But the Models run into their first obstacle of the leg: the muddy roads outside the plantation. They end up stuck in it, and Charla & Mirna waffle between leaving them behind and trying to help them. They ultimately decide to help them and the four get a tractor driver to pull Brandon & Nicole's car to the paved road, with Charla & Mirna close behind. However, the teams separate when they reach an intersection, Team Hi-Lo getting lost while the Models hit the highway.

No one else seems to have any trouble getting through the mud. An hour
and 23 minutes after the Models depart, Kami & Karli leave, still bitter about the Married Parents' betrayal of them.

At the airport, Brandon & Nicole arrive first and try to make reservations over the phone. The 9:10am flight to San Carlos is sold out, and the next flight from that airline is at 10:30am. While they struggle with the phone, Jim & Marsha (Team Wounded Knee) arrives and gets on line. Linda & Karen (Team Bowling Moms), Bob & Joyce (Team Net-Widowers) and Colin & Christie (Team Type A) are in a road race to find the airport and decided to all follow Colin's driving. When they arrive, they get the news about the flights and work out strategies.

Marshall & Lance (Team Pizza Brothers) get a flat tire on the highway.  The rules state that they can fix it themselves OR they can wait for a back-up vehicle. Either way, time's-a-wasting so, though they had little experience, they successfully change the tire in 13 minutes and make it to the airport... behind Team Hi-Lo, who had a local show them the way. Charla & Mirna confront Brandon & Nicole, who say they waited for them as long as they dared (yeah, right) and promised to book a flight for all of them.

When Team Pizza Brothers arrive, THEY decide to check out the flights on the OTHER Argentine airline at the terminal. It turns out THEY have a flight to San Carlos at 9:40am. Charla & Mirna hear about this, inform the Models... and get in line at the ticket booth across the hall from the baggage counter, which cheese-off Marshall & Lance. The brothers try to find out if Team Hi-Lo and the Models will be together and, when they find out they are, they're even ANGRIER!

Soon, all the teams are at the airport and, at 4am, the ticket counter for Aerolineas Argentinas (the first airline) opens up. Jim & Marsha try to book for the 9:10 flight... but there's only one seat left.  Marsha confirms the seat for herself and asks for standby on that flight and the 10:30 flight for her father, since the rules state that both team members MUST travel together at all times. Then Brandon & Nicole ask Marsha to book THEM on the 10:30 flight... much to Charla & Mirna's chagrin. Linda & Karen buy tickets for themselves and Bob & Joyce for the 10:30, followed closely by Chip & Kim. Team Twins are shut out of the flight, but get on the waiting list.

At 5:30am, the Southern Winds airline counter opens and Team Hi-Lo gets on the 9:40. Team Pizza Brothers likewise get on the flight, while Team Twins get on the waiting list for THAT flight as well. Colin & Christie get at the top of the standby list for the 9:10 flight, despite Christie being "high-strung", according to Colin. Meanwhile, the Models get on standby for the other two flights, hoping the 10:30 they're already booked on will be a last resort. Also Charla once again uses her height to an advantage (and also says she needs to get to a "doctoro" in Patagonia) to get on the waiting list for the 9:10.

ALL ABOARD! Three teams anxiously wait at the standby counter... and Colin & Christie and Charla & Mirna luck out to get on the flight, leaving Jim & Marsha with no choice but to hope they get on the 10:30am. For the 9:40 flight, Marshall & Lance get on board... and the seats opened up by Team Hi-Lo's early departure go to... Brandon & Nicole. That leaves the 10:30 flight. Linda & Karen, Bob & Joyce and Chip & Kim are on the flight, leaving Team Wounded Knee and Kami & Karli the hope of getting on standby. And the winner is... Team Twins!

They depart... and Team Wounded Knee is left behind! They DO manage to
catch an 11:30 flight... but they are almost two hours behind the leaders!

Arriving at 11:30am: Team Type A & Team Hi-Lo
Arriving at 12noon: Models & Team Pizza Brothers
Arriving at 12:55pm: Team Net-Widowers, Team Bowling Moms, Married
Parents & Team Twins
Arriving at 2:20pm: Team Wounded Knee

SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE, ARGENTINA

After arriving, Team Type A and Team Hi-Lo find the marked jeeps... and
Colin & Christie pull ahead thanks to Mirna's inability to drive a jeep at first. Both enjoy the view on the road to town. A half-hour later, Models & Team Pizza Brothers hit the road... but Brandon & Nicole got EXACT directions from a friendly traveler on the plane, so they have an advantage. Therefore, Marshall & Lance agree to follow them.

Colin & Christie arrive at the mayor's office and are given their next clue:

ROUTE INFO: Make your way to the Del Turista Chocolate Factory (one of many chocolate factories in town, except this one is only two blocks away) at 252 San Martin. Find your next clue inside.

Team Type A try to keep Team Hi-Lo from seeing them and finding the office... but they do and follow Colin & Christie to the factory, where they find:

ROAD BLOCK - ("The one who does this task must have a sweet tooth") Bite into each of the nearly 11,000 pieces of chocolate on the counter inside until you find one of the 20 that has a white center. You must BITE the pieces; you cannot break them apart with your hands. You need not swallow the chocolates you bite. Show the worker the white center to obtain your next clue. (That makes the odds of finding a white center only a LITTLE better than 1-in-550!)

Colin is bullied into going for Team Type A while Charla volunteers for Team Hi-Lo (though she needs a stool to get up to the counter). They chomp their way through the pieces... and Charla finds one first (and nearly kills herself jumping off the stool). She gets the clue (from a worker almost as "vertically challenged" as SHE is), which she and Mirna read together:

ROUTE INFO: Drive yourself to the Villa Catedral (a ski village nearly 12 miles away). Take the gondola ride to the top, and then walk the trail to find your next clue.

Mirna once again has trouble with the stick-shift of the jeep... which allows Marshall & Lance to catch up (and to pass by yelling "B*TCH" at them). Colin finally finds a white center and gets the next clue, pulling ahead of Team Hi-Lo.

Meanwhile, the second group arrives at the mayor's office and gets the clue that leads to the ROAD BLOCK. Brandon decides to do the task since he "has the bigger stomach". He finds a white center in record time and run out... just as Team Pizza Brothers head in. Marshall volunteers and Lance tells him to take his time since there are no other teams there.

This changes when teams from the THIRD plane arrive in town. Joyce takes the ROAD BLOCK for Team Net-Widowers...and finds one relatively quickly. Then in comes Team Bowling Moms. Linda charges in, chomps through a number of sweets. This further frustrates Team Pizza Brothers, as they've been trying for close to an hour now... and Marshall's getting queasy. Then Kami of Team Twins joins the fun. She finds a white center and THEY split... and Marshall's about to hurl... or give up, whichever comes first! Linda isn't much better.

Another blow comes when Chip barges in and makes it a three-way eatery. Meanwhile, Jim & Marsha arrive at the mayor's office, then heads for the factory. Linda is the first to find a center... followed by Chip. That means everyone that had arrived almost an hour behind Team Pizza Brothers are now AHEAD of them... and they've gone from tied for 3rd to 8th! However, they FINALLY manage to find a white center before Team Wounded Knee arrives and start the drive to Villa Catedral (and I'm sure Marshall will NEVER eat another piece of chocolate AGAIN)! Jim takes some time to find HIS white center out of the 12 remaining... but Marshall narrowed the field down considerably, so they're not very far behind as they follow a taxi on the road to...

VILLA CATEDRAL, ARGENTINA

Team Type A and Team Hi-Lo reach the ski village (which, of course, is melted at this point) and ride the gondola together. The Models are close behind on the next gondola. Colin says (out loud, mind you), "We HAVE to beat the midget." As such, the jerk and Christie arrive first and get the next clue:

DETOUR - SMOOTH SAILING OR ROUGH RIDING?
SMOOTH SAILING: Climb to the top of the 5000-foot mountain and paraglide down (in tandem with an instructor)
ROUGH RIDING: Choose two mountain bikes and follow the 6-mile trail down the mountain

Again, Charla's height chooses for them; they HAVE to do SMOOTH SAILING because they don't have a mountain TRIKE for her. Colin & Christie, who HAVE a choice, choose paragliding, too. They are the first to head down, taking in the breath-taking view. Mirna, however, is apprehensive... but stays strong for Charla's sake as they take off.  This, of course, catches the Models' attention as they travel up in the gondola. At least they know what ONE of their options is now. Other teams show up at the bottom of the mountain and notice the paragliders.

Colin & Christie land on a grassy knoll, unhook their harnesses and run to the clue box:

ROUTE INFO - PIT STOP: Drive yourselves to Bahia Lopez (14 miles away),
a small bay outside Bariloche. The PIT STOP is on a small island in the bay. WARNING: the last team to check-in will be ELIMINATED!

They take off as Team Hi-Lo lands. Mirna is happy she overcame her fear... and Charla continued to act like she was flying as they raced to their jeep.

Meanwhile, the Models take off on THEIR flight... while Team Net-Widowers find the DETOUR and likewise decide to go for SMOOTH SAILING. The Married Parents and their "friends" Team Twins ride the next gondola up while Team Bowling Moms try to FIND it.

As each team gets to the DETOUR and chooses SMOOTH SAILING, Linda is nervous... not about the gliding as much as the run down the hill. She manages to get up the courage to run and joins Karen at the bottom of the hill, currently in 7th.

Meanwhile, Marshall & Lance just miss the gondola... and Jim & Marsha are pulling into the parking lot! As Team Bowling Moms hit the dirt, Team Pizza Brothers board the gondola...and Team Wounded Knee is left behind. Both teams would choose SMOOTH SAILING and then head for the...

PIT STOP: BAHIA LOPEZ, ARGENTINA

Team Type A is worried about directions... while Mirna is worried about looking good for Phil once they reach the PIT STOP. Charla's just hoping her cousin stays on the right path while she's preening in the rear-view mirror. Colin & Christie find Phil on the island, fjord across the shallow water and hit the spot, where little children welcome them to Patagonia... and Phil proclaims them "Team #1!"  They're starting to learn how this Race is played and are feeling very confident.

Charla & Mirna are next to arrive (though Charla more-or-less SWIMS across than wades) and give Phil their traditional hugs (did I mention that they think Phil is hot? Yeah, I don't get it, either). The teams filter in one-by-one; the Models, Team Net-Widowers, Team Twins (who miss the fjord and swim the LONG way to the island), Team Bowling Moms and the Married Parents all make it in that order.

Marshall & Lance pull over to ask directions, giving Jim & Marsha time to catch up. Team Pizza Brothers STILL has problems with the directions given, while Team Wounded Knee moves quickly. It's a literal race to see who arrives first and does NOT get eliminated. And those winners...

...are Marshall & Lance! And that means that Jim can finally get some PROPER medical attention for his knee... since he and his daughter are out of the Race. Marsha is proud that Jim didn't let her down... and Jim learned that what he wanted to teach Marsha in this Race, she already knew (whatever THAT means). They hug (in another awww-barf moment)... but the fact is that the thousand or so miles they've traveled today was all the traveling they'd be doing in this Race.