MISSION: Alaskan Adventure

I’ve never been to Alaska, but I hear it’s beautiful there.  And from the mission specifics I received from Affiliated Agent E, it sounds like the people are, too.

DATE:
17 and 18, January 2011

OPERATIVE:
Affiliated Agent E

LOCATION:
1. Hanson grocery store
2. Nome Rec Center
3. post office
4. Iditarod finish line
Nome, Alaska

TIME:
3:45 p.m.

Hi Secret Agent L! I completed my first documented mission this week. I’ve done a few before but was too scared of getting caught to document those missions.

Normally, all my $5 bills go into my vacation savings account. However, I wanted to spread peace and kindness in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. on his day of remembrance. I chose my 3 drop areas ahead of time and customized the card to them. The plan was to drop them at the post office, the Iditarod finish line, and the grocery store.

The Iditarod finish line sits out in our town all year and is a place that the homeless people like to gather. When hearing my plan, my husband decided to give me a coupon for a free sandwich to put at the finish line. Having already sealed my cards, I decided to drop the extra $5 at the rec center in town.

I set out at 3:45 on January 17, only to be foiled. The post office was closed because, duh, it was a federal holiday. No problem. I decided to head to the Iditarod Arch. Just as I was approaching it, so were 4 tourists who wanted their picture with the arch. I kept going to the grocery store. Thankfully, I was able to stash my card in the dried beans aisle. Having had enough stress for one day, I decided to leave the remaining mission until the following day.

On January 18 at the same time, I started out determined to make drops at the rec center, post office, and Iditarod Arch. My first stop was the Rec Center where I did a 20 minute workout. When I went to wipe down my machine, I managed to leave the second card sitting next to the disinfectant and clean towels without being spotted by the others in the room.

My next stop was the post office, which was quite busy. I pretended to be looking at the sizes of different flat rate boxes and slyly stuck the next $5 in between the different boxes so that some lucky person wouldn’t have to pay so much for postage that day.

The last and trickiest spot was the Iditarod Arch. I held my breath and hoped that no one would be there this time. I lucked out! I used the platform to set my stuff down and pretend to tie my shoe. No one could tell I was dropping something off and since I was listening to music on my I-Phone, when I went to take a picture, it only looked like I was changing up my tunes before continuing on my walk.

It was stressful pulling off 4 different drop points but I know that some people benefited as I have verified that the envelopes at the rec center and grocery store were both gone the next day. I had such a great time! Thanks for the inspiration.