Day 29: R 10/11- Everything will be perfect in Iowa!

The wind picked up through the night, which we hadn't expected, but it didn't rain. We had staked down the tent corners, but not the rainfly so it flapped and snapped through the night. Even so, it held up well to the strong winds and was roomy and comfortable. The next morning as we were packing, however, after we had taken all our gear out the wind pulled up the stakes and sent the tent tumbling over a time or two. We leapt up from breakfast and raced it down and it was no worse for its gymnastics.
We headed out and through La Crosse first thing and got to fight a bit of that lovely wind throughout the day. It was kind enough to be blowing in the right direction and pushed us right up to the next lock and dam, # 8. We had been passed by a small house boat pontoon a couple of hours before and were surprised to see them circling around in front of the dam. There was a barge sitting in the exit area, heading up river as we approached that just started pulling out as we got there. We snuck to the far left and hid under a railroad bridge while he came out. He 7 or 8 barges stacked deep and three wide, the biggest we had seen yet. As soon as they were out the pontoon raced in an we followed as quick as we could through the tug wake. As we were being lowered the guys in the pontoon said they had been waiting nearly two hours for the barge to finish locking!
After that we made decent time through a chilly, but not too windy, afternoon. We stopped to check the maps early afternoon because there was an island called Gillette Island we wanted to stop on for lunch. Turns out it was just around the bend, the next island down. It was a very pretty little island with a very picturesque cove that made for a nice lunch spot. Aaron snapped a pic as we left.
After that I was freezing and about ready to call it, but we decided to make a break for the Iowa border before stopping. Aaron assured me that "Everything will be perfect in Iowa" but then followed up with "I bet you could count in one hand the number of times that's been said, ever." It was pretty cool to cross into the new state though and we made camp just down river after a 27 mile day.