This is Telluride, a historic mining village nestled in a picturesque box canyon in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. A favorite destination of skiers, as well as the home of the annual Telluride Film and Bluegrass Festivals, it is also the twelfth Pet Stop, on this Amanxing Race around the world.
 
Because we wanted our Racers to enjoy Telluride, we gave them an extra 24 hours off during this Pet Stop.

Finally, everyone returned to the Town Park, followed by some locals who had heard that “Bela and Douglas” were in town. After Ernesto ran the bluegrass fans away with one snort, everyone settled in for a night around the campfire with surprise musical guests Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas, who sang songs and told stories about Telluride. Jerry Douglas even toasted a few marshmallows for Douglas.

Phil Kiwi then made his now-traditional penultimate Amanxing Race speech:

“Congratulations, Bella and Douglas, Ernesto and Fermin, and Monty and Holly on making the Final Three. We want to give all three of you pairs a break for this second to last leg of the Race. You may complete this leg at your leisure, but you must finish all the tasks.

You will leave Telluride in the order in which you arrived, but all three pairs will leave the next Pet Stop at the same time. Judge your own level of tiredness and preparedness for the final leg.”

Bella falls asleep immediately.

The next morning, as the sun comes up over the mountains, Bella and Douglas, the first team to arrive at the Pet Stop, receive their clue:

Fly to Rapid City, South Dakota, and take a marked Land Rover to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Teams must now fly almost 500 miles to Rapid City and then find this giant sculpture of the Native American leader Crazy Horse. This landmark, begun in 1948, and still in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore.
 
The teams all catch up at the Telluride airport and fly to Rapid City on the same plane, and decide on the plane to stop at Mount Rushmore on the way.

Bella wants to climb up the monument, but Douglas urges her to save her strength for the Race. Fermin snorts at the Teddy Roosevelt carving and Monty and Holly bark at George Washington.

Everyone piles back in the Land Rovers and visits Crazy Horse.

Ernesto is the first to the clue box where he gets his next clue:

Fly to St. Louis and meet America’s most famous team of horses under the St. Louis Arch.

And it’s another long Land Rover drive back to the airport, in which Bella, Monty, and Holly (sharing a Land Rover) “moon” the bulls with their no-tails.
 
Upon arrival in St. Louis, Chicago cats Douglas and Bella both hiss at all the people in St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps. They arrive at the Arch and hear THAT song playing, and are met by the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales. Each team will have to ride around the Arch in the Clydesdales’ wagon, which is a lot of fun for the dogs and cats, but not much fun for the Clydesdales when they have to pull the bulls.

As soon as all three teams are finished riding, and having heard THAT jingle now at least 800 times in a row, the teams get their next clue:

Take a riverboat ride on the Gateway Arch Riverboats.

They’ll find their next clue when the boat docks.

Everyone sets off, Mark Twain style, down the Mississippi.

After several hours on the river, by which time Douglas has almost fallen off twice, the riverboat comes to a stop, and Monty is the first one to the cluebox.

“Welcome to Memphis, Tennessee! Your Pet Stop for the night is Graceland Mansion!”

Everyone catches the bus to the most famous house in Memphis, where they are greeted by…Koko interpreting Elvis hits in her own way:

“Koko new house. Koko sad house. Dog dog. Dog cry. Dog not eat rabbit. Koko not love dog. Koko write. Koko get letter back. Koko sit alone. Phone phone. Koko itch. Koko see bug. Koko all shook up. Thankyouverymuch.”

Finally, Lisa Marie Presley greets the Racers, with a Tennessee Walking Horse, and welcomes them to Graceland, and all six head for the Jungle Room.

WRITTEN BY BECKY BANFIELD
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS DAVE HUNTER & BELLA T. MANX
Inspired by The Amazing Race on CBS
Dedicated to Bella T. Manx

Special Midseason episode > | Racers react to Bella