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Bates & Anthony have officially checked in as number one and are given $15,000 for their efforts. It should be noted that they are done with this leg before any of the other teams has reached the Detour.

The teams are converging on the animal preserve in waves. First, Pam & Winnie are not too far ahead of Chuck & Wynona in the safari trucks. Second, Caroline & Jen and Mona & Beth are both done with the Road Block and loading into their water taxis.

Back at the police station, in his haste to get back on the road, Max carelessly backs right into a telephone pole. Luckily for them, there is only damage to their car, so they carry on. Plus, their spirits perk up slightly with the realization that the perpetually lost Joey & Meghan are now behind them and following.

At the clue box, Cape Fear must do their Speed Bump before they can start the Road Block. The Speed Bump requires them to finish beading a ceremonial skirt and then perform a dance to the satisfaction of the locals. While they start the Speed Bump, Joey grabs the goats and loads up the canoe as the chosen one for Team YouTube.

Pam & Winnie get their Detour clue first and must decide between Brains and Brawn. Brains requires them to take a horseback safari tour, in which they will spot ten cutout animal shapes. Then they have to proceed to a camp and arrange tiles in the order they saw the “animal.” Brawn has teams load up wood in a sled and then using a carrot as bait, they must get a team of donkeys to pull the wood a half-mile to get the clue. The girls opt for Brawn. I am surprised at their choice because the phrase “stubborn as a mule” was coined for a reason and these creatures are likely going to be uncooperative for at least one team.

Chuck & Wynona, on the other hand, go with Brains. This surprises me as well but only because they admit they aren’t the smartest of teams yet they go big and choose a memory challenging task. They get off to a solid start and Chuck even properly identifies one animal as a kudu.

Cowboy Royalty and Sock ‘er Moms are following in Pam & Winnie’s footsteps over at Brawn. Their mere presence at Brawn plants the seed of doubt and anxiety for Pam & Winnie that they should switch. A few unsuccessful pulls of the reins to get their (shockingly) stubborn mules to move later and the girls bail on the task. They are now heading to Brains.

Max is enjoying the Speed Bump quite a bit more than his hyper-critical wife, but she does at least have a smile on her face for the first time this leg. With their Speed Bump complete, it’s Road Block time and Max elects to do it.

The river struggles for Joey weren’t as great as his struggles on the road but any issues are enough to narrow the time gap between them and Max & Katie, who sees Team YouTube delivering the goats.

At Brawn, the donkey sled race between Caroline & Jen and Mona & Beth is heating up. The lead of the singers hits a snag when their sled gets wedged between two trees. This is just enough of an opening for the roller moms to skate on by them. The two-team showdown at Brains is less exciting. Pretty much if you were in first at this task, you stay in first until the tile-arranging portion comes up. Wisely both teams are splitting the memorization into five each.

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