Blizzard of 2006 - Denver, Colorado
It started with a forecast that actually predicted 2-4 feet of snow. We get a lot of snow predictions that fizzle. This one didn’t!
My son was set to fly out of Denver International Airport on Wednesday to Germany. His airline kept telling us that the flight would take off on time, so we headed to the airport. The conditions were terrible but we made it fine after a nerve-wracking 3-hour drive. (normally only 40 minutes) The airport was already packed and my son’s flight was checking in passengers. We had to wait in a line to pick up his ticket and 2.5 hours later he had his ticket in hand for a flight that was cancelled at an airport that was (by then) closed!
The weather was even worse than earlier, so I decided to stay the night with my son. We both had our cameras and I even had my tripod (although you might not be able to tell from my photos!) We walked around and took photos of the people and the weather and the beautiful architecture.
We waited too long to pick up our complimentary blanket and pillow, so we had nothing beyond what we brought or had in the car. Luckily, I had found a close in parking spot so I could get the one blanket I had there. My son and I found a spot, claimed our territory and took turns resting on the floor on the blanket with our coats for warmth and his backpack as a pillow. I think I slept for about 2 hours. I knew I would be going home later in the day, so it wasn’t like most of the rest of the people who were stranded for days.
Thursday morning, we heard that the airport would remain closed until midday on Friday AND that the weather was clearing and that the plows had cleared the road to the airport. We decided to leave and I put my son on the train to another city without weather problems. As I write this, my son is on a flight to Munich and we have dug 2 of my 3 cars out of their snowdrifts. Life will slowly return to normal, only the biggest piles of snow will linger.
My son was set to fly out of Denver International Airport on Wednesday to Germany. His airline kept telling us that the flight would take off on time, so we headed to the airport. The conditions were terrible but we made it fine after a nerve-wracking 3-hour drive. (normally only 40 minutes) The airport was already packed and my son’s flight was checking in passengers. We had to wait in a line to pick up his ticket and 2.5 hours later he had his ticket in hand for a flight that was cancelled at an airport that was (by then) closed!
The weather was even worse than earlier, so I decided to stay the night with my son. We both had our cameras and I even had my tripod (although you might not be able to tell from my photos!) We walked around and took photos of the people and the weather and the beautiful architecture.
We waited too long to pick up our complimentary blanket and pillow, so we had nothing beyond what we brought or had in the car. Luckily, I had found a close in parking spot so I could get the one blanket I had there. My son and I found a spot, claimed our territory and took turns resting on the floor on the blanket with our coats for warmth and his backpack as a pillow. I think I slept for about 2 hours. I knew I would be going home later in the day, so it wasn’t like most of the rest of the people who were stranded for days.
Thursday morning, we heard that the airport would remain closed until midday on Friday AND that the weather was clearing and that the plows had cleared the road to the airport. We decided to leave and I put my son on the train to another city without weather problems. As I write this, my son is on a flight to Munich and we have dug 2 of my 3 cars out of their snowdrifts. Life will slowly return to normal, only the biggest piles of snow will linger.
Labels: blizzard, Denver Colorado, DIA, sleeping in the airport, snow, stranded
posted by Ptelea @ 11:34 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Holy cow, that's a lot of snow.....
Geeze, hope you got home for christmas :) Great shots.
Wow! That's a lot of snow! Thanks for sharing the story. I like the picture of the guy under the blanket with his foot sticking out! Great shots!
I was wondering how you were doing in that mess, didn't even know you had to deal with the airport! Whew!
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