P.M. Soul Food Tour 2011 -- The Video

5926.8 miles, 18 states, 10 days – the P.M. SOUL FOOD TOUR 2011.  The P. is for Pat, the M. is for Mark -- my buddy and I took a cross-country road trip in August to get away, see some places and people from our pasts, create an amazing shared experience, and enjoy some awesome fried food and BBQ.  Food is a big part of our friendship.  The past year was crazy for both of us, and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go out on the open road and enjoy the final days of summer with a basic travel plan, but flexible enough to see, do, and eat what we wanted.

Pat and I were both born in California.  He grew up first in Colorado, then mainly on the Central California Coast.  As a Navy dependent, I grew up all over, including years in Florida, Virginia, Hawaii and the deep South.  We met in San Diego at Flood church, where we went through a spiritual formation program, theodyssey, with a group from our church.  Then, we trained to lead groups through the program. 

On our road trip, we visited a few places I lived, including the first television station I worked at full-time as a reporter and anchor in Kirksville, MO.  We visited a friend of Pat’s who started an awesome church in Laurel, MS.  We saw rebuilding in the Mississippi town where I lived that Katrina tore up.  Pat performed on the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA.  We saw the damage from the April tornado in Tuscaloosa, AL.  We visited my former student who is now teaching the television production program I started.  We visited La Junta, CO where Pat grew up.  We saw a Dodger vs. Rockies game and a Broncos pre-season game in Denver, CO (thanks to the Premos)  -- all on the same day, with a brief appearance by Tim Tebow.  We saw lots of great friends along the way, including Pat’s new sidekicks, Bo, George, and Alex.  

We also recorded a few videos on our journey, which before this year would have been a normal occurrence for me.  I spoke briefly on some and more on others.  I have written a lot on this blog about my recently acquired speech impediment, but I have never shared audio or video on here of how I sound today.  As a lifetime public speaker, performer, and video production person, it has been challenging to re-learn something that has always come naturally to me.  This year, I have only recorded my voice on audio and video for speech therapy, as I have been learning strategies to help with the stuttering.

Because this road trip was such a great experience, I have put the video clips together to share here.  It’s a fun, random collection of videos from our time on the road and a personal victory for me to post it.  It’s the first video I have recorded on my iPhone, and it’s shot in two different formats so it definitely has that home video feel with very little editing.  My hope was my speech would be back to normal to talk freely on camera by the trip.  Instead, I did the best I could on little amounts, because it’s still a struggle.  Fortunately, Pat feels as comfortable on camera as I used to be.  This is the first video I have seen of myself this year that I am comfortable watching.  I am particularly proud of the video at the high school I graduated from – almost no stutter.  Of course, it took multiple takes, but hey, that’s no different than when I recorded stand-ups for reporting on television years ago. 

If I talk longer than what you see in these videos, there is a still a noticeable stutter.  My students hear it every day in the classroom.  I have yet to speak in front of a crowd, but I hope to some day soon.  I recently recorded my first voiceover for a church video.  It took two recording sessions and some tears, but it sounds really good.  I’m still practicing speech therapy exercises and looking into possible medical solutions.  In the meantime, I’m thankful that I can speak and communicate.  I am thankful for family and close friends like Pat who have helped me through this challenging time.  Pat is a brother, a friend for a lifetime.  And, I am thankful for the awesome road trip we experienced together.  We called it the Soul Food Tour because of all the awesome food we experienced together, but also because it really was good for our souls.  I’m thankful that God keeps showing his love, hope, grace, and joy to me in all things.  

Watch "P.M. Soul Food Tour 2011 -- The Video" HERE. 

P.S. Buy Pat's music on iTunes "Rediscover" by The Folly.