The Amazing Race - Southwest Edition

A lot of you probably already know this, but here it is! I wanted to share something exciting and fun that 6 of us here are doing. 5 of us work for the univ. If you've watched the TV show - the amazing race - on NBC, or the more recent treasure hunters, we're doing something similar on our own just for fun:)

I'll be journaling the old fashioned way - ink on paper - and will upload when I get back.

here's the jist in the meanwhile:
1) 3 teams with 2 people each
2) we set our boundaries - we're covering the southwest area (AZ,CO,NM,UT,NV)
3) each team gets to put in 8 destinations with activities to do there
4) we met for dinner and pulled out a total of 8 from the 24, on the 30th of June.
5) we got to work with our teammate to figure out how we want to do it.
6) since we loved our other destinations too, we decided that for every not
reqd destination/task a team did, you would have 4hrs taken off your total in the end, and 0.40cents per mile off the total budget
7)we meet for breakfast on the 1st and headed out in our teams
8) we meet in Vegas on the 7th and see who got there 1st, and who spent the least amount of money along the way.

now that that's done, here are our destinations (in random order)
1) & 2) Zion National Park - UT - there are 2 completely diff tasks to do
3) Winslow - AZ
4) Petroglyph National Monument - NM
5) Mesa Verde National Park - CO
6) Cerreta Chocolate - AZ
7) Lava Caves - AZ
8) Elephant Butte Lake State Park - NM

other sites that came up and qualify for bonus points(I'm forgetting some)
1) 4 corners (came up twice)
2) Sandia tramway - NM (3 times)
3) National bridges monument - UT
4) London Bridge - AZ
5) Sedona - AZ
6) Hoover Dam
7) Cortez - CO
8) Glendale - AZ

Some of the tasks involve something called geo caching. It's a new term for 4 of us. one of the team does it regularly. It's a really cool activity/hobby:)

so that's that. I know the BIG question is "Where the hell are you right now". You'll just have to wait to read about that after I'm back. Can't let the other teams find out where we are;)