Update: I think the Instruction component of the situation has resolved itself...

A bit of background...

Back when I started taking instruction (early 1990s) I went with a friend to a small, local fly-in in another state. It was one of those breakfast things, and hanging out with other pilots for a while. I met a guy who was an instructor at that airfield, and we stayed in touch. It was a bit far for me to travel regularly, so I never took instruction with the guy, but I did run into him at other fly-ins, barbecues, and such from time to time. When I had to stop (marriage, family, job, etc) flying, I lost touch with all my pilot friends, and now, 20 years later, almost all of them have either moved on or have gone on West...

Late last week, I was working on researching something for a friend, and totally unrelated to anything having to do with flying, I ran across a mention of the pilot-CFI-guy I knew back then. I thought about it for a bit, felt it might be worth it to reconnect, and decided to get in touch. Turns out that he's retired from his day-job and now is a part-time CFI just for the fun of it. He just bought one a PiperSport/SportCruiser LSAs about a year ago, and would not only be willing to fly to me (around 80 SM) but can teach Sport Pilot, since he has an LSA!

I was just about ready to give up, and here fell in my lap the answer to my dilemma!

Now all I have to do is convince the other half that I want to start up flying again... Ha! That's going to be a tougher sell than it was back in the day.