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

comes from a Shoshone Indian word , Ed-dah-how, which means, ‘look, the sun is coming down from the mountain’. Isn’t that a hoot. Others say it really means gem of the mountain.”

      He read on silently and then spoke, “Gold was discovered in 1860 which brought the state’s population up to 15,000 people. In 1877 General O. O. Howard, with his troop, defeated the Nez Perce Indians led by Chief Joseph. In 1890, Idaho was admitted to the Union as the 43^rd state. During the 1900s, Idaho had a steady increase in irrigation and hydroelectric power. Since 1951 atomic power has been produced by the National Reactor Testing Station near Arco.”

      Tim had been thinking and broke in, “Wasn’t it Chief Joseph who said, “I will fight no more forever”? We saw the movie, remember? I felt so sorry for the Indians. They sure got a dirty deal.”

      Anna and Irene looked at each other knowingly and laughed when Galena looked at the boys, gave a grunt and a deep sigh, and stretched out to fall asleep. “She’s relieved,” Anna chuckled. “There’s peace for a while.”

      Late in the afternoon, Anna drove across the border into Idaho. She had to go to Rockland where there was a gas station, restaurant and motel together. Galena was so happy to be stopped that she walked across the boys to get outside where she ran around and around the station wagon.

      Irene stretched, “Ummm. We’re all tired, so why don’t we eat soon and go to bed early. You can watch television if you’re not sleepy. At least our bodies can rest.”

      The next morning Irene drove across the border into Washington. It rained for hours, but they didn’t complain much because it had been a decent trip so far. “Why don’t we stop in Spokane for a lunch break?” she suggested.

      The rain had stopped for a while and the air was fresh and clear. “Mom, over there’s a great looking park. We can buy food and go over there for a picnic.” Tom looked at Tim. “Wouldn’t you like that?”

      “Sure,” Tim replied eagerly. “I know Galena will like it. Let me get the Frisbee and play with her. Seeing Tim take the Frisbee out of the car, Galena was wild with joy.

      “Catch her! Galena! Come back here!” Irene yelled as Galena ran across the street toward the park. A car screeched and turned sideways. An eighteen wheeler driver, following the car, blew his air horn and yelled as his truck went sliding out of control because he had to throw on his brakes. Galena came back with her tail between her legs knowing she had down something wrong. The Jackson family looked on in horror expecting to see a terrible wreck, but the truck driver was able to wrestle his truck back on the highway and stop just short of the car.

      The frightened and very angry truck driver climbed down from the cab ready to do battle. “Where in the blue blazes is that mangy mutt and who does it belong to?”

      “Mangy mutt?!” Tom shrieked stomping up in the man’s face with his chin out. Anna grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back as Irene hurried to talk to the two drivers. Tim dropped to his knees, hugging Galena and still shaking from the fright.

      Irene was also shaken and with a catch in her voice apologized. “Oh, sir, I’m so sorry. I’m thankful no one is hurt and apparently there’s no damage. There isn’t any damage is there?” she asked fearfully. “We’ve been traveling for over two weeks and the dog is so tired of being in the car she ----”

      “Lady! That’s no excuse for letting a dog run loose.” The driver of the car blurted pugnaciously. He then took a deep breath and ran a trembling hand through his hair. “Okay. I have three boys and two dogs, so I understand how these things can happen. I was so sure I’d be flattened by that semi.” He took another long breath. “Is the dog all right?”

      “She’s fine. Thank you, sir,” Tim answered quickly. He stood up in front of the men. “I can understand how angry you are.” He turned to the semi driver. “That’s a lot of weight to have to stop so quickly, and you probably have a load on board that could have been damaged. My mother told you the truth. We’ve traveled so long and the dog was very happy to see the park on the other side that she took off before we could catch her. Believe me, she is well trained. You noticed she came right back when she was called.”

      “She had no business being loose. Why didn’t you have a leash on her?” the driver stated.

      “There’s some people that need a leash more than this dog does.” Tom looked as if he would gladly do battle.

      “Tom!” Irene spoke firmly. “It was our fault and I’m truly sorry. “Is your truck okay?” she looked appealingly at the truck driver.

      “Yeah, I guess,” he answered gruffly. “I almost jack-knifed and it scared the -- uh -- it scared me.” He turned to the car driver. “Can you pull out and give me room to straighten out?”

      “Certainly,” the man replied and hurried to his car. He turned to the Jacksons. “I hope your family has a pleasant and a safe trip.” He got in his car and maneuvered around until he straightened and left with a toot of his horn.

      The truck driver walked over and looked closely at Galena. “Is she a full-blooded German Shepherd?”

      “Yes, sire,” Tim answered proudly.

      “Humph. That’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen. Is she trained to be an attack dog?”

      “No,” Irene said hurriedly. “She does protect us because she’s been with us all her life. She would only be vicious if one of us were to be threatened and she felt she was needed to protect one of us.”

      The truck driver grunted. “She’s a beautiful dog, and so big,” he said again. “I sure would love to have one like her to travel in the cab with me.”

      “Sorry,” Anna giggled, “the mold was broken when she was born, and she’ll be with us as long as she lives.” the man shook his head and walked to his truck. It took a lot of pulling forward, backing and turning to get his cab and trailer straightened to drive. He blew his air horn at them as he left.

      “He’d better get out of here while the getting’s good,” Tom snarled.

      “Tom! When are you going to learn to control your temper?” Irene spoke sharply. “You could have gotten us in serious trouble if you had angered those men enough to call the police on us. It was Galena’s fault and we should have had her on a leash. It’s the fault of all of us. Now get a leash on her. We’ll get our food and cross in safety together to the park. Those beautiful shade trees are calling to me. I can hardly wait to get my shoes off and walk in that lovely grass.”

      Irene walked to a nearby fast-food counter to place their order. “I would like four deluxe cheeseburgers, two plain cheeseburgers, four orders of fries, two chocolate milk shakes, one strawberry and one vanilla shake. The vanilla one made with butter pecan ice cream, please.” She paid and joined her family. Tim helped carry the food while Tom took Galena. They carefully crossed the street and found a table with benches under a huge shade tree.

      “Here, boys. Give Galena the two plain cheeseburgers. It really isn’t good for her, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate a change from her usual dog food. We mustn’t feed her like this too often though. We leave in one hour. Don’t wander off and get into trouble or get lost.”

      The twins hurriedly ate their food and grabbed the Frisbee, calling to Galena and ran farther into the park. Irene gave a contented sigh and dropped to the grass under the tree. She lay back with her head on her sweater and one arm over her eyes.

      “Umm, Mom. Thanks loads. This strawberry shake is really good and hit’s the spot.” Anna gave a last slurp and slipped down beside Irene. She smiled to see that her mother was starting to doze.

      Irene woke when the boys came yelling back to them. “Hour’s up. Whew. Galena really had a good time. She’ll be ready to settle down for sure in the car this time,” Tim smiled.

      “I’m afraid you boys are on a sugar high. I don’t know what Galena’s