time with friends and a crappy job.

We were off work Sunday because the normal breakfast cooks wanted last Monday off and traded with us. We stopped in for breakfast and man oh man were they ever busy! I guess they got a good dose of what we go through each week end :-).
After breakfast we returned to the 5er and found Rob waiting for us to take a bike ride. Jany was not feeling well and didn't want to fight the heat that was predicted. I already had the Harley out and ready to go so we hopped on and headed out.
I lead the way and took Rob through Terre Haute, crossed the Wabash river and into West Terre Haute. We headed out into the countryside taking a nice winding road that eventually led us into Paris, Illinois. Angling back towards Indiana we found our way to the tiny town of Eugene and stopped at the Covered Bridge Restaurant for lunch.
The weather was really heating up after lunch so we headed back to the KOA. We ended up riding almost 100 miles on small county roads and loved every mile of it! Once back at the campground Jany joined us for a quick dip in the pool to cool off and we ended up swimming for most of the afternoon.
For our anniversary dinner we decided on Kleptz's Restaurant in Seelyville, Indiana. We have passed by this restaurant many times over the years and always wanted to stop but never got the chance. They advertise steak and seafood and their building is a large older house converted years ago for their restaurant.
We each ordered a steak dinner to share, Rob and Jany had the "Australian steak" and we had a rib eye. Both meals were superb! The steaks were the best we had eaten a long, long time and the prices were not out of line at all.
We made it back home stuffed but happy and spent some time visiting in Rob and Jany's 5er before finally heading home and hitting the sack after a long day.

Monday Rob and Jany joined us and Rudee cooked all of us a buffet breakfast! She made bacon, scrambled eggs, fried green tomatoes and cinnamon rolls. Wow, what a spread. I'm gonna get fat again eating like this! :-)
After breakfast Rob and Jany headed back to their site to begin packing up since they had to leave to get back to work. :-(
While they were doing that I tackled a quick project in our little house on wheels. The toilet is supposed to hold a small amount of water between flushes and ours quit doing that several months ago. There are two rubber seals between the bowl and the pedestal stand that needed relaced and I figured I might as well replace the flushing valve and spring while I was at it in case this was also causing the problem. I had ordered the parts last week and they arrived by UPS on Friday.

I had replaced the seals a couple of years ago when, due to a design flaw, the company sent out new ones so I had a little bit of experience on taking the toilet apart. This would prove to be more of a hindrance rather than a help :-).
Everything came apart pretty easily but then I had to put the new parts back in! Getting the new valve and the little shaft that moves it back into place was a bear! Keep in mind that this valve sits on the bottom of the bowl inside where all the "stuff" goes! EWWWW!
Let me stop right here and say that I think plumbers earn very dime they make and I will probably never shake hands with one again! :-)
I eventually got the valve installed and was ready to put the bowl back on the pedestal. I first had to lay the seals down on the top of pedestal and then sit the bowl in its place sandwiching the seals between the two. Rudee helped me center the bowl and I tightened everything back up. Last test was to turn the water back on. No leaks and the toilet flushes like normal except the water in the bowl now runs past the closed valve even faster than before! Rats!
By this time Rob and Jany were packed up and hooked on. We met them in the driveway by the office and said our goodbyes. For some reason they skipped the "hugs and handshakes" when they said goodbye to me. :-)
Rethinking my repairs to the toilet I decided to take it apart (again!) and make sure the new rubber seals were not pinched or moved somehow. Off came the bowl again and  the new seals were laying there nice and flat right where they were supposed to be ..... hmmmm. One of the seals is thinner but bigger around than the other one and has "this side up" printed on it and I had put that side up. What could be wrong? I decided to dig the directions out of the trash where I had tossed them. Remember, I had done this before so I knew what I was doing? Well after fishing through the trash and reading the directions, the thinner seal goes on the bottom with the words this side up "up" and then the thicker seal goes on top of it. I decided to try it "their way" and guess what. It worked! The toilet now holds water and flushes like a new one! Guess that reading directions thing you women are always yacking to us men about may not be a bad thing after all! Sorry guys, but I guess I have surrendered to the other side on this one :-)

Nothing special going on this week, just back to work for another "hot" week at the KOA. I'll keep you posted.