NBC Today Show's Desperate Landscapes Contest - And the Winner is....

For some of you who read or commented on my post yesterday Fortuna Couple Compete for Yard Makeover... many of you wanted to know if our lucky couple won today's competition on the Today Show.

Well first of all it was cool to watch.  There were four competing (the husband's competed, wives stood on the sidelines), each husband teamed up with one of the Today show hosts - Mark Marquez, our Fortuna homeowner, teamed up with Matt Lauer.   There were 4 obstacles each team had to accomplish and of course the first team to finish won!

1) Obstacle One - Laying down the Sod!

Each team had to roll out two rolls of sod

2) Obstacle Two - Leaf Blower

Each team had to fill a bag of leaves using a leaf blower - this one was tough!  It took each team a few minutes to figure out that in order to get the leaves to STAY in the bag the one holding the leaf blower had to hold it down facing the ground and step back a couple of feet.

3) Obstacle Three - Water Hose Contest

There were four tall cylinders filled with water and each had a plastic ball at the top.  The goal was to get the plastic ball to fall onto the ground using only a water hose with a spraying attachment on the end.  This one was the most challenging for everyone!  It took each team several minutes to work on this obstacle and even when all team members had filled the water to the rim the ball kept getting caught on the side, keeping it from falling.  Finally one team was able to get theirs losoe and then the other three teams followed.

4) Final Obstacle - Lawn Mower Run

One Team member had to drive a lawn mower to the finish line while our Today host team members had to run to get to the finish line.

Needless to say:  Our Fortuna couple came in 3rd place!  But it was great fun watching!  And I know Mark and Mandy are probably having a blast exploring Manhattan for the first time.  I'm sure they're neighbors might be a little more bumbed than our couple.