The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Chip and Kim won because they came in last on the events in Canada and so got on an earlier flight than Colin and Christie, and Brandon and Nicole who’s flight was delayed because the fog in Calgary kept their plane from landing the night before. So despite the maniacal efforts of C&Cs taxi driver in Dallas, C&K were able to hold the lead they got from the earlier flight. The two later teams also learned a lesson about airline safety — you can’t fly on a different flight from your bags (unless the airline goofs). 

I like Chip — he just seems like an easy going guy. My wife wasn’t happy with him because he lied to Brandon and Nicole, but I thought B&N were being lazy in letting Chip do all the work, and they shouldn’t have put that million dollar temptation in front of him. How hard was it to get out of the boat and jog over to the route marker? So my hats off to the big guy, and Kim, you’re along for the ride just like you were on the show (except for the hike up the mountain to the Continental Divide).

I was happy it just wasn’t Colin and Christie who won. Colin doesn’t think much of the editing of the show, but I’m sorry, it didn’t make up your multiple psychotic episodes. Colin proposed on the Early Show, and Christie accepted. Good luck to both of you, and I hope you never have the unrelenting stress that you experienced during the show.

I was bummed the Bowling Moms didn’t make it into the final three, but then they had to face the wall of death. OK, it wasn’t exactly that, but being strong and fit sure did help one scale that cliff. Is it just me, or have they increased the difficulty of a lot of the detours, roadblocks, and fastforwards? They always got your heart racing, but it seems that they also require strength, stamina, athleticism, all that stuff I have in such short supply. It was really nice to see a mature team keep up, play smart, and be such nice people.

The amazing thing in this episode is that my wife and I stayed in the hotel at the Calgary airport on our honeymoon. The one that the teams crossed the street from the terminal and then sacked out in some room. We went to Lake Louise for the honeymoon, and spent the first night of our marriage in Calgary.

I thought the finale was pretty taut, with good guys, villains (yes, Colin, I mean you), and some along for the ride (as much as my wife likes Brandon, I find him and Nicole a little, well, clueless). Jenspeaks also liked it, and has much more.