February 26, 2023
Marshall Trimble gives us a wonderful memory of being on the road with his family.
"My dad had a soft spot for hitchhiker’s and was always stopping along the highway to pick up some down-on-his luck holdover from the Depression. I suspect he’d done a lot of that himself. If somebody was pulled off the highway fixing a flat, he’d stop and offer to help. Mom was always warning him that someday someone was going to knock him in the head and steal his empty wallet.
"One time we were on our way back to Arizona after visiting relatives in Colorado. We were crossing the Navajo Reservation near Shiprock. My brothers and I had been arguing in the back seat since we left Rifle and driving our parents nuts when he stopped to pick up an old Navajo (Hastiinsani) thumbing a ride to Gallup.
Daily Whip Out: "Navajo Hitcher"
"He slowly climbed into the back seat and parked himself in the middle of three little boys. He didn’t say a word and just stared straight ahead. His wrinkled face and long silver hair pulled back and tied in a knot. We sat mesmerized, scrutinizing this enchanting old man. Not a word came from the backseat all the way to Gallup.
"We pulled into town and the old man touched my dad on the shoulder and pointed to a street corner. He got out, turned and nodded to us and walked away.
Mom looked at dad and said, “Do you think we could talk that old man into going with us all the way to Ash Fork?”
—Marshall Trimble
Now this is exactly the kind of stories you are going to find in the second volume of "The 66 Kids." Get ready for plenty road trip action.
“I'll tell you a secret. Old storytellers never die. They disappear into their own story.”
—Vera Nazarian
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