Days: 49-50

Day 49:  Took our time waking up this morning because of early morning rain.  When we got on the water we met our good friend wind again.  After paddling only a short while the winds had pushed a little thunderstorm into our area and caused us to get 8ff the water till the lightening passed.  Since we had nothing better to do we busted out the cards and enjoyed a nice game if kings corners which I beat Amanda at handily.  We pushed on and progess varied from slow in the wind and waves to quite quick and eventually we reached lock 19.  Normally reaching a lock would not warrant special attention but this one is very unique in that barges pushing 15 (the maximum north of St. Louis) do not have to separate.  That is the boat pushing the large metal containers does not have to take them through the lock in small groups.  In addition the drop was massive!  We were lowered 38ft and the lock was very long.  The doors at the downstream end that loomed over us loomed like to gates of a futuristic military fortress.  That night we got in late after covering 27 miles.  Our camp was on a sunken barge covered in sand just south of the Des Moines river. 

Day 50:  watch stopped working last night but thanks to Amanda's natural attuned sleep patterns we still woke up at a decent time.  The morning was calm and warm unlike our cold oatmeal.  We walked Reggie loaded up and were off.   Conditions were perfect.  No wind glass surface and no boat traffic aside from a couple barges which are not a big deal.  Anyway, the miles melted off and so did we.  The day was hot, the sun relentless, and not even a breath of air to cool us.  In no time we did it we hit 1000 mile mark!!!!  This was a huge milestone for us and we're lucky enough to have a mile marker mark the occasion!  Well technically it was off by about .7 but who cares.  The point was we made it this far and that felt good.  In a way it reaffirmed what we had always known, that we would make it to the golf.  We paddled on and made it to Quincy Illinois in record time however finding a campsite was a bit difficult.  Eventually we found a nice spot with good trees to hang and extra tarp to keep us dry tomorrow.  Yep that's right, rest day while we wait for our friend Ryan Welch to come to town to help us do our resupply bit most importantly to see a good friend.  We paddled 36 miles today and at a sight that shall from this point on be known as Bay Beach.