Family travels to Colo. by car to celebrate son's bar mitzvah

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Even though it was Christmas, it was still a busy day at Philadelphia International Airport as flights filled with families were still landing at the airport. 

Gary Chimes and his son flew into Philadelphia from Seattle, and he said the only delays they experienced today were picking up their bags at baggage claim.

"Seattle had been frozen over and flights had been getting canceled left and right, and we didn't know if we would make it out, but we did," Chimes said. "We actually got out on time, and it went well." 

Standing out from the crowd in his top hat, Kevin Jones said his family was supposed to have flown in yesterday from Houston, but their flight got canceled, and when they got to the airport today, they had to change flights again.

"We had to get on another flight. We actually got here about six hours earlier than we were supposed to though," Jones said. "A day late, but six hours early." 

But not everyone was as lucky with their flights. 

Peter Gearhart's family was supposed to fly Friday to Breckenridge, Colorado to celebrate their son's bar mitzvah, but their flight got canceled, and they didn't have many options. 

They ended up driving nearly 33 hours to Breckenridge, passing through the winter storm earlier this week. 

"It was a little bit harrowing," Gearhart said. "There was a lot of high wind, 30, 40 mile an hour winds, precipitation, snow, little bit of sleet. We had multiple road closures where trucks, delivery vans have been blown over." 

Gearhart and his sons drove in shifts, arriving just in time to hit the slopes before his son's bar mitzvah. 

"Our grandfathers' cars were not nearly as hardy as the SUV that we were driving now, and somehow they made it through treacherous weather," Gearhart said. "I just kept the faith that our skills and our focus would get us there."