On the Road and Off Again

Last week, we set off on our Great Traveling Mission, heading south to pick up some warm weather and begin our adventure. The weather was perfectly warm and the desert still golden with Palo Verde blooms, all the way to the US border. Our drive south was perfect, stopping for some really "bad-for-you" road food, while we slowly wove our way down the back desert roads, listening to old 70s music. One of our road games we've always played is "guess the year of that song".  We have tons of fun and get to reminisce and share memories generated by all those old rock songs.

Our first "Service Rest Stop" was just north of Tucson, near one of our favorite little towns, Oracle, Az. It's a slow, artsy, oak and boulder filled town. We love the once-a-week farmer's market and the little community garden. Sitting in the shadow of the Catalina mountains, it was the perfect first stop.

Here we decided to get out and clean up the desert nearby. It didn't take long until we had two garbage bags full of road rubbish, construction trash, and debris from the winds we had all week. This is an easy way to serve any community or neighborhood and we thought it was a good way to start our mission and something we can do wherever we go!

We didn't stay long in Oracle, as we were feeling some pressure to get down the road, due to a few appointments later in the week. But before leavine, we had a little lunch at the Oracle Patio Cafe, where you can always find happy people, fresh delicious lunch, and live music on the patio. With our bellies full, we headed south on Hwy 77 towards Tucson.

Searching our JustServe app for our next service opportunity, I was excited to learn of an organization called Impact of Southern Arizona, a community action organization serving homeless families, home bound seniors, low income families, and so much more. One of their probrams is to provide books to children to whom t hey provide services.  Books are donated and collected from the community and then distributed to every child they serve!  What could be better...books and kids!!

We decided to focus on the importance of books in our lives this past week after talking with friends, a couple of weeks ago, about how reading can change and save lives; how sharing a book together can be a way to communicate when nothing else seems to work; about the traditions and love we can share with each other by reading together and how imagination, self-esteem, learning,  and relationships can be strengthened through reading.

So this past week we focused our service efforts on books and reading.  We collected books for kids. We began reading to each other while driving. We started a summer reading club with our grandkids who came to visit, and really started focusing on the power of books, reading, and sharing.

With this on our minds, we were had to smile (really big) when we saw this young couple reading to one another while we were having lunch one afternoon in north Tucson. It was amazing experience to see teens reading, laughing, and discussing a book instead of staring at a screen.

Books enrich our lives! Reading Matters! Pass it on!!

Until next time,

Ray and Merrie
The Adventurists