Getting to Grandma’s house for Christmas has rarely been this easy in Colorado. Sunny skies, temperatures in the 40s and dry roads made Christmas Eve travel a breeze.
Though it was forecast as the busiest Christmas week of travel ever at Denver International Airport, security wait times that started at 20 minutes in the morning had fallen to five minutes by mid-afternoon, making air travel on the day before Christmas almost pleasant.
The only problems affecting Denver occurred in faraway places.
Ron and Mary Jo Johnson of Lakewood and their daughter Eleanor, 23, were waiting for another daughter, Maura, 20, to make the family complete. When she arrived, Ron waited patiently, in his Santa hat (with natural, authentic beard), as Mary Jo hugged Maura.
Then it was Dad’s turn for an emotional embrace.
The University of Colorado student was coming from Paris, where she was studying French and film.
Her flight sat on the tarmac in Paris for eight hours because of a baggage handlers’ strike causing her to miss her connection in Philadelphia.
“My God we’re happy,” her father said.
“She’s been gone four months,” her mother said. “We’re empty nesters for the first time, and it’s just really sweet to have them home.”
The roads and interstate highways throughout Colorado were clear, and cars and trucks traveled at the speed limit. An exception was U.S. 40 between Interstate 70 and Winter Park, but even there, speeds were 40 mph to 50 mph.
Of course, all the easy travel beneath sunny skies comes at the price of ambience. Front Range residents who wish to experience a white Christmas will need to travel someplace snowier than metro Denver — such as Atlanta, where there is a 30 percent chance of snow showers tonight and hundreds of flights were being canceled Friday.
Denver Post photographer Craig F. Walker contributed to this report.
