'The Amazing Race' eliminates Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster

The "Grandmother/Granddaughter" team of Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster became the second team eliminated from The Amazing Race's sixteenth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality competition.


"I'm so proud of my grandma for everything she's done," said Shannon, a 22-year-old healthcare outreach contract analyst from Georgetown, TX.

"I've just kind of proven to myself that I can do physical things and I'm going to keep on doing them," added Jody, a 71-year-old personal trainer from Round Rock, TX.

The Amazing Race's second sixteenth-season episode began with the 10 remaining teams leaving Valparaiso, Chile and departing Palacio Baburizza, a 90-year-old chalet that had served as the site of the Race's first Pit Stop.

Since they had been the first team to arrive, newly dating former Big Brother houseguests Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd were the first team to depart at 3:21AM. 


Upon opening their departure clues, the teams were instructed to make their way to Puerto Varas, Chile -- a long journey that would require them to take a bus back to the city of Santiago and then board another bus for a 575-mile ride to Puerto Varas.  Once there, they would have to drive themselves to a lakeside hotel, board a boat to the island of Isla Margarita, and then hike to Mirador, a hilltop with a panoramic view of the lake. 

Jeff and Jordan arrived at the Valparaiso bus station quickly only to discover it wouldn't open until 5:00AM.

"All the teams are going to be here, the first bus we're all going to get on," Jeff vented.

While The Amazing Race didn't show the Pit Stop departure times of the nine other teams, that's apparently what happened.
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"All teams are now making their way to Santiago, Chile," host Phil Keoghan announced as the teams were shown boarding a departing bus.

Once the teams arrived in Santiago, "Married Couple" Joe Wang and Heidi Wang upset the other teams when they held a spot in line for "Dating Couple" Carol Rosenfeld and Brandy Snow, whom they had allied with while waiting to depart Valparaiso.


After asking for tickets on the quickest "direct" bus to Puerto Varas, the two teams ended up getting the last four tickets on a 5:30PM departure that wouldn't arrive until 7:00AM the following day.

"Brothers" Dan Pious and Jordan Pious, "Moms/Attorneys" Monique Pryor and Shawne Morgan, "Detectives" Louis Stravato and Michael Naylor, and "Father/Daughter" Steve Smith and Allie Smith all then quickly followed next and bought tickets on a direct 7:45PM departure to Puerto Varas, however some of the other teams decided to see if their were any other options.

"Let's get out of here," Jeff told Jordan and "Dating Models" Caite Upton and Brent Horne, whom the Big Brother couple had allied with.  "Let me see that clue.  Can't we take a bus from here to somewhere else that goes to Puerto Varas faster?"

"I'm not going to sit around for 12 hours not doing anything," Jeff explained afterwards. "I'm going to walk [if] they're going to buy all the tickets of this first one.  No one [else] thought of connecting through another city, I don't know why."

After talking with a ticket agent, Jeff and Jordan and Caite and Brent ended up purchasing tickets that would take them to the city of Temuco on a 9:00AM bus and then get them on a second bus that would arrive in Puerto Varas late that same night.


In the meanwhile, "Brothers/Cowboys" Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy also managed to come up with the same connecting bus idea and booked tickets on the same Temuco-bound bus after picking the brain of another bus passenger.

"That guy gave us the best piece of information I think we got this whole leg of the race when he said, 'You need to catch a bus to Temuco and then in Temuco you switch buses,'" Jet said.  "Every other direct bus all the way to Puerto Varas gets there at like 8:00AM tomorrow morning and we end up getting there at 11:00PM tonight."

However booking a connecting route didn't seem to be an option Jody and Shannon considered.  Instead, they booked tickets on a direct 8:30PM Santiago departure that would get them into Puerto Varas at 9:00AM the following day.

"That would put us 45 minutes behind the other teams," Shannon said afterwards.  "Just keeping optimistic!"

"Absolutely, you can't lose hope at any point in the Race," Jody added.


None of the other teams seemed to notice the cowboys, models, and Big Brother couple leave the Santiago station and board their bus to Temuco, however Jeff's plan hit a snag when he and his allies failed to realize their Puerto Varas bus wasn't leaving from the same Temuco bus station their Santiago bus had arrived at.

Although Jet and Cord discovered the problem while trying to switch their own 7:00PM departure to the same 6:30PM departure the two other teams had booked tickets on, they kept the news to themselves -- resulting in Jeff and Jordan and Caite and Brent missing both their bus and Jet and Cord's subsequent departure as they scrambled from one bus station to the other and then back again.

In the end, the two teams ended up having to book new tickets on a 1:00AM departure that left them five hours behind the cowboys.

Jet and Cord eventually arrived at the lakeside hotel in the middle of the night but discovered the trail to the boats wouldn't open until 7:30AM.  However they were still the only team at the site when it opened.

"We're still the only team here!" Cord said as his and brother exited their car.


Joe and Heidi and Carol and Brandy were the next two teams to arrive in Puerto Varas, however they initially thought otherwise.

"We're the first ones here I think," Brandy said.

Caite and Brent and Jeff and Jordan then followed in fourth in fifth place respectively.

The second Santiago bus with Steve and Allie, Louis and Michael, Monique and Shawne, and Dan and Jordan followed next, leaving Jody and Shannon (who had yet to arrive) still in last place.

However Dan and Jordan struggled to drive their standard transmission car and got lost on their way to the hotel, allowing Jody and Shannon to begin closing the gap on them.

"My gut feeling is we're still running last but we're hanging in there," Jody said.  "My hopes are high, I'm just having an amazing time."


"I'm hoping one of the other teams doesn't know how to drive a standard," added Shannon. "[Jody is the one who] taught me how to drive a standard."

Once the teams arrived at Mirador they received a clue informing them to return to the mainland and then complete one of two Detour tasks: "Llama Adoration" or "Condor Consternation"

"Llama Adoration" required the teams to enter a llama corral and dress a llama for a traditional local festival by saddling it with a blanket and tying a scarf around its neck.  Once they were done, a local would give them their next clue.

"Condor Consternation" required the teams to don a two-person condor costume and "take flight' by running off a dock and then retrieving their next clue from a buoy floating nearby.

Nearly all the teams decided to do "Llama Adoration" however Caite and Brent and Jeff and Jordan both decided to do "Condor Consternation."

Most of the teams appeared to manage to complete the llama task without took much difficulty, however Joe ended up getting kicked in the process.   Caite and Brent and Jeff and Jordan also completed the condor task without many problems, leaving the teams' positions largely unchanged.


After the teams finished the Detour, they were instructed to drive themselves to the Onces Bellavista Farm.

Most of the teams managed to find the farm without issue, however Louis and Michael missed its entrance and ended up driving 19 miles past it, dropping them into last place behind Jody and Shannon.

Once at the farm the teams encountered a Roadblock task that told them it was "time to make the kuchen." 

After deciding which member of their team would complete the task, the teams learned that their member would have to collect five ingredients -- a cup of freshly milked milk, a "baker's dozen" of just-laid eggs, a bag of flour, a plate of butter, and a bowl of sugar -- for a pastry baked by local German immigrants. 

Although some of them had some trouble milking their cow and avoiding leg kicks and excrement, the first eight teams -- Jet and Cord, Joe and Heidi, Carol and Brandy, Caite and Brent, Jeff and Jordan, Steve and Allie, Monique and Shawne, and Dan and Jordan -- all seemed to complete the task without too much difficulty. 

After taking the ingredients to the "kitchen," the teams received a clue that instructed them to drive back to Puerto Varas and find Gruta De La Virgen, a church park that was the Race's second Pit Stop location.


Jet and Cord were the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop and won sailboats for their finish.

"Don't let the cowboy hat fool you," Cord joked.

Joe and Heidi, Carol and Brandy, Caite and Brent, Monique and Shawne, Jeff and Jordan, Steve and Allie, and Dan and Jordan then checked-in at the Pit Stop in second through eighth place, respectively.

"I think we did a great job," Caite said.  "I just hope that the other teams will see that I am an intelligent person, you need to stop making fun of me."

Meanwhile, Jody and Shannon finally arrived at the farm and Jody began the Roadblock.

Louis and Michael eventually found the farm after driving all the way back to Puerto Varas and receiving directions from Jeff and Jordan as the Big Brother couple was scrambling to find the Pit Stop, setting up a Roadblock showdown between Jody and Michael.


Both racers had a hard time completing the Roadblock, with Jody suffering a cow kick to the head that she quickly shrugged off and Michael struggling to find the "pantry" -- which appeared to just be an open storage shed -- that held the flour, butter, and sugar ingredients.

"I was almost up to the [fill] line on the cup when the cow kicked me in the head," Jody said afterwards.  "[But] I thought 'I think I'll be okay,' so I just got right back down and started milking again.  A different cow this time."

In the end, Michael was able to complete the Roadblock first, allowing his team to drive to the Pit Stop claim the final non-elimination slot before Jody and Shannon.

"What's the next great adventure?" Shannon asked Jody after the pair's elimination.

"I'll go anywhere with you," Jody replied.






About The Author: Steven Rogers