Four and a half days and 1982 miles after leaving Phoenix, I pulled onto the forecourt of BMW in Countryside, Illinois to a warm welcome. I was surprised to discover that Countryside is the name of a suburb of Chicago, although to Americans it's a town in its own right. I was exhausted, dirty and ready to collapse, but just the fact that I had made it in time was enough to oerk me up. I parked Thelma in the workshop and, grabbing my panniers headed off to downtown Chicago with Craig, one fo the guys who works at the dealership.

Having looked at my map and having learnt from past experience, Texas is BIG, I just cut through the top bit and ended up camping near the Oklahoma border just outside a place called Texola. A bad start to the evening was had when one of my tent poles snapped and it snapped badly, no way of splinting it with the repair piece.  It wasn't the most comfortable night I'd had, but I was so tired by the time I'd managed to get the tent in a semi-upright position that I virtually collapsed into it. Look out for the picture of it in the gallery.

 I've been learning a lot about the different States  and their geography, woking out my route as I go along, sometimes choosing a route which might take me through a state I haven't been to before. Several states seem to have pan-handles (a bit that juts out), I don't think we use that word in England or at least not in geographical terms.

Having arrived in Arizona, I quickly settled in at my friends' house, spreading my luggage around and making the most of the air conditioning. Thelma arrived having been brought up from Tucson by Roseann and Jonathan in their van, which was extremely kind of them. Thelma promptly took up residence in half of the garage. I got to work checking her over and servicing her. She looked pretty good but the rear tyre wasn't great. I headed off to MotoGhost, a local BMW bike shop. Thelma soon had a new tyre and a smart-looking right-angle valve for it.

 After an exhausting 24 hours of non-stop travel I've made it here to the heat of Arizona. I've been reunited with Thelma, having left her in Mexico 18 months ago, my how time has flown.

Thank you to all those who have been patiently waiting to find out what the next instalment of my travels will be. I'm in the lucky position of being able to go travelling again this year, that's if I tighten my belt a bit while I'm on the road and perhaps get into a bit of debt, before I make it back.

2012 has dawned and I even risked a quick swim in the sea on New Year's Day - think of balmy tropical water and then try and think of something that's as far removed from that as possible. It was freezing cold but I managed the briefest of dips before dashing out again.

On foot and by bus we explored Beijing beginning with a trip to the Great Wall of China, call me Mrs Ignorant, but I had no idea it was so steep. We climbed up the side of a hill to reach a ladder which led up onto the wall itself. This somewhat rickety ladder was a test in itself, being over 20 feet high and with a narrow window at the top to scramble through into one of the towers along the wall.

The party and speeches at the BMW dealership were finally over. As the bikes weren't allowed any further into the city, we were being transferred by bus. Once more for us all the ignominy of decanting bike panniers into a bus luggage compartment. Off we went though the traffic jams of central Beijing to our hotel which had a great location overlooking the Forbiden City.

Our final day of riding was to be one with a difference, it was a misty morning as we loaded up our bikes for the final time and set off. We were going to be given an opportunity to try the “forbidden fruit” of the expressway. Apparently the area manager for this section of the roads is a BMW bike fan and we were to be permitted to ride along it.