Made this route based off of a unique idea for a final memory challenge.
Leg 1: Crater Lake, Oregon --> Nagoya, Japan
Because California starting lines are boring. Eleven teams. No starting line twist, just paddle across the lake and have fun driving to Portland.
In Nagoya, have some detour regarding feudal Japan. Then drive themselves to the Mt. Fuji area for a skydiving roadblock. And why not end it by driving yourself to Tokyo with some form of 'giant wacky obstacle course' roadblock? 1st place gets a nice Express Pass!
Leg 2: Tokyo, Japan --> Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Because Southeast Asia is <3 After a self driving leg with 2 roadblocks and a detour, teams will get some relief by staying in the city for some RI tasks, and end it with a detour at a wildlife center or zoo, perhaps? 1st place gets a nice Express Pass(assuming they don't have one already)! There's also the first of three fast forwards on this leg.
Leg 3: Phnom Penh, Cambodia -> Pattaya, Thailand
Teams bus it to Thailand and head out into it's rural side. The Face-Off makes its American debut, and the second FF is here.
Leg 4:Rayong, Thailand -> Thimphu, Bhutan
A new country, and a new twist - Teams must swap members for the detour segment! Have it be a non-elimination though. Challenges can relate to Buddhism.
Leg 5: Thimphu, Bhutan -> Moscow, Russia
It's been a few seasons. After getting to know the competition, teams get a chance to Blind U-Turn somebody. But this right here is a Double Leg!
Leg 6: Moscow, Russia -> Volgograd, Russia
Teams will now have to catch a train to Volgograd, where the last fast forward resides. This'll be a hard labor leg.
Leg 7: Volgograd, Russia -> Khiso, Georgia
Georgia is a beautiful country, and here teams will get a chance to trek alongside its gorgeous landscape. End the leg in Akhmeta. The Express Pass must be used by the end of this leg.
Leg 8: Akhmeta, Georgia -> Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
It's been a long time since we've been to Ethiopia, and it's about time for a safari leg! The Bale Mountains National Park is a beautiful area, and I would not mind teams spending all day there. Oh, and there's a Double U-Turn.
Leg 9: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -> Monrovia, Liberia
Yeah yeah, I know that whole 'Ebola' thing just happened, but just stay with me here. A route info task will have teams headed to a Vai school where they will learn to survive in the wilderness, and learn to write the language of the Vai people. But first, a second face-off will ramp up the competition between our remaining teams.
Leg 10: Monrovia, Liberia -> Agadir, Morocco
Part beach leg, part food leg. Detour includes riding the waves or selling some trinkets. A roadblock has teams precisely preparing a couscous dish. At the end of this leg only three teams are left. What does that mean?
Leg 11: Agadir, Morocco -> Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada
3 Teams on the penultimate leg? Hell yeah! After making it to Pangnirtung (this might take a while), teams will immerse themselves in the creative nature of the town by helping make some prints by lithography. They will then head to the local high school, where the next clue will be given in Inuktitut, and they will have to figure out what it says by using a syllabic chart. When they can recite the clue to the teacher, they will give them the real clue telling them to head by helicopter to Auyuittuq National Park. Here, one team member will climb part way up a cliff to retrieve the next clue. Teams will then helicopter back to Pangnirtung, where they will find the pit stop at the southern outskirts of the town. Of course, this is a Non Elimination.
Leg 12: Iqaluit, Canada -> Boston, Massachusetts
Teams were moved to Iqaluit over the duration of the pit stop. After a luge challenge at the old Winter Games Arena, teams fly to the final destination, Massachusetts. Once In Boston, they must head to where Griffins Wharf once stood (Independence Wharf) and search for their next clue. The clue leads them to the Boston Tea Party Museum, where one team member must re-enact part of the Boston Tea Party in a play. Once they've done this correctly, they will be given the next clue. This will direct them to the One Federal Street building, where teams must repel down a side of the building, while searching for their next clue. It's located at Fort Independence, where helicopters are waiting to take teams to Long Point Beach on Provincetown by Cape Cod. Here they will find the final memory roadblock (in detail below). When it's finished, they can run a mile and a half to the finish line, at the tip of Long Point Beach.
Final Roadblock:
How well do you remember the script?
One team member must remember the countries they visited around the world and the dominant non-latin writing systems they encountered while there. First they most correctly order the countries by hanging signs with the name of each country on top of a long display, which they can reach by ladder. Once they are correctly ordered, they’ll be able to unlock a safe. Inside the safe are heavy stone slabs, each with a rough translation of the phrase 'Amazing Race' carved into them for each of the scripts they encountered, plus five extra scripts. They must lift the slabs into the display. When they can match the scripts with the countries they’ve visited they can run to the Finish Line.
The scripts in order are:
Katakana
Khmer
Thai
Dzongkha
Cyrillic
Georgian
Ethiopic
Vai
Arabic
Inuktitut