For the past three years I've barged in on the Rowden family in Kingman, Ariz. for Thanksgiving, and they've treated me like one of their own.
The first year I got the traditional Thanksgiving Day. Turkey Bowl in the morning, Dallas Cowboys game in the afternoon, a fancy feast, pumpkin pie, scintillating conversation and board games galore.
What else could one want?
Last year they tossed in some wrinkles. The turkey bowl was moved indoors for a hoops game. We spent the afternoon working on a deep-fried turkey, and they took the idea of a "assortment" of desserts to the extreme.
In all, there were 23 different kinds of pies and cakes. I took home portions of 6. No problems there.
So it should have come to no surprise to me when I called to invite myself for Thanksgiving this year that they'd spring a whole new concept on me:
Camping and Elk hunting.
Different? Try revolutionary (to me).
A holiday? You betcha!!
The food was great. The games (Nerts, Hearts and Scrutineyes) were humbling. The hunt, sadly, came up empty (curse my luck). The company was fantastic.
Oh, and the scenic views roughly 10 miles up the road were, to say the least, Grand.
