While the current season of 'The Amazing Race' hasn't ranked among my favorite seasons ever, it's certainly not the worst. That award would go to 'Amazing Race 8: Family Edition.' Remember that experiment? It was watchable, but overall it was a watered-down disappointment for show fans.

As a matter of fact, this season has provided me with hours of pure entertainment. What more can I ask of one of my favorite reality shows? From casting to the challenges to the locales, it's easy to see why 'TAR' keeps winning those Emmy Awards. As the finale looms ahead, it's time for me to share some of my favorite moments from this season.

This list is probably more in a chronological order than based on which moment might be my favorite. My true favorite moment will come during the finale if the cowboys' win. There. I said it.

Jordan and Jeff winning the first leg

Any of the readers who really know me know that I cover 'Big Brother' and its 24/7 live feeds. So, I spent all last summer as a voyeur peeking in on the budding Jordan and Jeff romance. Normally I'm not overly thrilled with crossover contestants. But there's something about the mix of the two which makes me smile. She's dippy but actually has some good people sense about her while he seems constantly amused and amazed by her.

I didn't think they stood a chance of winning this show. Jordan isn't well-traveled at all and Jeff never struck me as all that worldly. I was right -- they didn't even come close to winning. But, what they did do was to win the first leg of the season. That gave me warm fuzzies and was definitely a favorite moment for me.

Carole and Brandy getting Philiminated

Mind you, I'm not talking about how they were eliminated with the U-turn by Brent and Caite. To be honest, I think it would have been wiser to U-turn a stronger team. I just wanted them gone. Perhaps snippy grouchy people constantly in a snit might make the show more interesting, but these two were too much.

From the start, they were making nasty comments to and about other teams. When the cowboys won a leg early on, they practically interrogated them. Obviously, they started the flames with Brent and Caite with their comments. I care about as much for Brent and Caite as I do for Carole and Brandy. Alas, they're in the final three. However, the elimination and their pouty nasty reaction was a perfect exit for Carole and Brandy. I almost guffawed. That has to be a favorite moment!

The non-elimination of Jet and Cord

We all know that the non-elimination legs often save weak teams who continue their weakness in the next leg and get the boot. Going into the leg, these cowboy brothers were one of the strongest teams. They just had one of those truly unlucky bad legs with lackluster taxicabs, other woes and a rather silly mistake of their own. That mistake (not bringing the bottle to the pit stop) was one of the few they've made so far this season.

It wasn't their time to go. Since then, they've excelled and the only boots involved on the ones on their feet! They're such a refreshing team -- no foul language, no griping, no quibbling. Instead of being upset with the last place showing, they had a good attitude about it all. Jet said, "Champions aren't necessarily the people who ride the most bulls. They're the people that can get bucked off and still pick themselves back up and go get on another one. When you hit bottom, there's only one place to go and that's up."

The first shall be last and the last shall be first

In Episode 8, the leg directly after the non-Philimination of the cowboys, we saw a first which showed us that anything is possible on the show. In the non-elim leg, the team placing first was Steve and Allie. I liked Steve and Allie. I'd rather they be in the finale than Brent and Caite, but I digress.

After incurring the speed bump and the delayed start, Jet and Cord managed to snag a first place finish in this leg while Steve and Allie ended up last. Not only that, but the whole placement at the pit stop was exactly the reverse order of the previous leg. Maybe I'm a quirky statistical kind of person, but I've never seen the order exactly reverse like that before and it's making my list here.

The locals

This last one is actually a conglomeration of moments throughout the season and it's something which I'll never take for granted. Since I've been a show fan from day one, followed the airport sightings and such during the filming of seasons and know one of the producers who worked on the challenges through the fifth season, I realize that the coming of 'The Amazing Race' to various countries excites the citizens of the countries and puts money into their local economy.

Whenever we see the cultural bits, the shopkeepers, the taxi drivers ... they're proud to be representing their culture and their people. And, although some of the behaviors of some of the teams might leave a little to be desired, the show itself is a tremendous representation of America to them. It's win-win for both the show and the people in the countries where the race runs. Some of my favorite moments are just people watching in countries I'll probably never get a chance to visit. That makes the show very special to me.

How about you? What were some of your favorite moments from this season?