It's time for more adventure boys and girls. Who will be first to find the second artifact? Can the Fogal's stoop any lower? And what's up with that mullet Papa Hanlon? Teams have been stopped for a mandatory rest in South Dakota at the Blue Coyote Bed and Breakfast. (And boy, is this place nice. No roughing it tonight). They could be at the camp anywhere from six to twenty four hours. (It's gonna be closer to six. No rest for the wicked.) At 2:20 AM teams receive a message from host Laird that they will be following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark (If you need more of a history on these two and all their adventures, check out Ask.com.) Teams are to drive 620 miles to Lexington, Montana. Waiting for the teams in the other room are keys to nine Toyota Tundra's. While still trying to wipe the sleep out of their eyes, teams must match the keys to the vehicles and head out. Team USA is first out followed closely by team Air Force. The Wild Hanlons are moving slow, only getting a couple of hours sleep. Once in the car they are fighting about directions. Papa Hanlon is driving while his brother is trying to help with direction. He tells that he's a college graduate and has been all over the world. Papa H yells that he's been to Europe....once. :) As the teams drive toward their destination a friendly billboard hints at a clue..."Look on water, for it is inspiration."

Lexington Mine, Montana (9 hour drive): Teams will search 10,000 ft inside a mine for their next clue. They will be looking for a hidden chamber. It may be a tight fit so the teams can leave one member behind. Teams will be searching for a bucket surrounded by snakes (What the Fogal family is standing guard, hehe). Around the bucket is written "Bend the Light." Team Air Force is in first. The snakes make everyone a little nervous. They quickly determine that they must pour water into the bucket and it will reflect back their next clue. Teams will travel 150 miles to Wood Bottom, Missouri River, Montana. Once there, they will paddle a canoe 20 miles up the river to their next clue. But they've got to hurry. No paddleing after dark. Miss USA and Team Fogal arrive around the same time. When Mama Fogal gets close to the bucket a snake quickly strikes at her. (Hmm, maybe it's editing but I didn't see a snake take a strike at anyone else. Very telling.) At some point team USA goes in search for something, while the Fogal's lurk around behind team Air Force and get the clue and exit the mine. The Fogals say, with much feeling, they hope the girl's (Miss USA) make it out ok. The Grad Student's, Geniuses, and Ex-CIA all arrive and work quickly to find the clue. Team Southie Boys, the Brown's and Wild Hanlons are the last to enter the mine. Papa Hanlon stays outside, while all members of team Brown head into the mine. :oooo The Hanlon's see writing on the walls and start writing down the jibberish, thinking it must be the clues. "UFO," a Wild Hanlon exclaims. The Brown family show little fear around the snakes and figure out the message quickly, after they try to "bend" the light from their flashlights. :laugh Where have the Southie Boy's gone? They're back up in the mine shaft chipping away at the rock walls trying to find the clues. Being nice guys, the Brown's help them out by giving them the clue. (What luck, the Southie Boys didn't have to venture too far into the mine and then are handed the clue. Plus the Brown's have saved everyone from the cave-in that the Southie's surely would have caused.)

At 5:40PM team Air Force is the first to arrive at the Wood Bottom campsite. They receive a phone call that after 5:30PM no one can travel on the river. This is upsetting news to the team because they know that everyone has a chance to catch up. The nice thing about this is that their tents are already for them and they will have steak for dinner. (What ever happened to do it yourself camping??) All of the teams start arriving and they seem to enjoy themselves at camp. Preacher Fogal is very vocal about wanting his steak medium well, not medium, not well, but medium well. (At this point, I would have served it to him on the dirt.) Back at the mine our Wild Hanlon's are not fairing so well. Papa Hanlon has been waiting outside for 11 hours and he seems extremely worried about his family. When they get their clue and make it out, Papa Hanlon is so relieved that he gives his family hugs and thanks God and Texas. They arrive at the campsite at 3:30AM.

When most of the teams wake in the morning they are ready for their canoe trip. Teams will paddle 20 miles down the Missouri River. Along the way, they will pass stars that have been nailed to different locations. Once they are at the fourteenth star they will stop and head inland forty paces where they will search for their next clue. All the teams seem to be doing fairly well getting the rhythm of paddleing except for the Brown family. They are sitting very low in the water and Keith, who's sitting in the middle, leans just a little and that's all she wrote. The canoe (which is tippy anyway) goes right over and all three are in the water. Once again we are reminded of Keith Brown not being a good swimmer. They make it to the river bank and reasses the situation. Are they going to give up?? (It's a nail bitter.) Back at the campsite, the Wild Hanlon's are getting ready to depart at 9:30AM. They are now four hours behind first place. (I know we take things a little slower here in the south, not getting in a big rush and all, but this is a little much. Did they forget they entered a race!?!) There is a three mile portage (get out of the water and carry your canoe) because the river just stops and team Air Force are the first to arrive. They wonder how team Miss USA will handle this challenge. While still making their way down the river, the Miss USA gals are chatting about food, missing momma, and watching a movie. :suspicious Team Fogal reaches the portage. After a few.... seconds... of carrying/dragging the canoe, Daughter Kay--te whines that she's gotta quit. The ever-loving and supportive :angry Father Fogal says, " I knew you would." Matthew from team Southie Boys takes up her slack and helps to carry their canoe. Kay-te and Mama Fogal are off the hook from portage duty. (No good deed goes unpunished.) Back on the river bank the Brown family are going to give it one more try. Not long after they reenter the water, the Wild Hanlon's go past hootin' and hollerin' and know that they are still in the race. The Brown's are trying to work on a slow and steady pace while they are bottom dragging in the canoe. The Grad Gals finally make it to the portage area and are doing a good job of dragging the canoe and then suddenly... one...goes...down. Her foot got caught in a hole and she is in terrible pain. Is this the end for the girls who have been everyone's favorite target? (I think not.) Instead of giving up, the girls work together. The two remaining Grad Students pull the canoe for a distance and then go back to carry their injured teammate. They carry her for awhile because she can't put any weight on her foot/leg. Is there a doctor on the field. *Voila* Finally, out of the mist (well, there's really no mist at this time of day. Just taking a little creative license to paint you guys a picture) appears Dr.GQ to help. He stablizes her leg and magically produces a pair of cruthces. The girls are going to continue.

Back on the river, Team Air Force is the first the paddle to the fourteenth star on the river trail. They are trying to figure out the forty paces. Finally they notice a campfire site that is a little too close to a tree and they start digging. Underneath is a box containing a cipher key (secret language) which was used by Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson for communications. Teams will procede to Tower Rock for their next clue and to find their second artifact. Coming to cut into their lead are teams Fogal, Ex-CIA and the Southies who all appear to be working together. The Fogal's "say" they have lost count and tell Ex-CIA and Southie Boys they think the thirteenth star is the last one. Taking this as gospel :shifty (beware the family with forked tounges), the two teams head to the river bank and the wrong star while the Fogal's dig in and paddle with all they have to the right location. Later the Fogal's justify their actions (lies) by saying they couldn't stop midstream. :suspicious Ex-CIA and the Southie Boys can't believe what the Fogal's have done and they coin the phrase, "Fogal me once, shame on you, Fogal me twice, shame on me." After team Air Force uncovers the clue box, it's no real challenge for the other teams to reach in and grab a cipher key.

Moving right along to Tower Rock State Park: The teams enter the park to find a wooden sign with what appears to be random letters that will lead them to their next artifact. Teams will use their cipher to reveal the message. Easier said than done. Work quickly because there are only eight artifacts and nine teams in the race. Someone will be ending their hunt. Team Air Force arrives first and somehow manage to decipher the message and come up with "Follow close and to the right, beneath a rock dark as night." They start on their search and find some huge black stones. Once they lift them they find a compass. This will be their second artifact. Behind team Air Force, the Fogal's arrive and find their artifact second. The Southie Boys, Ex-CIA, and team Miss USA have banned together to come up with the answer and find their compass' . While the Geniuses are driving to Tower Rock they are studying the cipher key and manage to find their compass quickly, putting them in sixth place. (Ahhh, the power of editing.) Ok ladies and gents, that leave us with three teams and only two artifacts left. The Hanlon's arrive at Tower Rock seventh. They study the wooden sign, look at the letters upside down, talk amongest themselves. There's alot of mullet scratching going on. As the Wild Hanlon's approach sunset and four hours at Tower Rock with no luck, Brother Ben decides it's time for a dinner break. :O This team gets in their Toyota Tundra and starts driving away... far away to get a triple angus burger during an elimination round. By this time the Brown family and Grad Students have arrived at the clue site. Hobbling on crutches and giving it their all, the Grad Students find their artifact seventh. So, we are left with the Brown family and the Wild Hanlons. You would think with an eighty mile, out of the way burger run, the Hanlons would have no hope, but the competition proved to be a non-issue. They could have found a Dairy Queen and topped the evening off with a Blizzard or something. The Wild Hanlon's get their compass and they are the eighth and final team to move forward in the hunt. The Brown family is now eliminated but they let us know that we haven't seen the last of them. (I'm thinking, yeah maybe at the live finale, but then we catch the previews and they may be telling the truth.) :oooo

Thanks for your time. See you all next week. And until then, try not to get Fogal'd.


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