Middleburg, Virginia turned out to be the end of the road for the Rogers family, who were unable to overcome two major navigational errors and became the second team eliminated from The Amazing Race: Family Edition.
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After finding the shoe house, the teams received another clue that instructed them to drive to Washington, DC and find a third clue at the reflecting pool in front of the US Capitol. Eight of the nine teams successfully navigated their way to Washington without incident, but the patriarch of the Rogers family mistakenly sent his team traveling in the wrong direction on Highway 30, quickly dropping the family from fourth to last place.
The Washington, DC task seemed simple enough, but there was a trick that cost several teams valuable time. Since there are two reflecting pools in Washington, the teams that did not carefully read the clue or ask for specific directions lost valuable time. The Gaghins were the first team to pick up the shoe clue, but because they spent hours at the wrong reflecting pool, they dropped to the back of the pack. The Rogers asked for directions to the pool once they arrived in DC, but the tourist who said, "Famous last words: you can’t miss it" gave them directions to the wrong pool.
Once teams retrieved their clue from the US Capitol reflecting pool location, they were directed to a nearby limousine, where they were given a briefcase. The Weaver family was the first to get the reflecting pool clue, but were passed by the Godlewski sisters when they missed a turn.
After obtaining a briefcase, the teams drove to the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial, where one member completed a covert operation roadblock. The designated team member had to find someone with an identical briefcase and utter the phrase "the sky is blue." If the briefcase bearer responded with "the sea is green," the two would exchange briefcases to complete the task.
After teams completed the roadblock, they were instructed to drive to Welbourne Manor in Middleburg, VA. The drive presented two challenges to the teams: 1) dealing with DC area traffic, and 2) managing the gas gauge. The Paolo family went from third place to the brink of elimination by driving around DC in an argument-filled quest for a gas station. The drive also presented opportunities to gain ground for those teams willing to try alternate routes, as the Linz family discovered. Although they had started the leg in last place, they were the third team to arrive at Welbourne Manor when they chose to get out of the freeway traffic jam and onto an alternate route.
Once teams arrived at Welbourne Manor, they were faced with a detour -- a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. Teams could choose to face the Heat of the Battle, a task that required transporting five "wounded" soldiers off the field at a Civil War battle reenactment, or they could chose the Heat of the Night, a task where they had to fill and light 20 oil lamps.
The Weaver family was the first to arrive at the detour, and were able to complete the oil lamp task and check in at the pit stop in first place, where host Phil Keoghan gave them a bonus prize of a trip to Bermuda. Although some of the other teams struggled with the battlefield transport task, it was not enough to allow the Rogers family to overcome their previous errors and avoid elimination.
