This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Clarence and Margaret Waterfall vowed when they married that they would travel the world. A half-century later, the Ogden duo is about to learn if they have won the grand prize in Delta Air Lines' travel adventure contest.
The Waterfalls, both 76 and retired Weber State University professors, got home Monday from the Persian Gulf, where they tore through the ancient city of Dubai with a camera crew in tow, snow skiing inside a refrigerated high-rise, dining in the desert with a belly dancer and four-wheeling through sand dunes.
A video of their romp will be posted online Monday for the public to view and vote on. If their show gets more votes than a video of a rival team's run through Dubai, they will collect a million frequent flyer miles from Delta, plus thousands of redeemable points from Hilton Hotels.
"This has been the most fun summer in more years than we even want to admit to," Margaret Waterfall said.
The Waterfalls were one of five teams Delta picked to take part in its boldest thrust into interactive marketing, using the Internet to spread the word about its shift of much of its U.S. flying to international service.
In August and September, the Waterfalls flew to Budapest, Hungary; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Copenhagen, Denmark. Each destination wasn't divulged until the last minute. And each time their videos snagged enough votes to advance to the next round and eliminate a competitor, until the only teams remaining were the Waterfalls and the Levinson brothers, a wisecracking pair from New York and Los Angeles.
In one of their videos, Joel Levinson, 26, and one half of the Awesomest Brothers team, asks his brother, "Hey Stephen, do you want to go to Dubai?"
"Dubai, ever!" Stephen, 34, answers.
"Talk about good travelers," said Joel Levinson about the Waterfalls, who are almost three times his age. "They know their way around an airport. They know their way around the check-in area. They know the ins and outs and how to roll with whatever is thrown at them."
The Waterfalls are "sweet," Levinson said.
Their romance with foreign travel goes back to the early 1950s when Clarence was an LDS Church missionary in Switzerland and Margaret was a United Airlines flight attendant. Indulging their passion over the years, the Waterfalls have traveled to at least 73 countries.
"I was born and raised in Sandy, Utah, when it was a small town. There just seemed to be a world out there, that while studying countries was fun, visiting them was even better. We just sort of fell into it, " Margaret Waterfall said.
People who know them say the couple, already devoted to each other, has been brought closer by their travel exploits on three continents this summer. They feed off each other's energy and, if cameras don't lie, are comfortable dashing halfway around the world on sudden notice.
"This has really been a wonderful experience for them, and they are better friends than before," said daughter-in-law Nancy Waterfall. "When they come home they are like little kids, so excited about the prospect of maybe getting to go again."
Nancy said her in-laws aren't the sort of tourists who spend lots of time shopping for souvenirs. Instead, they immerse themselves in the culture and language of the countries they visit. And they look for circumstances where they can meet and mix with locals.
Sometimes the contacts are stirring. About 15 years ago, the Waterfalls traveled to Tibet, bringing with them pictures of the Dalai Lama who fled the country in 1959, nine years after China annexed the country. Images of the Tibetan religious leader are banned by the Chinese government.
To slip them past customs agents, the Waterfalls pasted the Dalai Lama's picture on the backs of photographs of the Waterfall family. Later, on the pretense of sharing their photos, they handed them around to ordinary Tibetans, who were always delighted when they turned them over and discovered the Dalai Lama's face.
"They figured they would meet someone who would appreciate that," Nancy Waterfall said.
Last year, the Waterfalls traveled to Pakistan, where they met a young woman at an LDS Church service in Karachi. Since becoming friends, the Waterfalls have provided financial support to the woman's family and have paid for two trips she made to Pakistan's capital to request a visa to travel to the United States.
Pakistani officials have denied both requests. Meanwhile, the Waterfalls stay in touch with the woman by e-mail.
"They have been helping her with her English, and for a woman to have some kind of work in Pakistan is almost impossible. But they are trying to help her establish a computer cafe that would be just for women," said Dorothy Giles, who has lived next door to the Waterfalls almost 40 years.
Clarence Waterfall is unable to explain why he and Margaret survived three rounds of voting to arrive at a final smackdown between themselves and the Awesomest Brothers.
"One of the [video] producers said my mom votes for you [because] she's sympathetic to older people. Another producer said my father votes for you because he's interested in what older people do when they travel. One other mentioned they were surprised by our ability to keep up with the younger [teams]," Clarence said.
"We just enjoy meeting people and seeing places. We're inquisitive and curious and we enjoy what the world has to offer," he said.
The Waterfalls
Clarence and Margaret Waterfall, Ogden, both 76
* Clarence: Retired Weber State University English professor, lifts weights, prone to disappear when his wife isn't looking
* Margaret: Former dance, health and stress- management professor at Weber State; MFA in dance from University of Utah
Awesomest Brothers
* Stephen Levinson: 34, New York, skinny, bearded, lanky hair, freelance graphics designer
* Joel Levinson: 26, lives in Los Angeles, curly hair and clean-shaven, former traveling music educator and song leader
WHAT'S NEXT
Videos of the Waterfalls and Awesomest Brothers' trip to Dubai will be posted on http://www.delta.com on Monday. Viewers can vote for the winner through Wednesday. The winner will be posted on the Web the next day.
* To view past videos and read contestants' blogs, go to siteseerchallenge.delta.com