Sending caring thoughts your way. It's very hard, living more than a day's drive away from people you love, especially parents. So good that you went now; trips from now on could be to "deal with things" rather than simply visit and you will always have this visit to draw good memories from. The distance will mean that changes are more pronounced for you, not being there daily to adjust to the little ones.
Maybe one day your mother will move to reach out to others. She's probably kind of busy right now, being there for your dad. How nice that she can focus on a quilt and have some creative time.