Stranded at Denver International

The concourse was packed with stranded travelers who queued up at food stalls and ticket counters, occupied every table and chair, waiting, worrying and using their cell phones to call airlines, motels and relatives.

Kelton, 27, planned to spend the night at the airport and try to catch an early morning standby flight to Pennsylvania, where she was to spend the holidays with her family.

For comfort, she had the pillows she'd bought her mother for Christmas; to pass the time, her guitar.

"I'm just happy to be alive. It was a terrifying drive," Kelton said of the two-hour slog over slick, snow-clogged roads. "If I can just get out of here by 6 a.m. tomorrow then I'll be fine."