Good for you for still desiring to drive yourself to see your siblings. It is not as easy to drive for hours like we did even ten years ago. I think with age, we tend to not want to put ourselves through the entire deal of traveling. Home is so much more comfortable than stressing over how we will handle traveling.

My family lives in Panama, and taking that long flight stresses me out so much that I haven't made it in 4 years now. I broke out in shingles 3 out of the four trips I made there. Not sure; I want to take that chance again. My last trip was to South Dakota to stay with my niece/daughter. That was not bad, but I still don't want to fly anymore. The rest of my family lives in VA. That is a 10-hour drive too. I guess if they want to see me, they will have to come to me. Driving for over 1 hour at a time is enough for me for one day, lol.

So sad to see so many old towns that have died. Your photos of the stops tell a nice story.