Flying isn't always the quickest travel option

Well, I made it to IL and back.....but it wasn't the greatest trip! My flight from Denver to Chicago left 35 minutes late. When we arrived, it was 2:15, central time and my flight to Moline was to leave at 2:30. Somehow I managed to be sitting towards the rear of the plane and, even though I didn't have any carry on luggage, it seems everyone else on the plane did! My thoughts on this are....if you have carry on luggage, you should sit your @$$ down until the people who *don't* have any get off the plane, then you can get up and block the isle until your hearts content! Had I been able to get off the plane quickly, I might not have missed my flight! That and if O'Hare would CLEARLY mark where the heck the stairs are to catch the shuttle to the other terminals. Because, of course, I came in on C terminal and had to leave from F terminal. Once I found the shuttle and was dropped off, I RAN, and I do mean RAN, all the way to the end of F terminal, to gate F12, only to be told my flight had already left. I was then sent to the customer service desk, where there wasn't anyone. That's always helpful. Finally, someone showed up....who grilled me about WHY I'd missed my flight (as I'm still trying to catch my breath, it was apparent I'd made an effort at least!) , then wanted to know why my flight from Denver to Chicago was late (you know, I'm not sure, I wasn't flying the nmad thing!). Unfortunately, the 4:55 flight to Moline was standby only, and since I didn't have my bag, they wouldn't let me take that flight (bag and person have to be on the same flight, so they said). So I was stuck in the Chicago airport until 7:55, when the next flight left. First I called my parents to tell them not to go to the airport, then my husband so I could rant to him about it. Then I got a burger (not that great, but pretty $$), went to the bathroom and ended up sitting at the bar. I started out drinking a nice cold beer and watching Jepordy, but by time my flight was to leave, I'd talked to SEVERAL people, who all sat next to me in the 4 hours I sat in the bar! It's been a LONG time since I have sat in a bar all by myself! I finally was able to get on my flight, where I promptly fell asleep, and awoke when we finally landed. We went to get my bag, and can you believe it, the stoopid thing didn't come! It was on the last flight on the night! After being in Chicago for 5+ hours, my bag and I didn't arrive together! And wasn't that the reason I couldn't get the earlier flight? Sheesh! I could have actually driven from CO and made it there faster!