Out of Australia -- but not yet in Africa

It will be a few weeks before we reach Africa -- we meet the truck in Gibraltar on 11 March.

But we're doing a fine job entertaining ourselves along the way. First stop was San Francisco where we 'escaped' from Alcatraz and tramped all over the city. We even climbed Nob Hill. Trust me, it's steep. The Hotel Carlton on Sutter Street was a reasonably priced and conveniently located place to stay. Highly recommended. So is Scoma's Restaurant. Fisherman's Wharf is loaded with restaurants, so we asked a fisherman for some advice. 'Only Scoma's.' he said, and he was right.

Next stop was Mountain View, California -- home of Google as well as our welcoming hosts Nona (Rinshinomori) and Brad. Nona is a RecipeZaar buddy. We had a great time sharing duties in the kitchen and never ran out of things to talk and laugh about. Her recipes are sensational and her pets are terrific entertainment. Nona and Brad showed us some of the sights including a day in Yosemite. The weather was perfect -- in the low 70s in winter.

Here we are!