War of the Peonies

Remember the movie from the 1980s, War of the Roses, starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny Devito? The couple divorces and tries everything to get ownership of their house. Decades later (how am I that old?), I remember the final scene. The couple is lying at the base of the stairs dying, fighting till their last breath. Finally, Oliver reaches out as a peace offering, only to have Barbara throw his hand back.

Planning trips with my friends is more like War of the Peonies. We are all too nice, no thorns, trying to make each other happy.
We decided last minute to head out for a ghost town trip on Memorial Day weekend, but reservations were booked up. We debated where to go for so long that we lost Austin (Nevada, not Austin of Nevada Expeditions). Even our favorite single-wide hotel booked up during our debate.

We all threw out several ideas and settled on either basing out of Winnemucca or Hawthorne. The problem is that none of us would choose which. We all tried to make the others happy yet find new things for everyone. Every message ended with, “I’m good with whatever you decide.”

Austin mapped out ghost towns for both locations. I finally decided on Winnemucca as much of the Hawthorne area we can do in day trips. Fortunately, I was still able to book rooms. I’m probably looking more forward to eating at The Griddle than visiting ghost towns!

Gouge Eye Nevada Ghost Town Mining Camp Ruins Paradise Valley — Gouge Eye

We have many sites on our route; I hope we can sneak in a stop at Gouge Eye! It would be my first visit in 17 years.

Darn it

My friend messaged last night that he has to work, darned jobs! Unfortunately, we were 1-hour past cancelation at the hotel. I’m pretty worn out after the last few weeks and wouldn’t mind a weekend at home, but since we are paying for the hotel anyways we decided to still go.

I will be posting some pictures this weekend on Instagram at @NVTami.