Alrighty, I stayed up last night to talk to Travis and get the scoop from Tuesday...
So, last time I posted, I said that cameras were following Travis around EVERYWHERE, and that he felt like it was a reality TV show. Well, he still feels that way, in fact, it seems like it is more like "Amazing Race" now. He got his first clue yesterday morning after a meeting with the other contestants and the producer, where they did the introduction for the game. Because it is being filmed, they had to do several shots over and over and Travis was amazed at how much of it was scripted! He was told to look surprised entering a room where he'd already been and he said it felt a little awkward trying to be so descriptive of the room and how big it was, etc., but that's what they wanted for the camera. In this meeting, he was told to go and sit at a specific place, so he re-entered the room (surprised, of course) and sat where he was told, then the other contestants did the same. Now, you know how I told you that one of the other contestants was a 58-year-old man from Arizona? Well, there's been a twist now... See, Travis and the other finalists had a choice to let someone else (a friend) go to Vegas in their place, if they felt like they couldn't perform the challenges, or were not available for the travel, etc. So, naturally, the old man chose to let his son (who did win the Volvo in another contest) take his place. So instead of the older man, it's now his 30-something son, David Hutz. So, there goes that advantage that Travis had on him!!
Anyways, they all sat down and the producer introduced them to one another and then he explained a little about the game. It will be a "race" type game, with clues and challenges. Then, the host (a girl) came in and she gave them their first clue and then they were off.. The host told them that since they were in Vegas, their first challenge would be all about luck. They had to go down to another room, where there was a spinning wheel, similar to Wheel of Fortune, that had numbers (1-25) and letters on it. They each got one spin and if they got a letter, they had to spin again until they got a number. The contestant with the highest number won the first leg of the race and received three gold Quest coins, second got two and third got one coin. Travis went first and got a 12. David got a 23 and John got a 24. The host then told them that they all had the option of erasing their current score and spinning again. Of course, Travis opted to spin again, and so did David, but John kept his 24. Travis spun an 8 and David spun a 6. Travis got his two coins. Then the host told them that they could use one coin to buy a scroll, but they didn't know what was on the scroll. All of the players opted to buy the scroll, so their scores ended up: John 2, Travis 1, David 0. They were told to go to their rooms, where they would get their next clues, but they couldn't open the scroll until they got to their rooms. The scroll was worth the buy because it was a cheat sheet for the heiroglyphic alphabet and numerical system that the puzzles use for codes. Travis was not alone in the room, there was a guy that sat in the room with him all day, to make sure he wouldn't get on the internet and cheat...
Not so fast.... they wouldn't start filming the next part of the game until after lunch, so Travis and the other contestants had to stay in their own rooms and eat and wait a little longer. Finally, they came and got Travis and "started" next clue of the race. The clue told him to run to the nearest exit (elevator). He had to run from his room to the elevator and get on the elevator. This elevator had a TV screen in the ceiling and it got completely dark and stopped moving once he got on. There is also a camera crew in the elevator with him. So, Travis had to watch the TV, where the host explained about the clue. He said something about the "writing on the wall", and Travis turned around, where a message appeared on the wall of the elevator. It was a riddle, and I don't remember all of it, but the answer to the riddle was "water", and Travis had to take this Quest cryptex and enter the answer in (in the heiroglyphic code), and they were timing him to see how long it took for him to break the code, where the elevator would open and he would run to the finish line, just like in "Amazing Race". Well, Travis' cryptex was jammed, so the camera guys noticed that it wouldn't open, so they had to stop filming and get his time, etc. and they finally got it to open! He ran to the carpet finish line outside the hotel, where the host told him that he was in third place. Travis was upset because he was frustrated with the cryptex not opening. O well, he still got two Quest coins and a bag, I think, that held a set of keys and a GPS device. All three guys were told to run to their assigned cars (Travis' is a red Dodge Durango), and go to their next clue using the clue and the GPS device. Then they filmed them driving off, and Travis caught up and was in second place, when the filming ended for the day and they had to make a circle around the block and return to the hotel. They will finish filming the rest today. They were then told that they could have some free time and eat anything and charge it to their rooms. Travis called me after this, and then went to the hotel's steakhouse and ate a $200 steak dinner!! He called me after he ate to tell me how much his meal was, haha!
One more thing, he was told that they could not talk to the other contestants outside of the game, and they could never talk to the camera crew. They will have a cast party on Friday, though, to celebrate the game. He will find out who wins either on Thursday or Friday morning, he's not for sure, and it will not be a secret to the public. The show will be contacting the media and sending out a press release to announce the winner and the other finalists, and he will most likely be contacted by local news stations and newspapers here in Austin next week for interviews. It's pretty cool! This is all I know so far! Keep praying!! I think Travis' main competition is the other younger guy, John, who is currently in first place. Score: John 5, Travis 2, David 2. Until then...
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