funerals.. meeting grounds to see your loved ones all in one place?

 My Aunt Connie passed away on August 23rd, 2011.. Her Funeral was August 26th.. She lives in Gouverneur which is about 4 hrs away from me.  I was going to ride with my brother,but ended up driving my dad’s car because he had no sleep from just working a 12hr shift, and needed to rest. 
 
So we arrive in Gouverneur to my cousin Amy’s house. Visit for a bit and head to the hospital to see my Aunt Sharla.  She’s a stubborn woman, but she looked good considering..
So we go get something to eat at a pizza joint, and head to the funeral..
All my Aunts, Uncles , and cousins are there. Lots of hugs and lots tears. Funerals are the only time we get to see our family.. 😦 It was a nice Funeral, short.. but nice.. She’s finally resting peacefully with no pain, and is with her husband.. ❤

I miss my family up north.. 😦 REALLY miss them.. As a kid we always drove to Gouverneur to visit family, every summer. And we used to stay a week or 2 or 3 with our Aunts and Uncles..  Good times, great memories..LOL  The older we got, it seemed the less we visited.. Don’t know why..  But now that I’m older and a family of my own, it’s time to start visiting again.. I’d like to make a trip before winter hits.. Sometime in the early fall.. The drive would be so pretty!
So that’s my goal.. To visit family before winter hits!