We awoke to beautiful weather and had breakfast at one of the local restaurants. A fisherman described it as, “the water is like glass.” We paddled for several hours, only stopping to play inside of some abandon barges.
Eventually we came to Burlington and had lunch at Big Muddy’s on the river, making friends with the staff and a few customers.
After our meal we paddled on and found a beautiful island where the Mississippi and Skunk River meet. It was my favorite camping spot of the trip.
The next day was cold and rainy to wake up to. We paddled for 2 ½ hours and pulled over just before Muscatine at an RV park to try and get some food but the residents said it was private property so we paddled ahead and pulled over at the boat ramp in Muscatine. Tommy hiked into town to get food I enjoyed the antique boat show that they happened to have on that day.
We paddled behind the Muscatine Power and Water Plant (which smelled horrible I might add) and came to a big stretch of water, but for the first time, the wind was to our backs so we made haste to Lock 17.
We were told of a campground in New Boston and made it there just before dark. Tommy and I set up camp on the river bank just outside of the campground so we wouldn’t have to pay a fee, took a nice hot shower and found some food for the night.
It rained for the first six hours of daylight the next day. Our tent was very exposed to the public so we did not want to leave it unattended. Tommy went out for food first and I read in the tent. After he arrived back I went in search of the library.
Once found, I was informed it was closed on Thursdays so we decided to pack out gear up in the light drizzle and try and get in a few miles. It started pouring rain within the first hour we were on the river so we pulled over and camped for the night on a miserable little island covered with debris.
Tommy and I packed our gear up after a few hot showers and headed on our way saying farewell to our fellow travelers hoping we would meet them again, but knowing it would probably not be the case.
Once reaching Davenport we pulled over by a city park they had located on the river. Tommy hiked to the store for food and I slept in the park. 
From there we paddled to Buffalo and found a nice beach to sleep on after crossing the railroad tracks and road to the nearest gas station for food.
The four of us went to breakfast at a local restaurant the next morning. Together we got a late start on the river and had heard news of bad weather that night so we only paddled just past the next lock and settled on a campground where we met two homeless people who were getting evicted for fighting the night before.
During the calm parts of the windy night the two college guys and I had chili cheese dogs by the campfire and shared stories of our lives knowing it would be our final night together.
I forgot my watch (which was our alarm clock) in the kayak the night before so we go a late start to a windy day. Eventually we pulled over on an island to escape the wind for a couple of hours.
After continuing on, we met two friends who were college students as well who were paddling the river for a three week summer trip. We camped outside of Le Claire together, shared some drink and food.
The coyotes howled in the field behind our tent the night before so I did not sleep well. We slept in a little and paddled about two hours before stopping on an island to rest amd take photos of wildlife.
Eventually we came to Clinton Iowa and parked our kayak at another marina. I watched a little league game across the street and Tommy hiked into town to grab Subway.
We left the game and paddled to the other side of the river to camp on a sandy island.
Feeling guilty for not paddling the day before, we got an early start on the river after leaving a thank you note on the family’s truck. We paddled to Belleview, laid in a field next to the Lock to dry off and had lunch at the local Subway.
We paddled a few more miles in exhaustion and found a place to camp on the side of the river.
The next morning we decided we would stay in Dubuque for the day. We got a ride into town to go grocery shopping and do our laundry.
At night the family next to us in the campground treated us like family and fed us an amazing dinner.
It was an easy morning with great weather, we ate our lunch (cheerios and trail mix with some granola bars) outside of a little community that we could not find on the map after paddling about 20 miles.
We knew we wanted to make it to Dubuque for the night so we stayed on the water most of the day. What turned out to be perfect weather turned out to be our most miserable night of the trip. The final stretch to Lock # 11 was dark, rainy, and cold. I screamed Simple Man at the top of my lungs during the hour of paddling it took us to cross it, only to wait for a barge to go through once reaching the lock.
From there we illegally parked our kayak at a marina and headed to a bar where we could hear live music. Unfortunately I was not 21 at the time and even though we explained to the guard that we had just paddled 54 miles to reach Dubuque, he would not let us in.
So we hiked to the nearest gas station for some food, but as soon as we got inside it started raining. After running back to our kayaking (which was slowly filling with water) we paddled in the dark across the river because we heard there was a campground. Eventually we found it and set up camp quicker than we ever had. It was the hardest day.