East Coast Trip - "The Ultimate Drop & Drive"

Tuesday, May 30 - After parting ways with Tricia and McKay's family in the morning, we charted our course to Gettysburg then on to the Washington, D.C. area.  It just so happened that the fastest route took us directly through not only Tanner's mission but his current area!  We considered driving a different way but nobody wanted to take 'back roads' and log extra time in the car:).  The question we tossed around all morning was - do we drop something off for Tanner or just drive straight through?  Which would be his preference?  We certainly did NOT want to see him though he knew we were taking this east coast trip.  Would he be disappointed if we did nothing knowing he's less than 90 minutes from Tricia & McKay's house?  Ahh, decisions!

cool bridge in Harrisburg area

We said a family prayer then asked each of the kids what they thought about the situation.  As we approached Tanner's area, they agreed that leaving him some groceries would be a good idea.  Aaron pulled off the freeway and within minutes we were driving up Reno Street where Tanner's apartment is located.  We needed to determine whether leaving food at the front door was a viable option.  I had major butterflies in my stomach - just praying we didn't spot him and his companion out on their bikes or walking down a street!  

Tanner's apartment is on Reno St.

bridge in Tanner's area he often crosses

Once we saw the apartment complex had individual entrances enclosed in a main building, we knew no critters/street walkers would steal the food so we found the nearest grocery store.  The kids waited in the car while Aaron and I perused the aisles of the local market.  Our intention was to buy healthy food options Tanner would appreciate that missionary budgets do not always allow - grapes, nectarines, kiwi, greens (for smoothies), blueberries, etc.  We also picked up quality sandwich meat, bread, butter, eggs, organic cereal/granola, jerky and some bakery-fresh muffins.  Basically - the good stuff!  Aaron and I loaded up the car and off we went to quickly drop the grocery bags off at the apartment door.

As we pulled up along Reno St., Aaron jaunted inside the building and listened outside Tanner's apartment door to make sure nobody was home.  Then he returned to recruit Jantzen and Brinley's help in carrying the bags up to the door.  I told them to hurry as I waited with the others in the car.  We were all excitedly nervous and praying there would be no encounters! 

Jantzen & Brinley - delivering the goods

Aaron's selfie at Tanner's apartment door

Without incident and our good deed done, we quickly got back on the freeway and headed towards Gettysburg.  We absolutely had no idea what Tanner would think to find our surprise or how long the groceries would be sitting but nothing needed to be refrigerated immediately (even sandwich meat has preservatives!).  Because it was a Tuesday morning, we knew we wouldn't get his response until the following Monday (p-day) when he could write home.  Until then, we hoped it was a welcomed surprise.

Gettysburg Museum & Visitor Center

Robert E. Lee Memorial

After our exciting adventure in New Cumberland, PA (Tanner's Lewisberry area), we grabbed lunch at an impressive Wendy's (fast-food chain) in the town of Gettysburg.  The customer service was amazing.  They walked around and personally asked us how everything turned out, handed out mints, etc.  Then on to the expansive Gettysburg Visitor Center where we purchased a 2-3 hr. guided audio tour for the park.  Aaron was in his "historical element" but agreed to go with the 2-hour version.  It was fascinating (to some of us) and we only cut out a few minutes at the end so we could continue on to National Harbor to the Wyndam airbnb we arranged for three nights.

Little Round Top

After arriving in the D.C. area, Aaron and I (once again) found a local grocery store to get food for the next few days.  The kids were SO happy to finally stay at a place with a swimming pool.  The indoor pool was preferred to the outdoor pool because of the temperamental weather.  They had the energy to swim every single day (even after walking for hours through the D.C. streets).  

Elsie, Quinn, Anna - checking out the outdoor pool

Because I have the luxury of reflecting back - I'll fast forward to the following Monday when we heard from Tanner about our "drop & drive".  Here's the rest of the story...as recorded in Tanner's group letter:

My family came to my apartment on Tuesday. Yeah. Haha! It was so awesome! Let me explain. Here's what happened: Elder Noyes and I left the apartment at 9:30am to do service. We returned at 10:46am to change into proselyting clothes. My family came, left bags of groceries in front of our front door and left a note saying they dropped it off at 10:52am. We prepared to leave and opened the front door at 10:58am to go back to work and discovered the food my family left only 6 minutes earlier. They somehow quietly delivered food in the middle of the 12 minute window we were in the apartment and vanished without a trace. And they probably didn't even realize I was inside only a few feet away....or that I had just gotten there and was about to leave!Haha! It was kind of awesome :) And the food was fantastic! All I'd bought was a bag of salad and bananas on P-Day so the grapes, kiwi, blueberries, bread, snacks etc were definitely a welcome treat :) I love my family...and to think....they were so close yet so far away.... ;) 

Well, this story gets even more exciting as we shared further details via email that Monday.  First of all, I was concerned that Tanner would not be needing much food since his p-day was the day before we dropped off food.  We had no idea that his money for June was not yet available hence he only bought bananas and salad the day before.  He was literally out of food/money as it was the end of the month which made our delivery even more timely!  The Lord knew Tanner could use some food and the Lord knew we were driving through his area.  Hence, we bought and brought food:).

As we drove from the grocery store to the apartment, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my planner and scribbled a quick note including the time of our drop-off.  Aaron first checked the apartment and then came and got Brinley and Jantzen.  My heart was pounding and I kept pushing them to hurry up.  They even stopped for a few pics.  We have a photoshare account with Tanner and when I sent him the picture of Brinley and Jantzen in front of his door, he noticed the time was exactly ONE MINUTE before he and his companion opened the door to leave the apartment.  WHAT?!?  No wonder my heart was racing!  We absolutely had no idea they were actually IN the apartment.  The Lord knew it wouldn't be a good thing for us to see each other so He worked His miracles in every way.  So many things COULD have been different.  In fact, I later asked Aaron if he heard anything at all when he first went up to check things out.  He told me he thought he heard something and actually got on the floor to look under the door but no lights were on and didn't think much of it.  Tanner commented he was surprised he didn't hear the delivery because their door is so thin and cheap - they hear everything from their neighbors.  Tanner recalled that their bathroom fan had been running which was the likely explanation as to how he didn't hear them.  Talk about close calls!  Wowzers.

Hey Tanner!  Sorry we missed you - ha-ha!  Thought we'd drop off a few groceries - enjoy!
Have a fabulous week!  Love, your awesome family.  P.S.  Don't worry - we are long gone.

The P.S. part of that note is laughable now.  Aaron, Brinley and Jantzen were probably just getting to the car when Tanner opened his door and found the groceries.  I included that so Tanner didn't think we were sticking around his area to spy on him or something creepy:).  And those groceries went directly into the refrigerator so the timing was actually perfect in every way.  Seriously.  The Lord is amazing.  We made forever memories with this ultimate drop and drive!