The Amazing Race
Anita and Arthur
Eliminated September 28

Did you think you might be at a disadvantage physically after being the last team to make it up the stairs at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?
Anita: No, not really. Phil said we had to wait until he put his hand down to start, and so Arthur and I were watching his hands and everybody took off.
Arthur: Yeah. We looked up and everybody was already running!
Anita: That was a surprise.

What was your first impression of Salvador, Brazil?
Anita: It was just incredible. We were surprised at the heat. Up in Oregon at that time it was around 55 degrees, so it was a real temperature difference for us to adapt to. But, Salvador was so colorful. We loved it. One of the memories I'll always cherish is seeing the Amazon from the airplane. I've never seen anything like that.

Where do you think you went wrong?
Arthur: I don't think you can say we went wrong. As Anita eluded to, we trained in 55-degree weather, which was no match for 95-degree weather. Anita: With 100 percent humidity!
Arthur: It was so hot down there. And the other thing is taxis. You don't realize watching the show how important transportation is. We had one wonderful taxi ride, and then the ride out of the jungle got stuck in traffic. That helped put us behind.

When I met you in LA. You compared this race to a roller coaster. How does climbing down a cargo net more than 240 feet in the air compare to a coaster?
Anita: It was really cool. We were way up there! But, my shoes had slits in them and they kept getting caught in the net. I had trouble getting my foot out of the ropes. But coming down that net was incredible.

Was the race at all what you expected it to be like?
Anita: We didn't really expect the adrenaline rush. It's so amazing. Anita and I kept turning to each other and saying that we felt like we were floating through a dream. We were just going and going and going, and we didn't expect that at all.

Any regrets?
Anita: Just that we didn't go on to the next leg. [laughs] But, no, we have no regrets.
Arthur: We'd do it again at the drop of a hat.

Your family must be pretty proud.
Arthur: Oh, they loved it. Coming off the mat, we may have felt like we let some folks down, but that's not true at all. We knew that we were being supported and had an incredibly loving family.
Anita: We just wish that all of them could have been there with us!

What's next for you? Are you going back to the beekeeping?
Anita: Oh yes - back to the bees and blueberries.