Day 7 and we’re off! Well not really but we’re chilling in Moab, Utah and it’s Cinco de Mayo!!

So I don’t know exactly when we got this idea for a Cinco de Mayo shoot or video in our head but sure enough we did. I think Craig made a mention of it being Cinco de Mayo in a few days while on the road and the wheels started churning. I figured it would be pretty epic to get some sombreros and do a Cinco de Mayo shoot. Well from there it transpired into something a bit more than that. You know, Craig and me with a crazy idea can’t possibly be a good thing.

So yesterday morning while having breakfast at our hotel, I asked one of the front desk agents where we could score some sombreros. He didn’t know but did say a co-worker of his probably would. Sure enough, a few minutes later a guy came up to us and mentioned there was a costume shop a few blocks down where he had seen some….perfect. Well now it was back to the room to write-up the Day 6 blog since we were too tired to do it last night. After that was done we decided to head out and grab some lunch. Figured we’d grab lunch, get some sombreros and hit up a few National Parks to find a place to shoot. By this time it was already 1:30 PM with a high noon sun so we decided to just scout a few areas nearby for the photoshoot/video. Well it really turned out to be just a video greeting card type shoot so we were off.

After hitting up The Mad Hatter Costume Shoppe, LLC and getting the hook up by Carrie (store owner), we now had sombreros in hand. Not only that but she also provided some nice ponchos. With sombreros securely strapped on Craig’s bike and it was time to head North. Craig took the lead for a while, then I did. To our right and left there were some great cliff walls that would make a perfect location for a video shoot but sure enough, they were fenced off since they were National Parks, so no access. We continued down the road and after a few miles of nothing interesting I pulled over in a pretty deserted area. Well sure enough, off in the distance I noticed a tree. For some reason or another the theme music to “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” kicked in and I knew we found our spot. Well mainly because I was looking for some shade so I told Mooty, this would be perfect. He immediately said “There is no way in hell I’m walking all that way, it must be like a half mile”. I secured him it was not that far and if he trusted me as artistic director for this shoot which he replied “alright, let’s do this”. With sombreros, ponchos and a six pack of Dos Equis (oh yeah, we also picked that up in town for our vid) in hand we start walking in the direction of the tree. The reddish clay ground was very soft and foot imprints could be seen…

As soon as we arrive to the tree we immediately noticed tons of little (or large) gifts left around by cows. Craig mentioning he grew up in Pasadena, TX and had no problem kicking them out of the way started doing so. I assisted a bit and in no time we had a decent little area under the tree cleared out so I could setup. Craig got in position and I setup the camera on tripod to start shooting our “Feliz Cinco de Mayo” greeting video. While I was setting up I could hear Craig complaining (or talking to himself) about his Leatherman all-in-one tool not having a bottle opener. “I will NEVER purchase a leatherman that doesn’t even come with a bottle opener” was echoing thru the desert. Using the pliers portion of the tool, Craig got a bottle opened (well if a broken bottle is considered open) and we were ready to shoot. A few takes later I was happy with the vid we got of Craig and it was now my turn.

We basically did the same thing when it was my turn. I asked Craig if he had taken a sip of the beer and he said yes, that it was a clean break and the cap had the remaining bottle pieces. While shooting I took a swig and let me tell you…some cold XX in the middle of some hot desert in the shade of a treee with a sombrero is pretty dang good. I suggest you try it sometime. During the 2nd take I dropped the bottle in the dirt and sure enough while cleaning it I managed to cut my hand. Not a bad good but it was bleeding. At this moment we realized the first aid kit was back in the hotel and our SPOT GPS was on the bike which was parked 1/4 to 1/2 mile back. This being the thing we’re supposed to have on us at all times in case we need to use the SOS feature to save us should we have an unfortunate accident. We laughed about this, wrapped up the things, packed our gear and started our hike back to our bikes.

a shot of Mooty

Below you’ll see the two videos we both chose to share on Facebook. Then you’ll see some “behind the scenes” and the alternate take vids, enjoy…

Vids we shared on Facebook