With lots of fond farewells to my fellow passengers, I left the ferry, riding in convoy with the other bikes heading south - there had been a lot of persuading to join the majority of them who were heading to America´s biggest bike rally, but I had to decline and said maybe another year.
Just after Seattle, disaster struck when part of my engine blew, I managed with a lot of luck and some help to get myself and Thelma to Mick Vallantine´s workshop- Seattle´s Independent BMW guy and a fellow Brit.
And there I remained for the next three weeks - helping in the workshop while we waited for the parts I needed. Making pots of tea and watching English soaps on the telly. Mick was very kind and loaned me his K1200 RS to get around on - ooops, just a bit faster than Thelma.