Holiday travel blog

Rocky Mountain News

Published November 21, 2007 at 5:58 a.m.
Updated November 21, 2007 at 3:34 p.m.

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Photo by AP

Enthused Snowboarders ride the Born Free Express Chair at the Vail Mountain Ski Resort today. Whether it's the weather, at the airport or on the roads, it's all about getting there. Check out the latest, and tell us what you're seeing out there.

Photo by George Kochaniec Jr. © The Rocky

Jordan Jack, center, is welcomed with hugs and tears of joy at Denver International Airport early this morning. Jack. a Mormon missionary, flew into DIA from Argentina where he finished a two-year mission. Friends and family came from his home in Cheyenne to welcome the elder home. A sign proclaimed "Bienvenida Elder Jack." DIA expects a 2 percent decrease in passengers during the Thanksgiving holiday compared with last year.

Photo by Ahmad Terry © The Rocky

People gather at DIA to greet passengers as they arrive from the concourses. A blizzard in December closed DIA for two days.

Photo by George Kochaniec Jr. © The Rocky

TSA workers get some rest during a quick break from security screening at Denver International Airport early Wednesday. DIA expects a two percent decrease from last year in passengers during the Thanksgiving holiday.

3:34 p.m.

If you’re still at work, the clock’s ticking toward the holiday. And if you have young children, the clock could start early tomorrow morning with a march down Broadway in New York. This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving parade will feature a grumpy green Shrek — one of three new balloons — and the Virginia Tech marching band playing in tribute to victims of last spring’s campus shooting. This year’s 11 giant helium balloons include three new ones: William Steig’s swamp-loving ogre, “Sesame Street’s” fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby and Hello Kitty Supercute, the cape- and tiara-wearing feline superhero. The parade will be televised nationally on NBC (9News in Denver) from 9 a.m. to noon in all time zones, with areas of the country not on Eastern time watching a taped version.

-- Associated Press

3:23 p.m.

Holy meow! We shared the story of the naked man running through traffic earlier today. Now AP has sent us another tale of woe on the roads, this time in Wakefield, Ohio:

That was no dog chasing cars in southern Ohio earlier this week. It was a cat — a big cat. Pike County sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call of a lion “attacking” vehicles on U.S. 23 Monday and found a man trying to capture a 550-pound feline near Wakefield. Terry Brumfield told officers that his lion named Lambert had broken out of its pen in nearby Piketon, about 90 miles east of Cincinnati. The owner was able to get the animal back into the cage without anyone getting hurt. Brumfield and his wife have two lions. Vicki Brumfield said raising them has helped her husband through a bout of depression. She said they are tame, like great big house cats. Ohio doesn’t require permits for exotic animals, but that would change under an Ohio House bill now in committee.

3:07 p.m.

Patience paid off for Colorado skiers. Now they just hope it lasts. “Everybody knew it would come. It’s just a matter of patience,” said Jason Roberts, 31, of Avon after skiing down the Born Free trail on Vail's opening day. The intermediate-to-advanced run is the only one open so far, but Vail Mountain spokeswoman Jen Brown said she hopes more snow and low temperatures will help the resort open more terrain soon. The resort postponed its opening day from last week based on the forecast change in the weather. After last weekend’s warm weather that lured people outdoors to hiked and mountain bike in shorts, Colorado Ski Country USA spokesman Nick Bohnenkamp said it was great to see people in Denver strapping ski equipment to their cars this morning. “When it starts to snow, people get that tingle,” he said.

-- Associated Press

2:17 p.m.

Frontier Airlines spokesman Steve Snyder said part of the reason the airport ran so smoothly today is that airlines and security agencies know to expect a high volume. “It’s predictable,” he said. “You can staff up because with Thanksgiving you know when the crowds are going to come.” TSA staffed 18 security lines all morning at DIA. At one point, people snaked through the corrals for about 20 minutes, but the lines were all but gone by 10:30 a.m.

--Associated Press

2:08 p.m.

If you’re on the road today and just found out that your windshield wiper fluid is not working, then the line could be frozen.

Tips on what to do:

-- Check the reservoir and add washer fluid if needed.

-- Use a quality de-icer. “There’s nothing that’s 100 percent foolproof,” says Harry Snyder, a service manager at Go Honda in Westminster, but “using a quality fluid goes a long way.”

Snyder warns that last winter when temperatures dropped into the single digits, some motorists experienced frozen lines anyway.

-- Park your vehicle in a warm place, says Fernando Miranda, store manager at Pep Boys in Denver.

-- If all else fails, bring your vehicle in for service. It could be a bigger problem.

-- Tony Trowbridge

2:03 p.m.

Attention Steamboat travelers: The chain law has been lifted on U.S. 40 over Rabbit Ears Pass, which remains wet, slushy and icy in spots. CDOT sent out the good word in the past few minutes.

1:49 p.m.

The arrivals board at DIA is littered with delays -- but most of them are less than an hour late arriving into Denver. About 80 flights have some sort of delay and the two longest are a United Airlines flight coming from San Francisco and a United flight arriving from Pittsburgh. The Bay Area flight shows a delay of two hours while the one from Pittsburgh is showing a four-hour delay. Most of the flights that are late are less than 45 minutes. The departure board is a lot cleaner, with about 50 delays -- the vast majority under an hour as well. The latest flight is a United Airlines flight from Denver to Miami that has been delayed three hours. There is also a United Airlines flight to Bismarck that is delayed by a little more than two hours.

-- David Montero at DIA

1:22 p.m.

If you're headed to the Midwest by car or plane, beware. In Chicago, rain may turn into as much as 4 inches (or 10 centimeters, for those of you who believed your teachers and learned metric back in the day) of snow later this evening, according to the National Weather Service. “A sharp cold front will allow a changeover to snow to take place from northeastern Kansas to northern Illinois, including Chicago,” Kristina Baker, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com, told Bloomberg News. “Snow and frozen wet spots will lead to hazardous travel toward evening as temperatures plummet.” Sounds like our weather woes will soon become theirs.

1:16 p.m.

The wait time going through security has bumped up to 10 minutes, but the line is still moving quickly. And check-in counters at both Frontier Airlines and United Airlines still have wait times under five minutes. As for parking, DIA still has plenty of covered parking in the east and west lots, with each only about two-thirds full. Those are $18 a day. The economy lots, however, are still showing full with just a scattered parking spaces available if you're lucky to be in the right place at the right time (or happen to drive a tow truck).

-- David Montero at DIA

1:12 p.m.

This guy's a glutton for punishment -- and, apparently, gluttony. Suddenly, tomorrow sounds easy. The AP writes:

It was a Thanksgiving meal for 10, but Tim Janus devoured it alone in just 15 minutes as part of a public relations stunt to draw attention to New York City’s hungry. “What’s so important about today is that it begins to fill my stomach up and I can now leave a little more for everybody else,” Janus said after consuming a 10-pound turkey, four pounds of mashed potatoes, three pounds of cranberry sauce and 2 1/2 pounds of beans. And he still had room for dessert: an entire pumpkin pie. Janus — a Major League Eater champion who holds world titles in cannolis, marshmallow Peeps and tiramisu — said the league was donating $6,000 to the Food Bank for New York City — a sum that will provide 30,000 meals. Last week, the league gave $4,000 to Second Harvest food bank. According to the Food Bank for New York City Web site, 1.3 million New Yorkers currently turn to food pantries and soup kitchens to keep from going hungry, a 24 percent rise from 2004.

12:55 p.m.

A few lucky drivers managed to grab the last few spots in the Economy West Lot (hey we don't name 'em, we just report 'em). FlyDenver.com, DIA's Web site, is now reporting that the EWL (your choice of pronunciations; we prefer Yule) is Full, as are Pikes Peak and the Economy East Lot (that's an easy one: EEL). All other lots remain open, with the cheapest being Mount Elbert at 5 bucks a day.

12:38 p.m.

Rob Linde, spokesman for Eldora Mountain Resort, said the Boulder County ski hill is set to open Friday. "Hopefully the temperatures will drop more here, and we'll get some natural snow out of this, too," he said. Based on the long-term forecast, Linde said he thinks "We're moving out of this tropical weather. You're going to see winter appear here real quick, and I think it's here to stay," he told the Camera.

12:28 p.m.

De-icing isn't proving to be a big issue at DIA. J.C. McGill, who is a de-icer at DIA, said they've experienced no backups at all and only a few planes even have a light dusting of snow on them. "It just hasn't been a huge snow," he said. He also said the planes are moving through the de-icing equipment "pretty quickly and easily." McGill said he doesn't think they'll even need to de-ice the entire day, though temperatures outside remain brisk.

-- David Montero at DIA

12:18 p.m.

Weather caused few if any problems, and travelers’ early starts and planning helped make the first hours of the exodus unexpectedly smooth -- for the most part -- around the country on what is expected to be a record travel day. Light check-in traffic surprised travelers departing from the United Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. “We were expecting a much longer delay. LAX is infamous for that,” said Charles Gwyer, 70, of Philadelphia. He and his wife spent the night at a nearby hotel before continuing on to Hawaii for a family gathering.

--Associated Press

12:14 p.m.

Summit County's resorts aren't touting foot-deep dumps like Aspen and Snowmass, but at least they're open for business today. The storm is an early holiday present for snow-starved ski resorts with 4 to 8 inches of additional white stuff predicted for the high country. Keystone reported 4 inches of snow in the last 24 hours with light snow continuing throughout the morning. The resort was predicting up to 9 inches total from the storm. Three lifts are open today with an 18-inch snow base. Likewise, Copper Mountain’s Snow Line tallied 4 inches of new snow since yesterday “with more on the way.” Five lifts were open, serving eight trails with an 18-inch base.

-- Alan Gathright

11:55 a.m.

Erica Cordova was expecting a nightmare for herself and nearly 20 family members heading to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for a holiday vacation. Instead, “We walked right up to the counter,” she said this morning at DIA. “We thought we would be in line forever.”

Eric Engle, a National Guard military police officer from Denver, went from curb to gate in less than 30 minutes on his way to see his father in Alabama before his unit ships out for Kuwait and Iraq.

Karen and Don McReavy returned to Denver from India, where they were undergoing leadership training with her church in one of the poorest regions of the country. “We’re so happy to be home,” Karen McReavy said. “(Being in India) makes you realize what a wonderful country we have.”

-- Associated Press

11:51 a.m.

Finally, some good ski news from the high country, thanks to AspenTimes.com:

Snowmass received a foot of snow last night, while the top of Aspen Mountain picked up 9 inches, the Aspen Skiing Company said this morning.

Opening day at both resorts is set for Turkey Day, but it's possible only Fanny Hill at Snowmass will be open for skiers and riders. Aspen Skiing, however, said it will be an “hour by hour” decision on what terrain will be open, the Times said, adding that snow guns were blasting away overnight and this morning.

Aspen Highlands, due to open Dec. 8, received 5 inches overnight; Buttermilk, also set to open Dec. 8, picked up 3.

The Times said the sun was shining in downtown Aspen by midmorning, with about 2 to 3 inches of snow falling in town overnight.

11:39 a.m.

Feel sleepy after a big Thanksgiving meal? Contrary to popular thinking, it’s not the turkey’s fault. So says a report from the AP.

While there is an amino acid in turkey that induces sleepiness, experts say it’s much more likely the reason you’re tired after having Thanksgiving dinner is a combination of simple factors: you ate and drank too much and didn’t sleep enough. So don’t blame the turkey.

“The poor turkeys have enough problems on Thanksgiving,” said Dr. Carol Ash of Somerset Medical Center’s Sleep for Life Center in Hillsborough, N.J. The reason turkey gets blamed for making people sleepy is because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid that produces the brain chemical serotonin, which promotes calm and sleepiness. But as part of a big dinner, the tryptophan has a hard time reaching the brain. Even if it did, “you’d have to ingest quite a number of turkeys” for it to have an effect, she said.

If the tiredness has anything to do with dinner, Ash said, it would be because of carbohydrates, which studies show are more likely to make people sleepy. And even that would only be a small factor, she said. There’s the travel, working longer days to get things done and lack of sleep, along with the carbs and alcohol, she said.

Overeating also contributes to feeling tired at Thanksgiving, said Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietitian and nutrition professor at Boston University. “You’re just eating a whole heck of a lot of foods and are stuffed,” said Salge Blake. On top of that, she added, you’re “often just sitting around afterward, watching football.”

Gobble, gobble.

11:31 a.m.

Travelers: If you're hoping for free doughnuts at the Frontier Airlines check-in lines, too bad. They ran out.

Yes, they ran out of 44 boxes of pumpkin spice doughnuts. Sixteen to a case. That's more than 700 doughnuts, courtesy of LaMar's Donuts in Centennial and, of course, Frontier Airlines.

Rachel Woody, marketing coordinator for the doughnut chain, said they wanted to bring some holiday cheer to people traveling -- while mentioning the name of the doughnut chain as many times as she could to hungry people walking by and gobbling up the product.

And gobble they did.

Oh, and not just Frontier passengers either. Woody said they were giving the doughnuts away, even if people happened by with tickets on any of the other airlines that use DIA.

"We're not checking boarding passes," she said.

It didn't seem they were checking that the people grabbing doughnuts were even traveling. At media row, where several television stations were camped to report on The Busiest Travel Day of the Year, two boxes of doughnuts were seen on top of camera equipment boxes.

11:25 a.m.

Either a few travelers just couldn't face Aunt Edna and decided to deplane, or they just got back to Denver. Either way, a few spots have opened up in the Economy West Lot at DIA. According to the FlyDenver.com, the parking lot has been downgraded from "Full" to "Nearing Capacity." Economy East and Pikes Peak still show full. All other lots, including the ever-popular (though out of our price range) $27-a-day valet areas, are still open to parking.

11:18 a.m.

Things are still jammed back east. At 1 p.m. EST, Teterboro, White Plains, LaGuardia and Newark airports in the New York area were listed as having delays of as long as 57 minutes, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. All other airports were running on time, Bloomberg News reports.

11:10 a.m.

The crowd gathered in the Main Terminal held signs while Rebecca Bradshaw stood poised and ready with her compact camera. Finally, they saw him.

Jordan Jack, 22, (see photo, top left) emerged from the arrival area near the fountains and the tears began to flow. Jack had been in Argentina for two years on a two-year Mormon mission and it just so happened that his completion of the mission and arrival home coincided with The Busiest Travel Day of the Year.

He also experienced no delays.

But the family said getting to DIA from their home in Cheyenne was "rough."

"There were some rough spots, but we stayed here last night," Bradshaw said. "It was worth it."

As they huddled around the baggage claim a bit later before heading back to Wyoming, Bradshaw almost began to tear up again.

"We'll take him back anytime and twice on Sundays," she said, clutching the sign that read, "Bienvenida Elder Jack."

Thanksgiving indeed.

-- David Montero at DIA

10:59 a.m.

Outside the United Airlines passenger dropoff, a woman dressed in a turkey outfit stood in the bitter cold and waved to passengers.

In her, um, wings, she held a sign that said, "Outsourcing airplane mechanics is a turkey."

What did that mean?

Because turkeys can't, well, talk, her spokesman John Hennelly chimed in. "It sucks to give bad news on a holiday, but what United Airlines is doing is wrong."

Hennelly is actually the business agent for the Teamsters Local 961, airline division in Denver. He said the organization wanted to make a point on The Busiest Travel Day of the Year about how United Airlines has outsourced mechanics jobs and is also changing its Mileage Plus campaign by allowing collected travel mileage by passengers to expire if not redeemed within 18 months.

The turkey nodded its head while Hennelly spoke.

But the passenger loads weren't quite what people were expecting. Inside, wide-open counters at United Airlines beckoned for passengers. The airport remained calm.

Still, Hennelly and the turkey planned to brave the bitter cold temperatures outside until 5 p.m. today to make their point. And the turkey -- actually vice president of the Local 961, Gloria Miranda -- got lucky. It was warm inside the costume.

-- David Montero at DIA

10:45 a.m.

Vail Mountain ski resort opened for the season today with 4 inches of new snow after delaying its opening from last week. The National Weather Service says the snow has begun tapering off around the state. At the moment, CDOT reports highways remain slushy, snowy or icy in spots. Chain restrictions are in effect over most mountain passes.

10:41 a.m.

Although the snow might taper off, weather officials are predicting driving conditions to remain slick in Boulder today. Temperatures there are expected to stay below freezing today, with highs in the upper-20s, according to the National Weather Service.

Boulder meteorologist Matt Kelsch said about 5 inches of snow have fallen in Boulder, about 3.5 inches have stacked up in Louisville, and Longmont is reporting about 3 inches. Another storm could pass through the area Friday, but it's unlikely to bring any more precipitation, Kelsch told the Camera.

9:53 a.m.

Headed east? At 11:30 a.m. New York time, Teterboro, White Plains, LaGuardia and Newark airports in the New York area, Philadelphia International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta were listed as having delays of as long as 57 minutes, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. All other airports were running on time, Bloomberg News reports.

9:45 a.m.

Tina Sulzer, who was catching a flight to Hawaii (let's see, that's where we said earlier it would be 81 degrees today) for the holiday, traveled on the RTD SkyRide and said it only took 30 minutes to go from Parker on I-225 to DIA. "It only costs $6 -- it's the way to go," she said.

--David Montero at DIA

9:32 a.m.

With snow piling up -- as much as 8 inches in the mountains and up to 5 inches in Fort Collins -- drivers are urged to used caution.

Yet despite a flurry of accident closures overnight on Interstate 70 in the mountains, traffic is rolling relatively smoothly on snow-frosted roadways.

“We are getting some slide-offs, but nothing really significant as far as motor-vehicle crashes," State Trooper Gilbert Mares said shortly after 9.

Nonetheless, troopers and other officers are staying busy assisting motorists with several driving-related headaches.

-- Alan Gathright

9:17 a.m.

Driving is hazardous in parts of Colorado today, but it could be worse. Check out this "travel story" out of Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, compliments of the AP:

A naked, drunk man was arrested after he caused three accidents by running into highway traffic, police said.

Two people stopped to try to help 26-year-old Ardonas Gilbert, who was running naked along the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 on Monday night, but he allegedly cursed at them and punched them, Delaware State Police said.

Gilbert then ran into traffic, causing three separate accidents as motorists tried to avoid him, police said. No one was seriously injured.

Gilbert, of Chester, Pa., was charged with two counts of assault and a single count of being drunk on a highway. He remained in custody today. Officials of the Court of Common Pleas in New Castle County said he did not yet have an attorney to speak for him.

Editor's note: Apparently even lawyers have their limits.

9:10 a.m.

If you're heading to the Windy City today, you're not alone.

Bloomberg News reports about 207,000 travelers will pass through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport today and 72,000 through its Midway Airport, the city’s Aviation Department said. O’Hare is the biggest U.S. hub for UAL Corp.’s United Airlines.

“All of our parking lots are open, roadways are clear, and security checkpoint lines are moving,” Gregg Cunningham, the media relations coordinator at O’Hare, said. “We’re taking a wait-and-see approach with the weather. We’re definitely prepared and ready.”

Cunningham said fliers getting to the airport before 5 p.m. local time will have the best chances for flights leaving on schedule, as a storm is forecast to reach Chicago about then.

8:54 a.m.

The news at United Airlines is that there are three delayed flights leaving DIA.

The good news for all of you traveling to Fresno, Kansas City and Miami is that no flight is delayed longer than 35 minutes. The bad news is that some of you still have to travel to Fresno.

Here are the delays:

Fresno: Supposed to leave at 9:14. Will leave at 9:30 a.m.

Kansas City: Supposed to leave at 10:15 a.m.. Will leave at 10:40 a.m.

Miami: Supposed to leave at 10:45 a.m. Will leave at 11:20 a.m.

-- David Montero

8:47 a.m.

DIA reports the Pikes Peak and Economy East and West parking lots are full. All other parking lots are open, according the airport's Web site, FlyDenver.com. The site, which offers a wealth of flight, security and airport information is currently reporting 21 degrees, with light snow, fog and mist.

8:40 a.m.

Ever wish you were somewhere else? Like someplace warm? Here are today's hot spots around the world, if you're in the mood for travel (selected cities and predicted high temps):

Atlanta, 73; Austin, 78; El Paso, 74; Honolulu and Houston, 81; Miami and Orlando, 81; Palm Springs, 76; Las Vegas, 64; Phoenix, 80; Barcelona, 62; Sydney, 85; Singapore, 87; Baghdad, 71; Acapulco, 88; and Caracas, 90.

A little dreaming never hurt anyone.

8:35 a.m.

At the Frontier Airlines check-in counters, the wait time is less than five minutes. Across the way, the wait time for check-in at Continental Airlines is less than 10 seconds - five if you walk up to the counter real fast. At United Airlines, which occupies nearly the entire West Terminal, there are long, snaking rows of cordoned areas where passengers are supposed to line up. Most are empty. There is one line and it's a three-minute wait to check in. And except for the baby crying in the stroller, most everyone is smiling.

-- David Montero at DIA

8:17 a.m.

The latest word from up Boulder way, via the Camera:

Boulder residents are waking up this morning to several inches of snow on their lawns and icy conditions on the roads.

Police are responding to numerous accidents, and several vehicles have veered off the road — including one car near the intersection of Boulder Canyon and Fourmile Canyon drives.

Some minor injuries have been reported, but no one has been seriously hurt, police said.

The Colorado Department of Transportation is reporting slushy, snowy and icy conditions on most roadways in the Boulder County area — including Colo. 93, Colo. 119 and U.S. 36.

Boulder temperatures are expected to stay below freezing today, with highs in the upper-20s, according to the National Weather Service.

For more, go to dailycamera.com.

8:10 a.m.

Rocky reader Richiscool weighed in on the cost of traveling, at 7:49 in the reader comments section below. AAA had this to say in the latest AP story:

About 31.2 million travelers were expected to drive to holiday celebrations in spite of gas prices that were nearly 85 cents more per gallon than they were a year earlier, according to AAA. The national average for regular gasoline on Nov. 16 was $3.09 a gallon, up from $2.23 on Nov. 17, 2006. “The question becomes ’Is 10 dollars or 15 dollars more for gas enough to change travel plans?’ and obviously most Americans said ’no,”’ said AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Lon Anderson at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport.

8:07 a.m.

It's not supposed to be like this, is it? It's The Busiest Travel Day of the Year, isn't it? Well, Sam Kohn and his entire hockey team from Kent Denver High School blew through security in two minutes. They've had power plays longer than that. When asked why they were traveling on The Busiest Travel Day of the year, the 17-year-old laughed and said, "I have no idea."

He said they were flying to Toronto on United and had two games scheduled. As he and his team approached the security lines, Kohn expressed wonderment at the thin crowds. "I thought it would be way worse than this."

--David Montero at DIA

8:05 a.m.

Our friends at The Gazette are reporting light snow and a flurry of accidents:

A light covering of snow greeted Pikes Peak area residents this morning, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Snow began falling in central Colorado Springs about 2:30 a.m. and tapered off around sunrise. Police reported several accidents in the region, none involving serious injury.

Before daybreak, several accidents were reported on I-25. One accident just before 6 a.m. involving three vehicles briefly closed the interstate near the Briargate exit. Soon after, another accident was reported near the Circle drive exit of Interstate 25. One motorist suffered minor injuries in a rollover at Marksheffel and North Carefree drives. A jackknifed truck briefly blocked traffic at about 5:30 a.m. on County Line Road one mile east of Interstate 25 in the Tri-Lakes area.

Because of the number of minor accidents, police in the region went on cold-reporting, which means motorists involved in minor accidents should move their cars from the roadway and report the accident later.

Although Colorado Springs snow plows hit the streets about 3:30 a.m., motorists should expect a mix of wet, slushy and lightly snowpacked roads during their commute this morning. Police are urging that drivers slow down and anticipate slick conditions. For more, www.gazette.com.

7:50 a.m.

The Rocky's David Montero reports from DIA:

Kara Lasse, 21, is flying to Fayetteville, Ark., to visit her family -- one brother and two sisters. Her flight on United is scheduled to leave at 10 a.m. and she got here 5:30 a.m. It's the first time she ever flew the day before Thanksgiving and was expecting the craziness that comes with holiday travel -- which explained why she got to the airport so early.

Except there was one problem when she arrived -- no craziness.

"I expected it to be a little busier and more stressful than this," she said. "But in Colorado, they deal with snow better than they do in Fayetteville."

The perk for all her free time, however, is that she is catching up on some reading for school. In this case, it's the book "Poster child" by Emily Rapp.

Meanwhile, back on the roads, I-76 "is a parking lot," photo editor Jay Quadracci reports from, um, I-76.

7:40 a.m.

Numerous accidents and spinouts have been reported around the state this morning, the AP says, but there’s no word of any serious injuries. CDOT's Mark Aultman says highways are slushy, snow-covered or icy in spots, but no major roads are closed at the moment. Chain restrictions are in effect over most of the mountain passes, and a snow advisory remains in effect until 11 a.m. for much of north-central Colorado. The fast-moving storm is also causing trouble for motorists in the southern part of the state.

7:25 a.m.

The latest on the nation's airports today from Bloomberg News:

One of the busiest U.S. travel days of the year may be a bust for some travelers as a mix of rain, snow and ice is expected to delay flights in Chicago and Denver later this afternoon. On the eve of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, a snow advisory is already in place for Denver, where snow developed in the northern Rockies last night and continues to fall this morning over DIA. In Chicago, rainfall may turn into 1 to 3 inches of snow later this evening, according to the National Weather Service.

“A sharp cold front will allow a changeover to snow to take place from northeastern Kansas to northern Illinois, including Chicago,” Kristina Baker, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.com, said. “Snow and frozen wet spots will lead to hazardous travel toward evening as temperatures plummet.” The Air Transport Association projects 27 million passengers will fly from Nov. 16 through Nov. 27, the busiest time of year for airlines, a 4 percent rise over last year. The American Automobile Association expects a record of 38.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this week, with about 80 percent of those trips by car. That would top the previous mark of 38.1 million travelers last year.

At 9 a.m. New York time, Teterboro and White Plains airports in the New York area were listed as having eight-minute delays and flights out of Philadelphia International Airport were up to 30 minutes late getting off the ground because of the high volume of departures, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. No other airports were reporting delays.

7:05 a.m.

The Rocky's David Montero says security wait times at DIA are 5 to 7 minutes. "I think it took longer to get my coffee than to go through security," David said, pointing out that the people in line ahead of him at Seattle's Best were all TSA officers. Baggage claim areas are empty. There's nobody there. No luggage, no people. The airport's pretty dead for the most part.

6:50 a.m.

As we concentrate on the cold and snow in Colorado, in pops this Associated Press gem from balmy Miami. Kevin's apparently one of us, and it sounds like he's in a better place today...

....Denver resident Kevin Lillehei booked his flights with a 7-hour cushion in anticipation of flight delays, long lines and missed connections. “It’s been very calm,” Lillehei said of Miami International Airport, after returning from a cruise in Antarctica with his wife, mother and sister. “Better than I anticipated, but I think it’s going to pick up.” As for whether his return trip would be smooth, Lillehei said: “You always have to worry about snow and delays in Minneapolis, so getting back Sunday is going to be a hit or a miss.”

6:35 a.m.

Our intrepid DIA reporter for the day, David Montero, reports smooth sailing to DIA this morning. Highway speeds hovered around 40 mph along eastbound I-70 and along Pena. May drivers were going as fast as 50 to 60 mph on Pena, said our California transplant, who still gets a bit nervous on snowy roads. David said all parking lots are open except for one economy lot. Signs will point you in the right direction.

6:20 a.m.

Accidents are popping up all over the metro area as the morning commute kicks in to low speed. A multicar accident is delaying travel on southbound I-25 just north of 136th Avenue. A fender bender has also been reported near the Mousetrap. Keep us posted about your drive to work or Grandma's.

6 a.m.

The snow arrived overnight, as promised. Driving in from the southwest suburbs, conditions ranged from ice rink to wet with 2 to 3 inches in south Jeffco. Plenty of plows along the Kipling corridor, but roads were snowpacked and icy in spots. Several cars had spun out in the early morning hours, and a fresh crash had occurred on westbound 6th Avenue near Kipling shortly after 5. Once you hit the downtown area, it's mostly wet roads. It's much worse outside the city limits. Allow extra time for your morning commute.

In the mountains, CDOT reports snow-packed and icy conditions. I-70 was closed temporarily overnight because of weather and crashes near Floyd Hill and on Vail Pass. For statewide road and weather conditions go to www.cotrip.org or call 303-639-1111 or 1-877-315-7623.

And be sure to add your observations from the airport, the roads or the mountains in the comment field below. Happy traveling!

• November 21, 2007

  7:49 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  richiscool writes:

  One simple reason we're not traveling: cost. Be it airline greed or fuel costs (I think it's a healthy combination of both), maybe when this country finally embraces a responsible energy policy with a HEAVY reliance on and use of renewable sources (solar, wind and bio-fuels -- but NOT ethanol) will we break the cycle of being hostages of the oil and gas industries.

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