Smile, have you ever chased a tornado? (Hmmmm...Why do I think I already know the answer to that question....)

Is this around Branson? When we were on our "Ribbons" journey, we crossed north Texas on a small route that brought us through a few hundred downtowns. We traveled from Texarkana to Amarillo. I remember when we got out near Wichita Falls ("Tornado Alley!" I told the kids), I thought how incredible it would be to see a funnel cloud swirling out there on the vast horizon. We had some very interesting weather on the traverse, and some mighty gorgeous cloud formations, but no twisters. When we walked into the Dairy Queen in Saint Jon, Texas, all the talk was about whether the wind that was whipping up would turn to tornado. The collective wisdom of the locals said no -- and they were right.

When I was young, I lived in Illinois for a spell, and tornado season was always eerily fun. When a storm brewed and the warnings went up, my dad would turn the pool table in the basement onto its side and we'd all wait the storm out wedged between it and the basement wall. We'd have Cheerios and board games and radios, and we kids thought it was all great fun.

Two questions: What's "noodlin?" and do tornado-chasers wear Spandex?