First we take Calgary, then we take Mechanicsburg

(With about a million apologies to Leonard Cohen for the title)

The final pre-trip map update for my trip to Calgary (as in Alberta, Canada) and Illinois (as in the home of America's Favorite Governor) is ready to go: wiki.kirkkittell.com/index.php?title=Calgary_and_Illinois_2008-12. The final estimate is 811 miles, which Google says is a 15 hour and 36 minute trip. This is the best blend of short and practical for me. The default trip, i.e., shortest time, that Google provides is 895 miles, 14 hours and 14 minutes. I'm sure some of the fuel efficiency I'll gain from the shorter mileage will be mitigated by stop signs and stoplights in the towns along the way, but I don't care. It's more scenic than traveling on the interstate, plus I get to see President Bill Clinton's birthplace in Hope, Arkansas. Score: Kirk 1, Google 0.

I'll be bothering the internets during this trip via the following methods. If you like taking the backroads or maps or whatever, connect with me (I will not say "friend me" -- never).

• Twitter (notes)
• Flickr (photos)
• Brightkite (notes and photos... sometimes, maybe? Does anyone use Brightkite?)
• Dopplr (upcoming trips)

So, after work, I'm going to sleep for a bit, then I'm leaving Houston at midnight to catch a 7pm -- yeah, that is post meridiem not ante meridiem -- out of St. Louis. Then it's off to Canada to spend time too little time with Megha (who has already met Bill and Hillary Clinton, so may or may not be impressed with my trip through Hope) then to Illinois (Christmas in Chester, New Years in a farmhouse in Mechanicsburg) to spend time with friends and family.

If anyone knows of a good place to get breakfast between Shreveport, Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas -- and by "good" I mean "cheap, maybe scary, 24-hour diner" -- please let me know in the comments.

BONUS: You want a postcard. Listen. I'd love to send you a postcard while I'm out on the road. But, um, that's creepy for you because you'd have to send me your postal address. It's OK, I understand. HOWEVER: send me a DM or an @reply on Twitter -- Twitter / kittell -- and I'll send you a random picture of limited quality from the road, with a strange or offcolor caption, posted in my Flickr account, and shipped to you via @reply in Twitter. It will be amazing. Maybe. Basically, if you've been anywhere within a million miles of Missouri, you know this will probably be a photo of a Merrimac Caverns billboard...

UPDATE: OK, I can do this through Facebook Mobile, too, maybe. Leave a comment here or on my wall. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic postcard.