Flipped

My brother and I got out our respective Harleys early yesterday morning and went for a "ride to nowhere" which we enjoy doing. Ten miles (16km) beyond where I live, we have many fine two-lane less-traveled country roads to explore.

Our practice is that when we reach a major intersection, we flip a coin. Heads, turn left; tails, turn right. Or tails, turn another way. Or heads, go that way... whichever... the point is, we're out to ride and have fun.

Sometimes, we let that "twin thing" guide us. We would reach an intersection and whoever was in the lead would just turn, and the other would follow as if he knew it was our planned route. While I'm not much of a believer in mystery, I am convinced that I can sense what my brother is thinking and vice-versa -- at least when we are relaxed and doing something fun.

We found a neat little hole-in-the-wall diner for lunch. We stopped for gas at a little gas station that still had a pump for "Ethel." (Though it had a modern pump for 93 octane gas that our Harleys require.) We stopped for water. We stopped to watch a whole herd of ... some large four-legged animal that I swore looked like Elk, but I know we don't have herds of Elk in Maryland. We stopped to stretch and just admire the corn as high as an elephant's eye.

By early afternoon, though, storm clouds were gathering on the horizon, so I set the GPS for "home" and we made it home safely.

What a terrific motorcycling companion. What a wonderful brother. What a great birthday ride!