember his name...)
Meanwhile, Kathy and I (and I guess Angela, Jeff & Emily) were well on our way to
our third destination (for real, this time): Sedona, AZ
View Larger Map
Kathy and I were pretty sure we were kicking trash at that point. When we got into Sedona, we had two photo missions... but it didn't specify which order to do them in. Knowing that traffic gets crazier as you get closer to the actual town of Sedona, we stopped for our team photo stop in (literally) the Oak Creek first.
No jumping pictures this time!
We each had to have both feet on a rock in the river (not on the banks at all).
Stopping for the creek pictures first proved to be very detrimental in our final time. As we pulled over to snap a shot of Slide Rock, Jeff, Angela & Emily passed us!!! We kinda freaked out... until we realized that they still had to pull over for the Oak Creek shot. And parking was more of a mess where they were stopping. Very smart move for us. Go Team Kabecca Robinlove! (Oh yeah, that was our team name, by the way!)
After that seemingly small victory, we were now heading into the final portion of the amazing race, our fourth and final destination: Mesa, AZ
View Larger Map
No jumping pictures this time!
We each had to have both feet on a rock in the river (not on the banks at all).Then we continued on to our other photo stop... a drive-by picture of Slide Rock State Park.
Stopping for the creek pictures first proved to be very detrimental in our final time. As we pulled over to snap a shot of Slide Rock, Jeff, Angela & Emily passed us!!! We kinda freaked out... until we realized that they still had to pull over for the Oak Creek shot. And parking was more of a mess where they were stopping. Very smart move for us. Go Team Kabecca Robinlove! (Oh yeah, that was our team name, by the way!)After that seemingly small victory, we were now heading into the final portion of the amazing race, our fourth and final destination: Mesa, AZ
View Larger Map
We only had one photo stop on the way back to Jeff's house, and it was something that I've strangely wanted to do ever since I moved here... stop at Sunset Point rest stop and take a picture.
And here's where the title of this post comes in... So, Kathy wanted to take a leaping picture ever since we took a leaping picture of me at the Mormon Lake sign. So we went to the look out for sunset point and I told Kathy to leap! There was a man standing by that kind of chuckled and said to his son, "Watch out! We've got leapers!" They kindly moved out of our way, but then kindly watched our poor attempts at leaping.
It was the end of a long day, remember?
And here's where the title of this post comes in... So, Kathy wanted to take a leaping picture ever since we took a leaping picture of me at the Mormon Lake sign. So we went to the look out for sunset point and I told Kathy to leap! There was a man standing by that kind of chuckled and said to his son, "Watch out! We've got leapers!" They kindly moved out of our way, but then kindly watched our poor attempts at leaping.
It was the end of a long day, remember?Well, after that stop, all we had to do was make it back to Jeff's house. It was a little intense because even though we knew we were in the lead, we weren't sure by how much and if TeamRJTinaKathryn's 30 minute bonus would give them the lead.
We got to Jeff's house and ran to the backyard to claim our prize:
Well, actually, this is just the required photo to show what time we got to the prize.
I don't remembe what time it was, but I know that
WE WON!!!!!!
Here's our prize... Plastic roses and a certificate of bragging rights.
Well, actually, this is just the required photo to show what time we got to the prize.I don't remembe what time it was, but I know that
WE WON!!!!!!
Here's our prize... Plastic roses and a certificate of bragging rights.Jeff, Angela & Emily arrived (I think) 18 minutes after us. They were a little nervous that they're second place prize hopes would be dashed by TeamRJTinaKathyrn's 30 minute bonus. They anxiously watched the clock and with only 2 more minutes to go before they could snag the 2nd place rights, TeamRJTinaKathyrn showed up in Jeff's backyard and took over second place.
The final race?
1st place: Me and Kathy
(probably about 5 minutes later...)
2nd place: RJ, Tina & Kathryn
(2 minutes later...)
3rd place: Jeff, Angela & Emily
The final toll on me, racing around the Northern Country?
Pure exhaustion.
1st place: Me and Kathy
(probably about 5 minutes later...)
2nd place: RJ, Tina & Kathryn
(2 minutes later...)
3rd place: Jeff, Angela & Emily
The final toll on me, racing around the Northern Country?
Pure exhaustion.
7 comments:
wow spendy... haha not 1 part of that sounds fun. you're a trooper! :)
Wow! We're cool! Thanks for documenting that day in an informative and hilarious fashion. I love this post!
Sounds like you all had quite the fun adventure. It's fun to see several of the old seventh ward peeps, and no, that picture of RJ seemingly standing on your head is not weird at all--knowing him!
I love the Amazing Race and the Arizona version was very entertaining (as told by you). Kudos for your first place finish!
Congratulations on your victory, Kabecca Robinlove!
from Kathy's mom
Wow! Sounds like quite the adventure!:) Congrats on your victory Rebecca! It's been awhile since I've seen you--we should get together soon! I want to hear all the latest!
That was an amazing race. I'm surprised you did it in one day.
Post a Comment