Dangerous Hilarity: The Great Adventures of the Jackson Twins, Their Family and the Dogs in Their Lives, A Novel for Teens and Young Adults and All Those Who are Young at Heart. Sioux Dallas

would like to see. Tom picked up the tour book for Missouri. “Mom!” he yelled.

      “There was so much good stuff to see in Missouri and didn’t stop for anything. President Harry Truman’s house is in Independence.”

      “Sweetie, we can’t possibly stop at every place of interest or we’d never get to Alaska, at least not for about a year. You know dad is anxious for us to get with him and we’ve missed him.”

      “Yeah, mush brain, we’d never get anywhere.” Tim punched Tom on the shoulder not saying he would have liked to stop at several places. The twins began to wrestle on the back seat which excited Galena to a barking fit. She climbed on them snapping at their arms.

      “That’s enough,” Irene ordered firmly. “I know you’re tired and bored, but remember we’re driving up here and watching traffic. You’re getting on my nerves and upsetting Galena.” The twins would have stopped several times an hour. They thought the time was going too fast, but Irene felt the time was dragging.

      “You keep forgetting, guys, dad’s waiting for us and he expects us to arrive on the day we agreed upon. Try to think of mom’s feeling and cooperate, please,” Anna reasoned.

      Much to the twins’ delight, Irene did agree to stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were many historical places to see; one being the home of Will Rogers just on the outskirts of Tulsa. Tim read aloud from the AAA tour book. “This is the last home for several Indian tribes, those that came from the east as well as those that lived in the area. Oklahoma got its name from the Choctaw Indians word meaning ’red people’. The nickname Sooner State came from people who illegally tried to make land claims in designated areas sooner than the people who obeyed the government date of April 22, 1889.”

      “Well, it was illegal, but you can’t blame them for wanting land and homes for their families,” Tom stated. “I wonder how the Indians felt. After all this was the land they had lived on for hundreds of years.”

      “The Indians were betrayed by people they trusted,” Irene explained. “They were hurt, confused, bitter and despondent. Some were old and tired and didn’t want any more trouble, so they gave in.”

      Tim nodded, looking sad, but continued to read. “Sequoyah, the Cherokee who wrote the first written alphabet for his people, came to Oklahoma in 1828 to live. He taught his people to read and write their language. Oklahoma was admitted as the 46^th state in 1907. Since then Indians have been elected to both the state and national legislatures.” the twins settled down to read the remainder of the information silently.

      “Can we go to Oklahoma City? We’d like to go through the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center,” Tom said.

      “Yeah, and while we’re there, we can go through the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum, but I don’t want to go by the building that crazy man bombed. I’d cry even it was a long time ago. That was back in 1995, but the fact that so many innocent people died, including babies, makes me sad,” Tim finished.

      “I know what you mean, “Anna answered him, “but we won’t have time to spend in so many places in each state. We’re going to have to sit down with the tour books and decide what we, as a family, truly want to see.”

      “Makes sense to me,” Irene said. “When we stop tonight, we’ll all go through the books together and decide what we can do.”

      Driving as much as they could, and not wanting to waste time, they pulled into Oklahoma City around eight that night. The twins took Galena for a quick walk and then returned to their motel room to feed her and leave her a fresh bowl of water. The family went across the street to a restaurant and were back in their room by nine thirty. They spread the AAA books out on one of the beds, with a map of the U.S., and read through the ones for Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

      As usual they had a room with two double beds. The twins slept in one bed and Irene and Anna slept in the other. Galena slept on the floor between the beds. The next morning they were eager for sightseeing. Galen was taken for a walk and fed. They went across for breakfast and took a tour bus to see the city.

      A little after one that afternoon, they were tired and ready to rest, but very happy that they had seen all they did. Galena was taken for another walk and the family went across the street for lunch. They came back to the motel and settled for a short rest.

      The twins did agree to go to the City National Memorial on Fifth and Harvey. It was built in memory of the victims of the 1995 bombing. They were impressed that there was a stone chair for each of the 168 people killed.

      “I wonder how Timothy McVeigh felt when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building and discovered he’d killed so many babies?” Tom mused.

      “People like McVeigh have no integrity or remorse and he probably didn’t feel guilty at all,” Tim answered.

      Their next stop was the Red Earth Indian Center. After all the walking they were ready to go back for dinner and to an early bed. The next morning they were eager to continue. Galena had been a good traveler. She had cooperated with every mile and every stop, but she was getting tired of being cooped up in the car and in motel rooms. It disturbed her that the twins were reading the books and ignoring her. With no warning, she jumped from the back of the wagon to the back seat and tore the tour books from their hands to shake and tear them. The twins yelled so loudly trying to get the book from her that Anna pulled over and stopped. Irene ordered everyone out of the car. “Take Galena for a walk, but stay right on this side of the highway where I can see you.

      The twins walked Galena and then ran back to the car. When they returned, Irene and Anna had made sandwiches. There were also fruit, chips and soft drinks. Galena was given fresh water and let lie in the shade of the car. They were afraid to go far off the road for fear of snakes.

      Back in the car Anna continued the drive into Texas. Their stop for the night was between Dallas and Fort Worth. The twins were thrilled to be in Texas because of the movies they’d seen and the books they’d read. They expected to see cowboys, cattle and gunfights just as they’d seen in movies. They were disappointed that the cities were as modern as they had in Virginia.

      The next morning they were up early and eager to sightsee. The first stop was the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial to remember the assassination of the president in Dallas in 1963. They then went on to Fort Worth to the Stockyard Museum. They rushed through the Stockyards Station Historical Walking Tour.

      “Oh, Mom, let’s go to San Antonio and see the Alamo,” Tom begged.

      “Please,” Tim whined. “We want to see it for ourselves. You don’t know when we’ll ever get this opportunity again and we are so close.”

      “Oh, yeah?” Anna stated. “You’re not the ones driving. Mom, shall we?”

      Irene thought for a few moments and finally agreed. The twins cheered so loudly that Galena began to jump from one seat to another barking. Irene and Anna both spoke loudly at once ordering them to be quiet and get Galena settled.

       Chapter Seven

      Anna drove on south to San Antonio secretly pleased that they were going to see the Alamo. It was late afternoon when they arrived, so, Irene decided that they would eat, take Galena for a walk and rest.

      “Let’s call your dad and tell him where we are. He expects to hear from us every day and I’m sure he’s concerned about us doing all this traveling.”

      “This cell phone bill is going to be horrendous,” Anna observed. “We do need to talk to dad and let him know how far along we are.”

      After the call they went out to dinner and to look around the area. This was their first time in Texas and they wanted to see as much as possible in the time frame. Irene decided they had enough time to go through the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum. The admission was eight dollars each. The 1881 museum was a step back into the old west. The twins reluctantly went to bed but were eager to get up